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young ladies jane charles lord atwood walk in the sun elegant young school for elegant wiggons school forward to reading wife grave well written family crypt tess crawford students and teachers wake not the dead looking forward twists and turns enjoyed this book atwood is a vampire visits his wife fun read
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Karen TalleyTop Contributor: Historical Fiction Books
TOP 500 REVIEWERVINE VOICE
5.0 out of 5 stars Yes!!
Reviewed in the United States on January 7, 2019
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The girls at Wiggons' School for Elegant Young Ladies believe that a vampire is living on the estate nearest them. Vincent, Lord Atwood never comes out in the light of day and visits his wife's grave at midnight each night. After all, he fits all the criteria in their favorite horrid novel 'Wake Not the Dead!' Even the villagers believe it. Tess Crawford, their teacher at the school, just laughs at their silliness. Unable to sleep one night, Tess takes a midnight stroll. She is near the cemetery when a sudden storm bears down and Lord Atwood helps her to take cover in his family's crypt. When they are finally able to emerge after the storm, they find uprooted tombstones and trees and a school that is so damaged that it must be entirely rebuilt. Lord Atwood (very) reluctantly offers accommodations for the 36 pupils and the teachers. Tess is hesitant to move into Atwood Hall because she knows that one of Atwood's friends is hunting her and intends intent on possessing something that she has and sending her to the gallows for a happening in her past. This is a unique and engaging plot that moves along at a quick pace. The hero is one of the most endearing that I have come across recently. The heroine is good and the three 'vampire mad' students had me chuckling. This is a good combination of mystery, humor, and romance and I am anxious to read more by this author. Normally I deduct from my ratings for editing errors but I enjoyed this book so much that this time I didn't. However, if you are seriously bothered by them (as some reviewers have been) you might want to pass on this one.

For those interested, there are no language or sexual situations to offend any readers.
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anonymous
4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent story and audio narrator!
Reviewed in the United States on June 24, 2014
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Tess Crawford was a gently-bred lady who attended Mrs. Wiggons' school as a student and has returned as a teacher due to life circumstances. Lord Atwood returned from the war with a disorder that causes painfully blinding headaches if he's exposed to sunlight. The town has labeled him as a vampire because he's only seen at night and every midnight he visits his wife's grave. Early in the book, a storm is blowing in at night and Tess feels restless and cannot resist going for a walk as the storm approaches. Suddenly, she is on the ground, covered by a heavy male body. Lord Atwood has saved her from a falling tree branch. He then proceeds to rescue them both by taking shelter in his family's crypt while a tempest blows around them.

When he escorts her back to the school, they find that the building has been severely damaged and the neighbors are all offering shelter to the students and teachers for the night. The next day, it is determined that the school needs extensive repairs and may need to close down. Lord Atwood comes to the rescue by allowing the school to move into his estate while the rebuilding takes place. Because of his condition, he sleeps during the day and must require rules to help keep the area around his room quiet. This of course leads to several contretemps since it's nearly impossible to keep three dozen teen and pre-teen girls quiet.

But noise is the least of the girls offenses...several of them are convinced that Lord Atwood is a vampire and he's trying to wake his wife from the dead. Each chapter of the book begins with an excerpt from the classic, gothic novel "Wake Not The Dead" and this story has a somewhat gothic feel - along the same lines as Northanger Abbey. As the story progresses, not only do Tess and Lord Atwell find a mutual attraction for each other, they also discover they have a mutual enemy in Lord Percer. Lord Percer wants the pieces of a treasure map that each of them have in their possession, along with pieces from several other families. This dispute with the extremely evil Lord Percer actually makes up the majority of the story, with the romance and the vampire plots meshing well and providing cohesion for the characters.

I enjoyed this book and parts of it I couldn't stop listening/reading. A few parts were repetitive (Percer's evil, will Tess get turned into the magistrate?, etc...) but overall it is well written and very engaging. The narrator is good - I enjoyed his lovely accented voice, but wished he had distinguished between the characters a bit more. This is a must read for fans of Jane Charles and I think anyone who likes regency/mystery type stories will enjoy this book.

