A Desperate Fortune by Susanna Kearsley (and Giveaway!)

Susanna Kearsley writes haunting romantic fiction that is also full of suspense.  Her novels also contain one of my favorite elements, historical fiction, through a time slip or other device.  Over the last few years she has become one of my favorite authors.  In A Desperate Fortune, Sara is an unemployed programmer with Asperger’s.  She gets a unique job to crack the code and translate a journal that was written by a Jacobite exile in 1732.

The novel splits the story line between Sara in the present day and the author of the diary, Mary Dundas.  As Sara struggles with translation in the future and her own budding feelings for a romantic Frenchman, Mary is put in the path of danger.  Thinking she will be reunited with her family, Mary is instead used by the Jacobites to help a mysterious man with an even more mysterious body guard to remain out of harm’s way.  Mary tries to determine what it is about Thomson that is worth protecting while also discovering the depths of Hugh Macpherson, the bodyguard.

I loved this book.  I enjoyed both storylines, but I must admit that I loved the past storyline that was full of intrigue and adventure.  Each turn was surprising, none more so than the secret depths of Hugh Macpherson.  He became one of my favorite literary romantic characters through the course the book.  I would love to read more about him! I also loved how Mary spun wonderful fairy tales throughout her journey. The only bad part of this book was that it had to end, it was wonderful. 

Overall, I highly recommend this novel.  The storyline, characters, intrigue, and romance made it a great book to read and I read it quickly while down and out with the flu.  I can’t wait for Kearsley’s next novel!

Description:

A Desperate Fortune by Susanna Kearsley

9781492602026 * $16.99/TP * ON-SALE: April 7, 2015

For nearly three hundred years, the cryptic journal of Mary Dundas has lain unread. Now, amateur code breaker Sara Thomas has been sent to Paris to crack the cipher.

Jacobite exile Mary Dundas is filled with longing—for freedom, for adventure, for the family she lost. When fate opens the door, Mary dares to set her foot on a path far more surprising and dangerous than she ever could have dreamed.

As Mary’s gripping tale is revealed, Sara is faced with challenges that will require letting go of everything she thought she knew—about herself, about loyalty, and especially about love. Though divided by centuries, these two women will be united in a quest to discover the limits of trust and the coincidences of fate.

Author Bio:

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Susanna Kearsley is known for her meticulous research and exotic settings from Russia to Italy to Cornwall, which not only entertain her readers but give her a great reason to travel. Her lush writing has been compared to Mary Stewart, Daphne du Maurier, and Diana Gabaldon. She hit the bestseller lists in the U.S. with The Firebird (a RITA winner) as well as, The Winter Sea and The Rose Garden (both RITA finalists and winners of RT Reviewers’ Choice Awards). Other honors include National Readers' Choice Awards, the prestigious Catherine Cookson Fiction Prize, and finaling for the UK's Romantic Novel of the Year Award. Her popular and critically acclaimed books are available in translation in more than 20 countries and as audiobooks. She lives in Canada, near the shores of Lake Ontario.

Giveaway:

Sourcebooks is hosting a Rafflecopter giveaway of 5 Susanna Kearsley prize packs that include copies of all of her backlist books published by Sourcebooks. The giveaway ends on 4/30/15. Click on the following link to enter

a Rafflecopter giveaway.