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tl;dr Review:
Combining history with the modern day and stirring in some paranormal activity and romance to boot, this book will keep your attention until the last page.
Full Review:
As I mentioned in my previous review, I truly love historical fiction but I didn’t mention how much I equally love some paranormal activity.
After having had my tarot cards read and received a reading from a medium in New Orleans back in 2016, I don’t NOT believe in the unexplained. (And yes, that double negative is on purpose).
If you add in a dash of romance like The Little Shop of Found Things: A Novel
The publisher does well with selling the book from the start with this description:
An antique shop haunted by a ghost.
A silver treasure with an injustice in its story.
An adventure to the past she’ll never forget.
Xanthe and her mother Flora leave London behind for a fresh start, taking over an antique shop in the historic town of Marlborough. Xanthe has always had an affinity with some of the antiques she finds. When she touches them, she can sense something of the past they come from and the stories they hold. When she has an intense connection to a beautiful silver chatelaine she has to know more.
It is while she’s examining the chatelaine that she’s transported back to the seventeenth century where it has its origins. She discovers there is an injustice in its history. The spirit that inhabits her new home confronts her and charges her with saving her daughter’s life, threatening to take Flora’s if she fails.
While Xanthe fights to save the girl amid the turbulent days of 1605, she meets architect Samuel Appleby. He may be the person who can help her succeed. He may also be the reason she can’t bring herself to leave.
But a book’s description alone cannot carry it if the actual novel lacks corresponding quality writing. Thankfully, that is not the case here.
The author manages to make you cheer, cry, love, despair, hope, and smile throughout. Every twist and turn in this story made me unable to put it down and go to bed. I ended up staying awake well past my bedtime just to finish it. I’m also ecstatic that it’s going to be part of a series. (Though it stands brilliantly on its own as well).
If you’re the type that wants an escape from the horror show that is America right now and to be wrapped up in a tale that will keep your heart and mind engaged throughout, then this is your book.
I give it 5 out of 5 thumbs up.
