Edwardian Brides The Governess of Highland Hall, Book 1, (Paperback)

Worlds lie between the marketplaces of India and the halls of a magnificent country estate like Highland Hall. Will Julia be able to find her place when a governess is neither upstairs family nor downstairs help? Missionary Julia Foster loves working alongside her parents, ministering and caring for young girls in India. But when the family must return to England due to illness, she readily accepts the burden for her parents' financial support. Taking on a job at Highland Hall as governess, she quickly finds that teaching her four privileged, ill-mannered charges at a grand estate is more challenging than expected, and she isn't sure what to make of the estate's preoccupied master, Sir William Ramsey. Widowed and left to care for his two young children and his deceased cousin Randolph's two teenage girls, William is consumed with saving the estate from the financial ruin. The last thing he needs is any distraction coming from the kindhearted-yet-determined governess who seems to be quietly transforming his household with her persuasive personality, vibrant prayer life, and strong faith. While both are tending past wounds and guarding fragile secrets, Julia and William are determined to do what it takes to save their families—common ground that proves fertile for unexpected feelings. But will William choose Julia's steadfast heart and faith over the wealth and power he needs to secure Highland Hall's future? Review: Amazing novel about love and forgiveness! If you love Downtown Abbey or Jane Austen than you should definitely pick this one up! Carrie Turansky has a winner on her hands.

The Governess of Highland Hall is set during the fall and winter of 1911. The backdrop to this book is wonderful. If you like the setting of Downton Abbey, I believe you would like this story. During this time period, the aristocracy of England is slowly fading away. Lands that have been in families for centuries are being sold off due to the fact that the government wanted to tax the inheritance at an astronomical rate. Sir William Ramsey is facing this. Instead of inheriting a stable and financially secure home for he and his family to stay in, he finds his eldest brother did not had a head for business and has left him with the stress to figure everything out, while dealing with the care of his two young children, two teenage nieces, and a house full of staff that relies on him to survive. Along with those struggles, he still has to fight the demons of his deceased wife's past. He has turned inward, grown to distrust people around him. The responsibilities of it all beat him down daily. Julia Foster is a daughter of a missionary. She and her family were forced to return to England when her father falls ill and can no longer take care of his duties. Wanting to help them, Julia applies for the governess position to the local estate Highland Hall. She knows she has to work to help her family, but she doesn't want to travel far, encase she is needed. Julia is a very caring person. She loves children and has a passion to teach. She is one who takes what she has learned and tries to offer guidance where she can. Julia also believes in speaking her mind, there is no use in dancing around the issues. The Governess of Highland Hall is a beautifully set story. You get to see the goings on in an established estate from the people who are up stairs and the ones who work down. It also is a light read. The conflicts that happen are not massive and show a calm and collected way of resolving them. I was left wondering about the outcome of one character at the end and also about an even that was being built up to. We never make it to the event. I wonder if they will be discussed in the next book in the Edwardian Brides Series. I liked the book, 3 1/2 out of 5 Thank you to Blogging for Books and to the Waterbrook Multnomah Publishing Group, I received a copy of this book for free in exchange for an honest opinion.