Book Beginnings + Friday 56: Midnight on the River Grey by Abigail Wilson

Book Beginnings is a weekly meme hosted by Rose City Reader that asks you to share the first sentence (or so) of the book you're reading. Friday 56 is hosted by Freda's Voice and asks you to grab a book (any book), turn to page 56 or 56% in your ereader and share a non-spoilery sentence or two.

This week I'm featuring Midnight on the River Grey by Abigail Wilson.

About the Book

In this Gothic Regency romance Rebecca fears she has developed feelings for the man she swore to see hanged, her brother's murderer.

After her brother’s mysterious death, Rebecca Hunter vows to expose the man she believes responsible: Mr. Lewis Browning—known by the locals as the Midnight Devil and by Rebecca as her new guardian.

Summoned to his reclusive country estate to await her London season, Rebecca plans her own secret investigation among the darkened corridors of the mysterious Greybourne Hall. Yet Lewis Browning is not as she once imagined, and his motivation is horribly unclear. Recurrent nightmares and Rebecca’s restless feelings are further complicated by the shadow of her mother’s prior descent into madness and wondering if she, too, will follow the same heartbreaking path.

Even as midnight rides, strange injuries, and further murders lead back to Mr. Browning, Rebecca can’t ignore the subtle turn of her heart. Has she fallen for the man she swore would pay for her brother’s death? And moreover, can she trust him with her uncertain future?

Book Beginnings (From the Prologue)

1811

The Scottish Highlands

"Who's there?" My mother's haunted whisper drew me to her bedside. Sickness clung to the air around her bed as grief entombed the space.

Friday 56

I swallowed what I'd observed beyond that window like bitter medicine, and I remained silent throughout a tight-lipped dinner with Aunt Jo as well as long into the quiet hours of the night, unable to give voice to the stormy thoughts circling my mind. Only in my bedchamber, tucked away from the prying eyes of the house, did I allow the images to resurface.

What have you been reading lately?