Such an exciting beginning of a new series! Roseanna M White once again shows how she masterfully brings together a historical period. But this time, she also blessed us with a stunning setting. Such a unique take to a story.

I have anticipated this book ever since I heard how Roseanna M White came up with the idea. And I loved it! Perfect setting and endearing characters. Nothing short from what I have come to expect from White!

This was a fantastic Christian novel, and I would definitely recommend it to anyone who thinks it sounds interesting! (I also love the cover of it!)

You can never go wrong with a book from Roseanna White, and this book is no exception to that rule. Not only did White pen a fabulous historical novel, but she added such an intriguing mystery to it! I think really that's what kept me flipping the pages more than anything. I needed to find out what happened with Elizabeth! But it was even more than that. Mabena, the secondary character, had some mystery of her own. And Maam-Wyn!! Oh my goodness I just loved that woman. She had some quirky lines here and there, but mostly she kept people on their toes when she was around.

Once again White brings me to a beautiful setting that I do not want to leave. Her descriptiveness just makes the story so vivid in my mind. I can see the cottage, the shores of the island, and a few other places I can't name because I don't want to spoil it. Sorry!! But seriously, it's so easy for me to be transformed when reading her books. The characters are charming, yet struggle at one point or another throughout the book. Here we have Libby struggling with faith. Something I know a thing or two about. And so I easily connected with her character. Or Mabena. Left a certain situation (again can't spoil it), and became a maid to Libby. I may not have ran away and started something new, but I can tell you there are times I have wanted to. And Oliver - a dedicated, loyal brother. What girl doesn't want to read about a guy like that!?

Basically, this book is the start to a wonderful new series by Roseanna White. There are quite a few characters to get to know, but that's necessary to the series I am sure, as well as this novel in particular. Each had a part to play, and honestly I don't think I would have liked the story if any of them were not there. I can't wait to see what happens next! Highly recommend this for historical fiction fans.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. I was not required to write a favorable review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The Nature of a Lady
by Roseanna M. White
Bethany House
Bethany House Publishers
Christian | Historical Fiction | Romance
Pub Date 04 May 2021


I am reviewing a copy of The Nature of a Lady through Bethany House Publishers and Netgalley:




The year is 1906, Lady Elizabeth “Libby” Sinclair with her love of microscopes and nature, isn't favored in society. In order to get away from her brothers attempts to get her engaged and married off to a man who she doesn’t love simply because of his title. Libby flees to the beautiful Isles of Scilly for the summer and stumbles into the dangerous secrets left behind by her holiday cottage's former occupant, also named Elizabeth, who mysteriously vanished.





Oliver Tremayne is a gentleman and a clergymen who is is determined to discover what happened to his sister, and he's happy to accept the help of the girl now living in what should have been Beth's summer cottage, especially when he realizes it's the curious young lady he met briefly two years ago, who shares his love of botany and biology. But the hunt for his sister involves far more than nature walks, and he can't quite believe all the secrets Beth had been keeping from him.





As Oliver and Libby are drawn together to find Beth, who Libby has been mistaken for they find ancient legends, pirate wrecks, betrayal, and the most mysterious phenomenon of all: love.




I give The Nature of a Lady five out of five stars!



Happy Reading!

Flowers, treasure, pirates, English islands, mysterious disappearances... Wow! This book has it all! I absolutely enjoyed this book. It was the perfect balance of romance and mystery along with adventure. If you are looking for a book that has mystery, romance and historical fiction, then this is a great one for you!

Lady Elizabeth Sinclair decides to spend the summer in Cornwall to avoid her brother and his plans to marry her off to one of his school friends. She’s not interested in marriage–she’s far more interested in botany and drawing and other scientific pursuits. I did like and admire that about her.

She is accompanied by her lady’s maid, Mabena Moon, who is from the area and has her own reasons to visit the Isles … her missing best friend, also called Elizabeth. This brings both women into contact with Elizabeth’s brother, the local vicar, who becomes friends with Lady Elizabeth. They are brought closer together as mysterious deliveries arrive at the cottage … deliveries for the missing Elizabeth.

I didn’t find the characters as engaging or the plot as compelling as I had hoped. I found the story dragged in places, and The Nature of a Lady certainly wasn’t one of those books I devoured in a day or so. Even the climax didn’t work for me, because I wasn’t invested enough in the story.

The Nature of a Lady has mystery and suspense and romance, the things readers expect in a Roseanna M White novel. It had the unique setting, and the popular time period. It had White’s typical excellent writing style. But despite all the good things it did have, the sum of the whole was somehow less than the sum of the parts, and it left me with more of a ho-hum feeling than one of satisfaction.

