Not really for me, felt a bit all over the place , plot and writing, characters felt a bit flat for me, so not my cup of tea

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

I was so excited to read Winterly I have been loving Gothic novels. But I found Winterly to be all over the place. Was it a gothic novel or was it a supernatural read. There were plenty of witches and vampires. I found the author wanted to much for her book and couldn’t decide on what she really wanted. Characters were likable enough, but nothing stood out or made it exemplary. I will say the highlight of the book was the setting you really did think you were in regency era.

Winterly follows Emma as she uncovers the secrets of the mysterious Lord Winterly and those around him, leading her to make an exchange for her life in favour of her sister’s.

The book is a slow paced read, I loved the writing style and how the story develops and the interactions between the characters especially Emma and Lord Winterly. I thought because it is a long and slow read that I would be bored but the book is an enjoyable read with interesting characters. I liked the tone and atmosphere of the book and how everything unravelled with Emma slowly figuring things out – most of the book (around 70%) is spent leading up to the reveal and it was my favourite part of the book because I really enjoyed the setting and how the tension was built up. The book is told through Emma’s perspective but also her sister and some other characters – personally I would have liked it to be told just from Emma’s view because the other character’s perspectives added little to the story.

There is little plot development in the book for the first half and the book does follow a lot of cliches and is predictable however I did not mind this because I liked how the story was told and the characters. After the big reveal, things pick up a bit more and more backstory to some of the characters are given and surprisingly this was the section of the book which I did not like, the book was still interesting to read but I felt like once the tense/suspenseful atmosphere was gone the book felt a bit flat. But the story is still interesting enough that I would read on.

3/5

I was so excited to jump into this. I mean just read that synopsis! But it was a huge let down :(

Honestly, this book didn’t need it be that long. Everything was dragged out and very, very slow. It was a huge struggle to get through it. The author used weird diction as well. Like, I get that it’s supposed to be Victorian England, but all that wording wasn’t necessary. I was looking up word definitions at least once every page. It definitely took away from the reading experience/story.

A HUGE problem with this book is the sexism. Women were supposed to be pretty little dolls who can’t think for themselves. Seriously. At one point Milli said something about women being taught not to be clever. Excuse me??

Marcus was a cocky jerk, and Emma was an air head. That’s all.

I honestly don’t get why this book has so many positive reviews. But hey, maybe it just wasn’t my cup of tea. And that’s all right :)

Can I give this one a billion stars? I adored this book! Winterly is one of the best books I've read all year. I fell in love with the characters the moment I met them. Emma is such a smart and sarcastic character. Milli is the adorable marriage obsessed propped young lady. And Markus is just wow. Forget Prince Charming or Christian Gray, I need a devil like Markus in my life! Winterly has the perfect amount of macbre and romance. There's vampires, witches, weres, and fallen angels and a host of other genuinely creepy characters to keep you on your toes. The ending just about killed me. I was left wanting so much more. I can't wait to see what happens next for Markus, Emma, Milli, and the rest of the characters.

The cover intrigued me and the synopsis sold me, Penny Dreadful meets Northanger Abbey.
I really enjoyed this book and it delivered what it promised.
I loved the gothic romantic vibes. Enjoyed the witty letter entries at the beginning of each chapter and the relationship between the Rose sisters.
The romance was a slow burn, which is exactly what I love.

The only con is that I had a difficult time with the verbage. I felt that some of the word choices were a bit too archaic. Totally appropriate for the time period, but just a bit challenging to read.
I also wished Chapter 15 would have been placed later in the book. It's the first time we hear that Winterly is a vampire. I already figured he was, but I wanted to find out when Emma found out and let the build up continue until then.
Overall, I adored this book, the characters and the gothic romantic vibes.

