It’s a rare series that I actually follow and wait on, and Roseanna White’s Shadows Over England has captured my attention for the entire series. I’ve been waiting to get my hands on An Hour Unspent for months because I’ve been so curious to find out how Barclay’s story would unroll.
After all, I think Barclay Pierce stole the readers’ hearts from the first book of the series even though he was only a secondary character.
Celebrate Lit: An Hour Unspent by Roseanna White
I reviewed A Name Unknown and A Song Unheard as well. Also, don’t forget to scroll all the way to the bottom to read my review and enter the giveaway!!
About the Book
Once London’s top thief, Barclay Pearce has turned his back on his life of crime and now uses his skills for a nation at war. But not until he rescues a clockmaker’s daughter from a mugging does he begin to wonder what his future might hold.
Evelina Manning has constantly fought for independence but she certainly never meant for it to inspire her fiancé to end the engagement and enlist in the army. When the intriguing man who saved her returns to the Manning residence to study clockwork repair with her father, she can’t help being interested. But she soon learns that nothing with Barclay Pearce is as simple as it seems.
As 1915 England plunges ever deeper into war, the work of an ingenious clockmaker may give England an unbeatable military edge—and Germany realizes it as well. Evelina’s father soon finds his whole family in danger—and it may just take a reformed thief to steal the time they need to escape it.
Click here to purchase your copy!
About the Author
Guest Post from Roseanna
Last year, as I finished up the writing of An Hour Unspent, my great-grandmother passed away at the age of 103. As I sat at her funeral service and listened to the heartfelt memorial raised up to her by her kids and grandkids, I realized anew that this woman had been a matriarch in the truest sense of the word. She’d taught my family for generations how to love the Lord and each other, how to serve the Lord and each other, and how to trust the Lord and each other. Grandma Seward was, in so many ways, the one who instilled in me my idea of what family really is.
That idea—that it’s those knit together by love more than blood, and that faith is the strongest foundation—is what I built my unusual family of thieves upon in the Shadows Over England series. And strange as it is to liken my twenty-something reformed-thief hero to my 103-year-old-grandmother, Barclay Pearce is very much to his family what Maxine Seward was to mine.
The founder. The caregiver. The leader.
I knew as I began the series that I would write about Barclay in book three, and as I got to know him better throughout the series, I grew so excited to share his story! This is a man who led his family first into and then out of a life a crime, always for the right reasons—so he could provide for the children under his care. All he ever wanted to do was give them what he himself had lost. To show them love. To prove to them that they were worth any sacrifice.
It was truly a blessing for me to get to write the story in which Barclay found someone to come alongside him, to appreciate and learn to understand him. To finally share what started him down this path. I loved the idea that only a reformed thief could steal the time another family needed to overcome their own trials.
There are many historical items in the book that were such fun to explore—watchmaking of the era, the suffrage movement in England, technological advancements of the war—but at the heart, this isn’t a story about any of those.
It’s a story about how far people should go for love. I hope you enjoy Barclay’s story as much as I did!
Blog Stops
The Avid Reader, October 30
The Power of Words, October 30
Back Porch Reads, October 30
Kat’s Corner Books, October 30
Janice’s Book Reviews, October 30
Where Faith and Books Meet, October 31
Reading Is My SuperPower, October 31
Faithfully Bookish, October 31
Genesis 5020, October 31
Fiction Aficionado, November 1
Among the Reads, November 1
The Lit Addict, November 1
Just the Write Escape, November 1
Multifarious, November 2
Godly Book Reviews, November 2
Real World Bible Study, November 2
Madeline Clark, November 2
Reflections From My Bookshelves, November 3
Christian Bookaholic, November 3
Inspirationally Ever After, November 3
Bookworm Mama, November 3
Bigreadersite, November 3
Blogging With Carol , November 4
D’S QUILTS & BOOKS, November 4
Life with the Tribe, November 4
The Becca Files, November 4
Kathleen Denly, November 5
Cordially Barbara, November 5
Abba’s Prayer Warrior Princess, November 5
Simple Harvest Reads, November 5 (Guest Post from Mindy Houng)
God’s Little Bookworm, November 6
All-of-a-kind Mom, November 6
Faery Tales Are Real, November 6
Christian Chick’s Thoughts, November 6
Carpe Diem, November 6
Margaret Kazmierczak, November 7
Locks, Hooks and Books, November 7
Christian Author, J.E.Grace, November 7
Blossoms and Blessings , November 7
Maureen’s Musings , November 8
Connie’s History Classroom , November 8
Book by Book, November 8
Just Commonly, November 8
cherylbbookblog, November 9
The Christian Fiction Girl, November 9
Have A Wonderful Day , November 9
With a Joyful Noise, November 9
KarenSueHadley , November 10
Tell Tale Book Reviews, November 10
Babbling Becky L’s Book Impressions, November 10
Baker kella, November 10
Bibliophile Reviews, November 10
Book Bites, Bee Stings, & Butterfly Kisses, November 11
Inklings and Notions , November 11
Two Points of Interest, November 11
Inspiration Clothesline, November 11
A Baker’s Perspective, November 11
Henry Happens, November 12
Texas Book-aholic, November 12
Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, November 12
Cordially Barbara’s Review
On a scale of cotton candy to Brussels sprouts, An Hour Unspent by Roseanna M. White is an Alfie’s French Creme cookie. Sweet through and through, this sandwich cookie may be a bit crunchy on the outside but the creme-center is soft and delectable. A cup of tea is the perfect compliment.
Evelina can take care of herself, and she’s on a mission for women’s vote. When she’s mugged on the street, she meets Barclay Pierce, a man who looks like a gentleman but makes threats like a street thief. She’s isn’t sure what to make of him. Meanwhile, Barclay has been hired by Mr. V to help Evelina’s clockmaker father build something to further the war effort. Every day, Evelina finds herself interacting with the interesting Barclay and discovering there’s more than meets the eye.
An Hour Unspent concluded the 3-book series, Shadows Over England, in a most satisfactory way. It was everything that I wanted, with a gutsy heroine and kind hero. I especially have a soft spot for character development in the arc of the story, and I delighted in seeing growth in even secondary characters. I think Roseanna White outdid herself with this final installment to the Shadows Over England series.
If you enjoy history, romance, and adventure, then you need to read An Hour Unspent.
Giveaway
To celebrate her tour, Roseanna is giving away a grand prize of a signed book, a London mug, and a 48-pack Twinings tea sampler!!
Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter. https://promosimple.com/ps/d570/an-hour-unspent-celebration-tour-giveaway
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