This is the first book in Roseanna M White’s new series, The Secrets of the Isles. It’s set in the Isles of Scilly, Cornwall, which brings together Elizabeth’s refined Downton Abbey-era upbringing with the wild roughness of Poldark’s Cornwall (but a century after Poldark). Recommended for fans of Carrie Turanksy and Julie Klassen.

Thanks to Bethany House and NetGalley for providing a free ebook for review.

FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book. These are my honest thoughts.

I have loved the majority of Mrs. White’s books. I fully expected to love this one.

Sadly, I did not.

The premise was wonderful. I was in the mood for a good mystery, and I thought this one sounded like it would fit the bill.

The mystery started with a bang, so I thought I was going to be in for a jam-packed novel, filled to the brim with clues and red herrings and all sorts of mischief for me to sort through in order to find out what truly happened to the missing character. I was ready for the adventure.

However, it promptly fizzled out for me when the brother set aside his concern for his missing sister and instead focused on his everyday business of continuing his long-held rivalry with the town headmaster, racing said headmaster in a weekly rowing competition, and romancing the leading lady, who he just met. What happened to his urgent concern for his sister’s well-being???

The tension leading up to Mabena’s return to her home island was superb. I thought for sure I was in for a good showdown once she finally made it back home, because the tension was a palpable promise of such a thing. However, there was no follow-through on that understood promise. In Mabena’s big return home, there was not an on-page reunion with her parents, so there was no showdown or blowup or anything else worthy of all the built-up angst.

The mystical, fantasy-type vibes I got in the first forty percent of this book were creepy. There was some “magic elbow” thing that I didn’t really understand, and I wasn’t sure if Mamm-wynn was supposed to be a prophetess, a mystic, or just some senile old lady who imagined relationships and weddings and honeymoons where there were none. These and a couple of other little threads give me the willies and made my soul uneasy.

The pro-evolution, pro-Charles Darwin leanings in the leading lady were so disturbing to me. I was completely shocked to see this content strung throughout a Christian novel. It was even worse when the “sage” Mamm-wynn “confirmed” Libby’s connection between evolution and God’s name choices for a few people in the Bible. This was a huge disappointment to me, as I have long been a big fan of Mrs. White’s work, and it seemed to come from left field, because there had been nothing of the sort in any of Mrs. White’s other books (of the ones I have read to this point; I have not read them all, but I have read many of them).

Later on, the story took an awkward turn when Libby suddenly discovered the “sport of man watching” and spent a while ogling men’s physiques as they prepared for a boat race. This was completely out of character for her and gave me the willies all over again, but for a different reason.

Soon after that, the story took another turn, this time introducing the very modern ideal of a person’s not being “less.” This ideal only became popular and trendy in the twenty-first century, so I’m not sure why it’s featured in a historical novel set just a few years into the twentieth century.

The modernity slipping into a historical book was the last straw, and I stopped reading the book at 40%, which was around page 154. I was really bummed out today when I decided to stop reading it, because what was supposed to be a fun, enjoyable mystery had not lived up to my expectations.

I really adored the little kitten, but it hardly had enough page time. I wanted much, much more of it. The beach-combing scene was pretty enjoyable, and I greatly enjoyed the setting of the Scilly Islands. I hope I can find another series of books set on those beautiful isles.

One of my favorite authors, Roseanna White always creates wonderfully unique characters. I love how they develop throughout the book. The Nature of a Lady is the same rich treat like all her previous novels and a must read for sure!

While this one took me a bit to finish (thanks to life picking up), it is in no way a reflection of the book itself. Roseanne White has knocked it out of the park again with this new series, and I cannot wait to read the next installment.

Particularly fun is reading her notes at the end of the book where she describes her inspiration for the story and seeing how real life happenings catapulted into a book!

One thing that I love about White’s writing is how she incorporates faith without being preachy. One of the main characters is a clergyman, but his approach is gentle.

The deeper dive into flora/fauna with the main character and her gentle love for the scientific was wonderful.

A favorite quote from the book: “He knows your name. Not Libby, not Elizabeth Sinclair. Your true name, the one at the heart of you that has never been spoken. He knows you, and He calls you by it. You, in all your uniqueness. You, in everything that differentiates you from others. You, in all you have in common with them. He knows you, and He calls you by name. He knows how you fit into this world.”