This book was great I loved it. The characters spoke and used mannerisms that made you feel like you were swept away in time. It was a dark, creepy, gothic story about two sisters(Emma and Milli)that spend the summer with their uncle and aunt, looking for husbands. During their stay, they get more then they bargain for when a number of murders happen, as well as a Mysterious Gentleman arrives, who happens to save Emma’s life one night. This story is mainly from Emma’s perspective and her journey to discovering the truth about the dark Lord Winterly. The story left me wanting more and I did not want to put it down. You get a suspenseful and exciting romance and murder mystery with supernatural elements . It wrapped up Emma’s ending well and left off at a perfect cliffhanger for the next story, which I will be reading when it comes out. I would definitely recommend this book. There are Trigger warnings which include murder and violence. I received this ebook via Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

Firstly I'd like to thank NetGalley, the Publisher and Author for an ARC to review. I struggled with this book, infact this was a DNF for me unfortunately. The writing style was hard to get used to, even after 150+pages, and the whole pace of the plot/character development had me losing interest and really wanting to stop, so I did. Others have said this book was quite a journey but worth it, for me at this time its a journey that I just cannot keep going with. Maybe I'll come back to it, but right now this was a let down for me overall after having such an amazing premise.

this was a really enjoyable read, I liked that it felt like a old time romance book with supernatural elements. I look forward to more in the series.

Winterly is darkly atmospheric, poetic gothic beauty. Jeanine Croft writes with a lyrical pen that drips with atmosphere, a melody that eerily invades the senses and refuses to relinquish you from its vampiric romantic depths.

Emma and Markus, be still my beating bookish heart. These two are swoon worthy together. Emma, dear Emma, as she attempts to evade every deliciously decadent encounter with the dark and mysterious Markus Winterly, I couldn’t help but fall under the same thralling spell that was woven around Emma’s heart.

And Markus, dastardly charming Markus Winterly, from the first word out of his mysterious mouth, I, like Emma, knew that I was in the presence of my newest bookish boyfriend. He’s so guarded and mysterious that when I finally learned more about him, I was all in and left with wanting more, more and more.

The characters of this charming dark novel are well written and the added depth of getting bits and pieces from several of the characters, not just Miss Emma Rose, rounded the depths of this tome into a piece that Croft should be mightily proud of creating. The world building drops you into the midst of Victorian England. The vernacular, the mannerisms, it screams of the period and added an element to the story that elevated this from just a vampiric tale, to a loaded gun of poetry, magic, love, mystery and lyrical literary goodness.

While Emma does make some decisions that made me want to physically step into the book and shake her silly, it did not detract from my love for the story or the character for that matter. Winterly is long, decadently rich in atmosphere and personally one of my favorite novels of the year. I was giddy whenever I spoke to those in my household about the depths of this novel and when I mentioned the talent and depth of the writing. I adored Winterly and can not wait to read the next book, there are characters that I need to know more about and relationships to swoon over.

This was probably my most surprising read of the year. My expectations were for a vampire-romance, heavy on the romance, light on the vampire. What I got was a novel wonderfully reminiscent of Anne Rice, full of fun allusions to the very best of hysterical gothic literature, and possibly the sharpest heroine around.
It's not a short book, but I breezed through it - the writing is easy, confident and well paced, the dialogue is never less than engaging, and more often than not, brilliantly witty (several of the earlier scenes had me grinning like a loon on public transport, so thank goodness for masks).
I must admit that I preferred the first half to the second. The story as it opens is faux-gothic, entirely clever. Our heroine is the (sometimes literally) ink nosed Emma Rose, part-time spinster, full-time obsessed with the best/worst gothic novels ever written. Chaperoning her younger sister's Season in London, she is intrigued from the first moment that she meets the Viscount Winterly.
Its all very Pride & Prejudice as he is smitten and she easily rebuffs his every move with a suitably casual and hilarious manner. And all around them the atmosphere grows darker and more strained, as a series of grisly London murders unfolds.
I was entirely here for it. By the beginning of part two I was ready to call this my top read of 2020. But the second half-
Without dropping any spoilers, it takes a bit of a left turn. And then keeps turning left. And then just starts going in some circles. It's not that it's not still well-written, but the plot loses the initial tension that was built. As more and more elements were added, the more convoluted it became, the less invested I felt. It's a shame, because what is good is really, really good. And what's less good is still very good. Just perhaps not the story I wanted it to be.

i never ended up downloading this, i've been reading other reviews on this and it sounds pretty good, so i might go get it~

Thank you Netgalley and BooksGoSocial for the opportunity to review this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
What would happen if your favorite Jane Austen or Bronte Heroine and hero were thrown into the world of vampires, witches, and other under worldly beings, and mixed in a bit of Jack the Ripper? You would get Winterly by Jeanine Croft.

