Beneath His Silence

By: Hannah Linder

Narrated by: Anne Flosnik

Length: 9 hrs and 58 mins

Publisher's summary

Will Seeking Justice Lead to Her Own Demise?

A Gothic-Style Regency Romance from a Promising Young Author

Second daughter of a baron—and a little on the mischievous side—Ella Pemberton is no governess. But the pretense is a necessity if she ever wishes to get inside of Wyckhorn Manor and attain the truth. Exposing the man who killed her sister is all that matters.

Lord Sedgewick knows there's blood on his hands. Lies have been conceived, then more lies, but the price of truth would be too great. All he has left now is his son—and his hatred. Yet as the charming governess invades his home, his safe cocoon of bitterness begins to tear away.

Could Ella, despite the lingering questions of his guilt, fall in love with such a man? Or is she falling prey to him—just as her dead sister?

©2022 Hannah Linder (P)2022 Oasis Audio

Amazing!

holds your attention from beginning to end, you will not want to put this book down.

Great voice actor, story wasn’t my vibe

I won this kindle book as a Goodreads giveaway, and I had never read this author before. Overall, the book is not my style of romance. Closed door, Christian based. I will say, I had no issue with the writing, the mystery and romance was excellent. It just didn’t hold my interest, and that’s ok. I bought the audiobook to listen during holiday car rides, and the voice actors were good. Again, no issue with the voice actors themselves, the material just didn’t engage me. But this book and audio book would be amazing for the right crowd! Would still recommend for people looking into Christian Romance for sure!

Loved this debut novel! Narration was fantastic.

I can’t believe this is a debut novel! It had all the romance and gothic atmosphere of a Charlotte Brontë story and reminded me so much of Jane Eyre.

The narration was fantastic and I loved the way she narrated both male and female characters. The emotion was just right. I also enjoyed the way she narrated Peter’s character who is a seven year old boy.

The story really pulls you in and is filled with many twists and turns. It’s the story of revenge, forgiveness, and love. Ella wants to avenge her sister Lucy’s death. She blames her brother-in-law and wants nothing more than to expose his hand in her sister’s death. She discovers an opportunity when Lord Sedgwick is in need of a governess for his seven year old son Peter. Having never met him before, she easily conceals her identity and becomes Peter’s governess. What she doesn’t expect is to come to like the man. He’s nothing like the monster she imagined. But there are secrets in the house which threaten to destroy all she holds dear. Will she discover the truth before it’s too late?

I loved both Ella and Henry. I enjoyed their slow burn romance. There were definitely some surprises and suspenseful moments that had me listening more intently. I loved Ella’s quick wit and the banter between her and Henry. There’s also messages of faith deftly woven into the story.

Definitely recommend to those who enjoy gothic romance, Regency romance, and Christian historical romance.

still reccomend it

while I can't give it 5 stars, I still would recommend it. and what's more, I am eager to read what this author publishes next. I am aware it is her debut novel and taking that into account, it is a great debut, and I am sure her books will only get better.

I'll start with what I liked. it is not false advertising when the description says it is a Gothic novel. it is that from beginning to end and the author does a splendid job at immersing you in the atmosphere and feeling of a Gothic novel. not only with descriptions but with her writing style. I would say the Gothic feel is my favorite thing of this book, and if you like Gothic novels you will most likely love this one.

we know this is a romance so I don't think I'm spoiling anything here, but the characters getting to know each other and falling in love was very well done, so sweet and swoony and cute, I truly loved it and enjoyed it. it's up there with the Gothic feel, competing for favorite aspect of the book.

the mystery is also very good. as it is regarding mystery I can't say much else, to not give away anything. the idea and plot also felt fresh, and it was really fun to guess what was the true story behind it all.

I'm not an expert on history but everything seemed well researched, at least as far as my knowledge goes, I wasn't put off by any inaccuracies.

Henry was also a very interesting character, and I wasn't ready to say goodbye to him. Peter was by far my favorite though, and I loved all the scenes with him in it. children aren't always written well but I think he was, and I have 4 nieces and nephews close to his age.

I don't want to dwell on the negative very much, as I said, it is a debut novel and I can tell it was written with a lot of love and effort put into it, and I'm sure I couldn't do better if I tried. but I felt Ella could have been developed better, at times I felt confused by her choices or words, as if it didn't feel like her. she felt brazen and courageous at times, then meek and not willing to say what was on her mind. but maybe I just wasn't able to understand her well, and the fault lies with me. I thought the story could have used a little shortening, it feels as if the last 3rd of the book didn't need to be so long, and the conflict was a little dragged out for me. but that's just my preference. this is not, in my opinion, a character driven book, rather the plot drives the characters, which is not a criticism, as it is once again, only my preference I speak of. if you are like me, this may lessen your enjoyment. also it felt as if the drama was turned up to 11 the second half of the book, and there was barely any respite to let your soul come to terms with it. then the ending comes and its over and as a reader I didn't feel the ending was reward enough for enduring through all of that. would have loved to see the characters be happy for a little bit more, after being angry, sad and upset almost the entire book. also there should be something in the description or on the genre details to let the reader know this is a Christian book. I didn't mind it, as I am Christian but felt readers should know when deciding.

the narration goes well with the Gothic theme, and she did the voices and accents very well in my humble opinion.

once again, I'm very grateful for the author's hard work and I look forward to your future works!! I'll be here for them.

Wonderful Story

I enjoyed this story very much! I’ll be watching for more novels by Hannah Linder.

Too much religion

The multiple religious references felt very forced
I also struggled to like the main characters, Henry was overly cold and aloof and Ella's "spirit" was very weak and too easily overcome.