The Nature of a Lady by Roseanna M. White is set in the Isles of Scilly and centers around both the islanders and those of a higher class seeking rest on the islands. A mystery factors into the plot as well, and the prologue was intriguing and set an interesting tone for the story.
But I didn’t enjoy this one as I did previous works by the author. For one, the heroine was very unlikable at times, going from being meek and submissive with her disrespectful maid to insulting her brother’s friend and wanting to kick him in the shins. It seemed to me that she was supposed to be thought of as sweet, while her actions did not reflect that.
The relationship between her and the maid confused me. There was a lot of deceit and bitterness involved in what Mabena did, and it seems as though she knew what she could get away with and abused what power she held. At times it seemed like Mabena was more suited to the role of mistress than the heroine was, since the heroine often had to capitulate to her wants and moods, even to the point of honestly asking if the maid was ashamed to be seen with her. Mabena’s complaining and use of devil as a curse word tainted the story.
The relationship also felt rushed, with both characters taking steps that seemed out of character, especially with the more responsible individual. At more than one point, his desires took precedence over his code of conduct as a vicar and retained that precedence.
That’s not to say that this book did not have moments that resonated with me. I’ve found that this author’s books usually make me stop and ponder. The theme of loss, weariness, and sharing the burden, when Oliver finally opened his lost brother’s room, touched me with its sincerity. I loved how selfless Morgan was, how he was not bitter but made the most of what time he had.
I received a complimentary copy of this book through Netgalley. A positive review was not required.

I was intrigued by The Nature of a Lady because it's on fire on Instagram. The covers is beautiful and other bookstagrammers were raving about it.
A couple things: I will definitely be reading Roseanna's work from now on. And I am glad this is just book 1 of the series!
Things I liked:
The setting: The Isles of Scilly are described in rich detail (very poetically without becoming overly flowery.) But also Libby's unique scientific perspective makes it doubly interesting.
Libby: She's strong and unique, but not brash and sassy. While I do love sassy characters, sometimes this standard becomes a little tiring. It's nice to meet a character that is a little more gentle and bookworm-y.
The Message: When you're a Christian author, it's tough to convey inspirational messages of faith in your books without sounding overly preachy. The Nature of a Lady discusses evolution and intentional design artfully.
Things I Didn't:
Shallow Plot (No offense, Pirates!): While this is still a great book, some of the plot felt a little...not as developed... as it should be? It wasn't terrible by any means. Just a little shallow in some areas. Also, there were also a few areas of intrigue that just didn't seem to come together at the end. Hopefully, since this is book 1, that'll change with the sequel.
Religion and Science: This isn't really a disadvantage so much as a disclaimer...If you want to read a book that doesn't lean towards Christianity, The Nature of a Lady is not your book. Libby's questions of science, evolution, and God go deep. These questions and Libby's spiritual journey are an important elements of the book.

To sum it up, Nature of a Lady is a well-written, slow-burn novel with a loveable cast of characters and enough romance to keep you turning the pages (if you're not a huge fan of botany!)

Disclaimer: Thank you NetGalley and Bethany House Publishers for letting me review this. Unfortunately though, I didn't actually get to read this before it was archived. ( I was granted access the day before it was archived). Getting a hold of it was a little work, but it's definitely worth the purchase!

What a beautiful picturesque setting in this story. I had never heard of the Scilly Islands and I found them so interesting I had to do my own little research and what a beautiful location it is! Definitely would love to return to this beautiful place even if its through fiction. This was my first book by Roseanna M. White so I didn't know what to expect. I have only heard great things from her so I was excited to receive this book for review.

The characters were well developed and engaging for the most part. I absolutely loved Oliver, the vicar of the town. His family was so sweet. I absolutely loved his grandmother. He truly did make a wonderful male lead and hero of this story. Libby was hard to connect with for me. She was a great character, don't get me wrong, but I just could not relate to her at all so it made it difficult for me to lover her completely. The romance for me was a bit bland. It wasn't a passionate romance. They fell for each other because they had things in common which I know it was common for the time period the author is writing in but I just wanted a little more.

Overall I thought the story was well researched and well written. One thing that the author does a phenomenal job in is making sure that the gospel message is given in a way that makes sense in the overall story. She truly explains it beautifully and I really appreciate that. I will say one of my favorite characters were actually Beth and Sheridan so I am looking forward to seeing them in the next story.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher Bethany House. I was not required to post a positive review. All views expressed are only my honest opinion.

The cover of this book is just gorgeous. I love Roseanna’s books and I will want to read it without even seeing what it is about.

This one did take a bit more time for me to get into then her pervious books but once it got rolling I did enjoy it. I probably didn’t like as much as her others, I just felt like it was a bit slow.

The mystery surrounding Beth’s disappearance definitely kept things interesting and Oliver’s grandmother seemed to have a way of knowing things that other’s dismissed as crazy talk, but maybe it’s not.

Overall, it is a good historical romance, just not my favorite.

A copy of this book was given to me through Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

There are two things that I have come to expect from Roseanna M. White: absolutely stunning book covers and beautifully written historical tales that draw me into the story and through time.

The Nature of a Lady did not disappoint on either front. Right from the start I was drawn into Libby and Oliver's characters. They were well written and I couldn't get enough of them. It was however the intrigue of the pirates that really drew me in. In all honesty, in all the many books I've read I cannot say that pirate ships are a topic that come up all too often... but if all the tales were like this... well that certainly should change. The story offered a beautiful blend of romance with mystery with great messages of faith too... all of my favorite aspects of a good story.