The very first thing that caught my eye was the cover. It is absolutely stunning. It drew me in and made me want to read this book. Then the synopsis mentions it's Penny Dreadful and Northanger Abbey with a dark twist of underworlds containing mystery, romance, and masquerades. Count me in.

Winterly follows sisters Emma and Milli, who live in London with their aunt and uncle during the Season. However, there are mysterious murders happening in London, leaving behind bodies without hearts. One evening, after being separated from her aunt and uncle, Emma gets lost and almost killed before she is rescued by the mysterious Mr. Winterly. Ever since then, he keeps popping up, until one evening Milli and Emma are invited to stay with at their home by his sister. While there, something mysterious happens to Milli, and Emma is thrust into a world of dark beings that she never knew existed, and worse, she finds that she may feel more herself in that world than her own.

At first I struggled with the book. I found it to be a bit slow at the beginning and to drag in other parts as well. I also found that I didn't always connect with the characters. At first, I found Milli to be shallow and silly, while Emma was just not very interesting. It wasn't until about half way through the book that I started seeing some growth in them and started feeling invested in what happened to them. I did however really enjoy Markus from the moment that I met him. I loved his sass and sarcasm. I also really liked the Gothic atmosphere, with the castles, and talk of abbeys and catacombs.

All in all, it was an enjoyable book that left it open for a sequel, that I am interested in reading.

Thanks to Netgalley, the author and publisher for the opportunity to review!

This dark and Gothic vampire tale is a bit of a climb to get through but oh so worth it! I loved the characters and the writing style kept me entertained.

The premise of this book was so promising. A naive girl, a mysterious viscous, and maybe some otherworldly creatures. What I ended up with were some well developed characters with a great story but the biggest distraction from the story was having to Google so many words to make sure I was understanding the text. I understand wanting to use vernacular for the period but it totally distracts from the flow of the novel. The interwoven stories of the supernatural characters was welcome but the mixing of 2 separate types of creature didn't have enough explanation to suit my curiosity. Despite all this, I loved the book and would recommend to anyone who loves supernatural romance books.

Before I get into my review, can we talk about how gorgeous this cover is? I love the simplicity of the design and the subtle but sharp use of color.

This being my first book from Jeanine Croft, I was unsure what to expect but I was totally blown from the start. Jeanine wove a powerful and enchanting tale that was so beautifully written that eloquent seems insufficient a description. She is such a powerful word wizard that I had to break out my dictionary more than once during my read which I appreciate as I love learning new words and phrases. I also appreciated the thought that went into this novel as evidenced by additional touches such as each chapter having its own intro (which I enjoy) and a gothic theme that carried throughout.

Emma Rose was quite different from MC of her time with a sharp and witty mind. This, coupled with her love of grotesqueries and a curious mind leads her to appreciate the darkness and its secrets. Throughout Winterly, Emma transforms from a shy and meek book lover to something fierce and to be feared.

Winterly was a delicious game of cat and mouse that had me on the end of my seat. The darker almost gothic sense of humor was different yet still immensely pleasurable. The spectrum of supernatural within Winterly ranged from vampires to gypsies and paid homage to classic myths and legends such as horsemen of the apocalypse, Cleopatra, and the fallen angels.

The sheer volume of characters made keeping up a bit difficult but it also ensured all the characters both primary and secondary were properly developed which enhanced and strengthened the plotline. Winterly had layers upon layers of villains, wickedness, lies, deceit, and wrongdoing. With so much doom and gloom, the catharsis was rightfully both light and dark, both good and bad and both life and death.

While I enjoyed the novel I was immensely frustrated by Emma and Markus. There was such delicious anticipation that their actual interactions left me disappointed. I felt shortchanged at a lot of their scenes. Another shortfall for me was Emma’s sister and her dilemma. It seemed very vague and I am not sure the outcome was justified. Emma’s familial ties were a bit underdeveloped, especially when considering the time and place in which the novel was set.