** Mostly clean book with a few passionate kissing scenes.
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Dee Foster
5.0 out of 5 stars Nothing is as it seems
Reviewed in the United States on June 23, 2015
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He avoids daylight, visiting his wife’s grave only in the dead of night & never socializes with the townspeople. Add the book, Wake Not the Dead, and Vincent Latimer, Viscount Atwood, has been label a vampire. Of course he does nothing to dissuade the rumors; after all he prefers to be left alone with his guilt over his wife’s death. But then no one has ever asked how he is or why he avoids daylight.
Tess Crawford took a position as a teacher at her former school, Wiggons School for Elegant Ladies after the death of her uncle who was her guardian after her parent’s death many years ago. The only people to know the real reason she came back is the headmistress & 2 of the younger teachers who have become her best friends.
Catching 3 precarious students reading Wake Not the Dead, Tess does her best to scare some sense into the girls. After all she has told them many times that book is not suitable for them to read & is complete fiction. Unfortunately the girls have it in their head that Viscount Atwood is a vampire living in their mist & is trying to waken his dead wife. After chastising them yet again & sending them to their respective rooms, Tess knows she won’t be able to sleep for the nightmares of her past. She has long gotten into the habit of walking in the late evenings to clear her head.
This particular night is not a good night to be out as a storm hits the area with a vengeance. Fate has Vincent in the same area as Tess when the storm hits & drags her to safety inside his family crypt. The storm has wrought devastation to the school & through a series of conversations Vincent reluctantly agrees to house the students & their teachers until the school can be rebuilt – with stipulations.
Three headstrong girls who believe he’s a vampire, the mutual attraction between Tess & Vincent, Tess’ secret past, a villain from Vincent’s past & pieces of a treasure map…what could possibly go wrong?
Jane Charles writes a touching story of how 2 people, who have been dealt bad situations in their life, find & help one another to heal. Add the above scenarios & it becomes a lively, entertaining story with a hint of gothic to it. Definitely a must read & am looking forward to reading the next in the series.
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Mrs. Ann J. Dixon
5.0 out of 5 stars Vampire or human
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 20, 2019
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A very enjoyable story of misunderstandings on the behalf of locals and the girls at the local school. After a serious storm that destroyed part of their school the staff and pupils were invited to the home of Lord Atwood. He has been injured in the war and unable to go out during the daytime because the light made him suffer great pain. This encourages some of the girls to suspect he is a vampire especially when he goes to visit his wife's grave at midnight. The story includes a treasure map, a suspected murderess and and a villain. The book keeps the reader interested all the way through. I shall be very interested to read the next book in the series.
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DJW13
4.0 out of 5 stars Watch out for fictional vampires in Devon
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 30, 2019
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A bit of a muddle in some ways. I found the unshakeable belief in vampires by three schoolgirls a bit hard to take (even though I read books in which they feature). Putting themselves and others around them at danger in order to protect everyone from fictional creatures is not sensible, but I have little knowledge of what makes teenage girls in a boarding school tick

The romance between the schoolteacher and the lord was reasonably well handled, with the obligatory villain arriving to attempt to cause havoc.
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Kiz
4.0 out of 5 stars Fun story
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 7, 2019
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I enjoyed To Walk in the Sun, it's a fun story. I had problems with some of the editing and possible Americanisms used, such as 'trodding', 'drug' for 'dragged' and others. Despite the book being 248 pages long, I felt like I didn't get to know Tess and Vincent as well as I'd liked - their respective mysterious pasts being more important than their presents, maybe?

It is, however, a fun and undemanding story and worth a read.
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Linda Gilmore
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent story - must read.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 7, 2019
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Another gripping tale from the pen of the amazing writer Jane CHARLES. Once I started reading it could not stop till the end. Well worth reading and was a free download, which I would willingly have paid for!! Now purchasing Book 2 and 3 in the series. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
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A. Hemingway
4.0 out of 5 stars Good Read
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 5, 2021
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This is an interesting and unusual story, a nice change from the usual regency tales. It is well-written, with interesting characters looking forward to more as i loved the Trents
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