This is book one in the new series and I for one cannot wait to see what comes next!

**I received a complimentary copy of this book for consideration. All thoughts are my own.

The year is 1906 and Lady Elizabeth Sinclair needs a holiday from both society and her mother, both of which think that she needs a husband. What Libby needs though is to be left alone to study nature. She decides to go to the Isle of Scilly for the summer with her maid Mabena Moon.

Oliver Tremayne is the local clergyman who is determined to find out why his sister Beth went missing and where did she go?

Lives and events intertwine as Oliver, Libby and Mabena work to discover what happened to Beth.

Roseanna M. White is an amazing author who knows how to tell a story. She makes her characters come alive in her books, and this one is no exception. Although the story begins in a milder way, there’s plenty of action and adventure as the book progresses. The setting of the islands adds much to the storyline, and is the perfect setting for a legend of a shipwreck and pirate’s treasure.

I loved the two main characters in this book, Oliver and Libby. Oliver is a young man who is the vicar in his community. He truly loves his congregation and they love him. Libby is a scientist at a time when this did not fit the “norm” for a proper lady and the sister of Lord Sinclair. Libby wants to be loved and accepted for who she is besides the wealth of her family. Libby and Oliver soon develop a wonderful friendship, and Oliver realizes that besides acceptance from family. As their relationship deepens, the obstacles that can keep them apart seem to grow larger.


I loved seeing Libby come into her personal faith in God and how that changes her perspective on her studies of nature. When she begins to recognize God as the Master Creator, she finds a whole new meaning in life. It’s a good reminder for all of us as well as adding depth to this beautiful story.


I received a copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions are my own.

The Nature of a Lady by Rosanna M. White

This was a great first book in a new historical romance series—Secrets of the Isles. Elizabeth, the main character, is different from other society ladies in that she’s more interested in science and nature than who the most eligible bachelor is this season. She’s a fun character in her mental responses which are off beat and refreshing. While the author does a great job of describing the beauty of the isles we aren’t lost in boring descriptions. Witty dialogue helps separate each character so there’s no confusion, even between the two Elizabeths. The plot consists of island-hopping, pirate treasure, dangerous villains, an overbearing brother, a woman seeking freedom, and a handsome vicar who’s trying to find his missing sister. I can’t forget to mention the grandmother who is spot-on and wise, even if she may be losing her mind. Overall, I enjoyed the story from page one. I’ve only read White’s The Number of Love but I can legitimately say I’m a fan and look forward to reading her backlist until the next one in the series releases.

Romance: Two sets of romances, both sweet
Christianese: It was a good moment of a character realizing she didn’t have to choose between two things but that they could work together.
Violence: Minimal and most of it was alluded to off-scene

The end credits hint at more in the series that will carry on with the characters in this book so I’m excited to see where (and with who!) they end up.


Disclaimer: The publisher offered a complimentary copy of this book. The review was given freely, without payment. All views expressed are only the honest opinion of a member of Historical Bookworm Review Team.


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White has been a long time favorite author of mine. She has written another winner in "The Nature of a Lady." It has it all....pirates, buried treasure, missing person, arranged marriage, long time feud between a school master and a clergyman, a Lady and her maid {who is not what she appears to be} on vacation on an island. Throw in mystery, danger and romance and of course White has Christian faith woven through out the pages. This makes a most interesting book with a satisfying ending. All of her characters and the plot are very believable and easy to visualize. ....I was gifted a book from the publisher and I am happy to leave a review.

Lady Elizabeth “Libby” Sinclair is visiting the Isles of Scilly for the summer, hoping to catalog the various living species and escape from a pending engagement back in London. In the Isles, she encounters adventure and romance with local vicar Oliver Tremayne, who is searching for his sister who has disappeared mysteriously in search of the pirate treasure of local lore. Oliver and Libby work together with a well-written cast of characters to get to the bottom of the mystery, and their romance is delightful! The suspense of the search for Oliver’s sister and the intrigue surrounding the search for pirate treasure made this book interesting from start to finish and captured my imagination. The book is filled with unique and engaging characters which make this book so fun to read, and I love that the future books in the series will give us some of their stories too. Oliver was such a wonderful hero in this book, and I loved how he continually put Libby ahead of himself throughout their relationship, even in dealing with her imposing family. He was such a sweet and romantic character! I adored the spiritual lessons that multiple characters learned throughout the plot, especially the heroine Libby, who learned to move from knowledge of God to a relationship with Him. It was a lesson that touched my heart! This was my first read by Roseanna M. White, and I absolutely cannot wait to devour more of her work now. I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves adventure and a lovely romance, and I look forward to the future books in the series!
I received a copy of this book from the publisher from Netgalley for review purposes. My thoughts are my own—I really did love it!