That being said there was a deep-rooted sense of being true to yourself that I admired and I extremely interested to see how the author transforms this magical world further.

Thank you to Book Go Social, the author and NetGalley for providing me with an arc.

This review can also be found on my blog: https://jessicareadsit.wordpress.com/

I like to read fantasy, I like to read romance, but period historical fantasy romance?.....this genre has not really interested me......So why am I now reviewing this book?....I loved the cover!!!

Anyway.....I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. I loved the darkness and atmospheric descriptions. I found myself completely involved in the whole story, almost like a movie, but in my head.

The characters are well developed, interesting and annoying! I found myself raising my eyebrows in disbelief at some of the things that happened, laughing at some of the humour and mentally shouting at some of the characters.

The old fashioned language was off-putting to begin with, but once I got used to it I think it just added to the feel of the story........(I read this on a kindle so it was easy enough to look up some of the words if I could not make out what they meant.)

If you like "old fashioned" type vampires, werewolves, witches and other fantasy creatures, you will love this.

I would absolutely recommend this and I can't wait to read the next one.

Winterly was the perfect read coming into October with a variety of paranormal characters, romance, and a Beauty and the Beast feel. Emma's discovery of the paranormal world as she tries to protect her sister from the darkness was a fun new take on vampires.

Well, this was a fun read and I'm glad I finished it entering October. I have a soft spot for vampires and Victorian aesthetic, so I knew from the start that I was going to enjoy it, but the prose is so beautiful that I absolutely loved it.

Set in the dark streets of Victorian London, we meet Emma, an almost-spinster that lives with her aunt and uncle, and her younger sister. One evening, she meets the misterious Markus Winterly, and her life is torn appart forever. Love and blood intwine in this dark tale, when the call of the darkness is stronger than the light.

Thank you to NetGalley for a copy of this book to read and review.

Jeanine Croft's Winterly was my first foray into the genre of paranormal romance in quite a while. The last PNR books I read that pop to mind are Vampire Academy and, of course, Twilight. I'll be honest I was slightly apprehensive going in but Winterly didn't disappoint. For one, the language, befitting gothic London, was a treasure trove of new and interesting words. But probably the best part of Winterly was that it didn't give in to the trope of the vampire warning away the poor girl who is helplessly in love with him---you know, the "I'm dangerous. You should stay away from me. For your own good." *stares intensely into her soul*

Instead, and forgive me the language, Winterly was a typical self-aggrandizing bastard from almost his very entrance, and Emma wasn't so caught up in his charms as to not notice it. She knew he was wicked (so to speak) and fell for him anyway, discovering her own 'darkness' through him. That, for me, was the highlight of the book, but there is one more aspect, that I will not reveal to keep well away from spoilers. Still, I will say this--the flashbacks regarding the Vampyres and other paranormal beings in Winterly is a well-employed plot device, and one with details that I was nowhere near anticipating. The conflict and the paranormal presence created by Croft are well-developed, with a certain quality of realism in the dynamics as well. Overall, I enjoyed the book, and would probably have enjoyed it even more if Emma didn't annoy me every so often with her ceaseless judging and jumping to (mostly) erroneous conclusions.
All in all, an enjoyable return to the world of PNR and I will be sure to catch the next book of the Dark Creatures series...the ending, while not a cliffhanger (thank you Jeanine!) was one that left me in anticipation of an amazing showdown waiting to happen.

My rating: 3/5 stars

Go on, grab yourself a copy of Winterly and transport yourself to the gloomy, magical world of old London.

Trigger Warnings: As with most PNRs, there's a certain amount of expected blood and gore in Winterly. You would be more than prepared if you have watched/read any part of The Vampire Diaries and/or one of the many spin-off/sequel/prequel series. Some references to incest (but only in the extremely long life-span way). One scene that did bother me a little was one where the MC is involved in what she believes is a dream but, well, is not. The concept of consent there is a little sketchy since she consents to those actions under the assumption they are an erotic dream, but that's up for your interpretation.