Smada's Book Smack : Blog Tour & Giveaway: The Glass Butterfly (Haunted Hearts Legacy #3) by A.G. Howard

Book Blurb:

THE GLASS BUTTERFLY (Haunted Hearts Legacy #3) by A.G. Howard
Pub. Date: August 15, 2018
Publisher: Golden Orb Press
Formats: Paperback, eBook
Pages: 278

For close to a decade, twenty-five-year-old Felicity Lonsdale has masqueraded as a dowager almost twice her age—selling caterpillars to butterfly consortiums—enabling her to hide an ill-fated past while raising her late brother’s daughters. Together, the three live on an isolated Irish estate bequeathed by a dying earl. When the earl’s estranged son arrives to claim his inheritance by threatening to expose Felicity’s true identity, she longs to pack up her nieces and run. But a ghostly secret within the castle’s turret holds her captive.

Nick Thornton—a Roma viscount’s heir—is also captive. After a tryst with an investor’s wife nearly destroyed his family’s holiday resort, Nick forsook everything to elope with her. However, a tragic mistake at his hand led to her and his baby’s deaths. Refusing to turn to the family he shamed, Nick travels to seek the countess who once co-wrote a romance with his sister. There’s rumor of a special butterfly in her keep—a transparent-winged species with ties to the afterlife. Nick hopes to contact his dead wife and child, for only their forgiveness can free him.

Upon his arrival to Felicity’s estate, Nick offers to help her defeat the earl’s son, on the condition she allow Nick to investigate her glass butterflies. Felicity agrees, though fears the closer he gets to the ghosts of his past, the closer he’ll come to uncovering her own. As Nick spends time with Felicity and her nieces, he realizes the mystery enshrouding this fragile countess and her castle is more intriguing than the ghosts he originally came to find. And perhaps putting his dead to rest and helping her do the same will be his true path to redemption.

Goodreads | Amazon

My Review:

4 Out OF 5 Hearts

Genre: Ghosts, Heart-Wrenching, Historical, Mystery, Romance, Supernatural--

Felicity will do whatever it takes to protect her family secrets and keep her nieces safe, even if it means pretending to be someone she is not and harvesting butterflies with unusual properties. Nick wants nothing more than to be reunited with this dead wife and child, the answer to his desire hopefully can be discovered in Felicity's butterflies. But when the two meet, there is recognition present as well as attraction, both unwanted emotions. Can Felicity continue her double life and Nick find his cure without any conflict? It seems unlikely...

I will admit that I picked up the first book in the series, The Architect of Song, because I was in love with the gorgeous cover and because the author. I knew A.G. from her YA fantasy books and I was not really even aware that Haunted Hearts Legacy was an adult historical romance, but I planned to read it anyway. Well, three books later and I really enjoy this series. Each book is a standalone romance and can be appreciated completely on it's own, but there are references and characters that show up now and then. But feel free to grab any in the series to jump into because you will not be missing out on anything and can completely enjoy then on their own.

It has been forever since I have read a legitimate historical romance, so this was such a fun read to get into. I love the rules of society, the costuming, the time in general...it is so easy to get lost in the sweeping love and the romantic notions that seemed to come from this time period. if it weren't for the whole lack of indoor plumbing and medical advances, I would love to time travel to this world and experience first hand the people, mansion and lands that A.G. brought to vivid life. Oh and did I mention the magic and supernatural flair subtly woven into the story? This was such a great mix of romance, mystery and magic that was no way I could resist getting sucked into the pages.

There was a lot of heartbreak split between both main characters, history that neither wanted to share or deal with, but they needed to open up about it to heal as well as find a new way to love. And while there were lots of moving parts in the book, love was the winning theme. There were a few moments where I wanted to shake the characters for their stupidity and closed off attitudes. But overall the dynamic between Felicity and Nick was filled with tension right from the start, making me wish ever so hard for the two of them to join teams and fight against all the forces out against both of them- instead of the solitary path that both were so set on. As a different note, the side characters like the nieces and the servants created such a great quirky family dynamic I could not help but be charmed- maybe one of the girls will get her own magical book later on...

I highly recommend any book in the Haunted Hearts Legacy, each story a different king of supernatural magic-ish mystery that ends in romance, and will for sure sweep you away to a different world.

I read a complimentary copy for reviewing purpose.

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Catch up on the series

Book Blurb:

The Architect of Song (Haunted Hearts Legacy #1)

For most of her life, nineteen-year-old Juliet Emerline has subsisted – isolated by deafness – making hats in the solitude of her home. Now, she’s at risk to lose her sanctuary to Lord Nicolas Thornton, a twenty-seven-year-old mysterious and eccentric architect with designs on her humble estate. When she secretly witnesses him raging beside a grave, Juliet investigates, finding the name “Hawk” on the headstone and an unusual flower at the base. The moment Juliet touches the petals, a young English nobleman appears in ghostly form, singing a song only her deaf ears can hear. The ghost remembers nothing of his identity or death, other than the one name that haunts his afterlife: Thornton.

To avenge her ghostly companion and save her estate, Juliet pushes aside her fear of society and travels to Lord Thornton’s secluded holiday resort, posing as a hat maker in one of his boutiques. There, she finds herself questioning who to trust: the architect of flesh and bones who can relate to her through romantic gestures, heartfelt notes, and sensual touches … or the specter who serenades her with beautiful songs and ardent words, touching her mind and soul like no other man ever can. As sinister truths behind Lord Thornton’s interest in her estate and his tie to Hawk come to light, Juliet is lured into a web of secrets. But it’s too late for escape, and the tragic love taking seed in her heart will alter her silent world forever.

Goodreads | Amazon

Book Blurb:

The Hummingbird Heart (Haunted Hearts Legacy #2)

Set 19 years after The Architect of Song.

Shortly after escaping a circus tragedy, young Italian orphan, Willow Antoniette, seeks refuge at The Manor of Diversions—a holiday resort in England born of a ghost story. For eleven years, she’s raised alongside the children of the resort’s owners: Julian, his twin brother, Nick, and their younger sister Emilia. Now that Willow is of marriable age, she's determined to escape finishing school along with everyone's efforts to make her a proper lady. The only man she wants to spend her life with is Julian, after all. Yet how can she tell him, when he thinks of her as nothing but a friend?

As a machinist and engineer, Julian Thornton prefers a governable life. He can't allow his ever-deepening attraction for Willow to distract from his amusement park plans to lure a younger, wealthier clientele to their family's resort. In hopes to escape Willow and find investors, Julian sets off on a transatlantic ocean liner headed for the St. Louis World’s Fair, unaware Willow has secretly stowed away on the same ship.

A tiny, mute orphan named Newton and a pair of haunted Italian shoes bring Willow and Julian face to face on deck. Forced to work together to solve the mystery of Newton and his vindictive, ghostly companion, Julian and Willow can no longer fight their untapped passions. However, time to admit their true feelings is running out, for the ghost and her murderer have enlisted them as unsuspecting pawns in a karmic game of cat-and-mouse that could cost all of them their lives.

Goodreads

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Author Bio:

A.G. Howard was inspired to write SPLINTERED while working at a school library. She always wondered what would've happened had the subtle creepiness of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland taken center stage, and she hopes her darker and funkier tribute to Carroll will inspire readers to seek out the stories that won her heart as a child.

When she's not writing, A.G.'s pastimes are reading, rollerblading, gardening, and family vacations which often include impromptu side trips to 18th century graveyards or condemned schoolhouses to appease her overactive muse.