I enjoyed this story with all the characters that were within this book. The main character was Lorna MacDougal.

Lorna MacDougal goes to the Cameron’s family estate that is on an island. She is applying for an interview as a governess. But she did know that the job would have her also find a murder. The lady of the estate wants to hire her to find out who has murder her husband. While looking around, she meets the three sons of the lady. The lady thinks that one them might have done it but is not sure.

This was a fun story to read. It had action,adventure, and suspense throughout. The mystery within was fun to solve. It had a few giggles within.

I received a complimentary copy via Netgalley. This is my honest, unbiased opinion.

Lorna MacDougal takes the job as a companion for Lady Margaret Cameron and a governess for her grandchildren. With too many unanswered questions about her husband's murder, Lady Margaret appoints Lorna as her spy to find the murderer. Only one person stands out as the murderer, Alex Cameron. As much as Lorna's told to stay away from Alex, her body and her heart say otherwise. Fear escalates with more murders and a murderer is still free. Stuart is at her best writing a story with more questions than answers.
A Victorian Gothic Romance. Kissing only.
I voluntarily read and reviewed a copy of this book through Netgalley.

A romantic escapist read full of atmosphere and conflict. I enjoyed this. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for letting me review this book.

One of Anne Stuart’s earlier works, Cameron’s Landing is a gothic novel with a murder mystery plot set on a remote island.
The heroine of the story is a young woman hired by the matriarch of a rich family to be her companion, and tasked with covertly investigating which of the family members murdered her husband. And it seems like any one of them could be the culprit. The chemistry between the hero (Anne Stuart's classic villainous anti-hero) and heroine was a bit forced, as they had almost no interactions with each other.
This was an ok read, and AS has done this trope and these types of main characters much better in her later novels, which are a must read.

First time I've read a murder mystery and I knew who dunnit at the beginning. The Heroine is supposed to have the sight, which not only fell flat plot wise, but also didn't help her figure out the murderer. I think the age of the book is showing. If it had edits, it could still be competitive in the market. Reminded me a lot of Agatha Christie's Poirot detective with a side of romance. A very small sliver side of romance.

This is my first NetGalley book, but is not the normal ARC. First, the book was originally published in 1977. Second, this digital repackaging was published on January 26, 2022. It wasn't until I received this ARC that I realized that I had read it once before, probably in 1979 to 1982, when I was gorging on gothic romances. I didn't remember much about it other than I gave it a 3.5 rating at the time.

Stuart is a dab hand at gothics, both historical and contemporary, although I think I prefer her contemporaries as there is so much more scope available to her to twist. I believe that this is the second historical gothic that was published, although I could be wrong. As such, she has kept a much stricter set of tropes common in the books published in the 1960s and 70s. As a side note, I'm glad that this reprint didn't have her running back to the mansion/castle in her nightgown!

Cameron's Landing has given us ambiguous characters, an isolated location beset by pea-soup fog when needed for ambiance, an alpha...anti-hero (?) who alternates between cold and hot-blooded, and a heroine who is sometimes too stupid to live. I honestly liked Lorna, but she also seriously got on my nerves by her jumping to conclusions at the drop of a hat, not to mention being willing to ignore Alex being a serial killer for *love*.

That said, did I like this? Yeah, I did. I wouldn't say I loved it as much as Stuart's later books, but I still had a fun time reading it. It brought back a lot of memories of binge reading gothic romances and hunting them out in drugstore paperback displays when my parents would drive from Florida to Oklahoma and Colorado to visit my paternal grandparents.

Would I recommend this book to others? Yes, with the caveat that all logic and commonsense must be left at the title page. If a potential reader loves "Jane Eyre", "Wuthering Heights", and "Rebecca", if they watch old episodes of the original DARK SHADOWS, if they are fans of Alfred Hitchcock films, they might enjoy this flashback to a much loved sub-genre.

3.5 out of 5

(Review crossposted at Goodreads and Tumblr)

This reissue of a text copyrighted in 1977(!) is still an entertaining read for fans of Anne Stuart, and of atmospheric historical mysteries with romance that feature intripid women and shady men. Lorna's unsinkable attitude and leap-before-you-look approach to life makes Cameron's Landing a fun story even though its outcome is easily predicted. It shows the establishment of some of the signature elements of the author's distinctive writing style and character traits.

CW: Violence, adult themes, mental illness, parental abuse

I am a sucker for gothic romance, so even though this is set in Maine in 1880 (a little outside my usual territory/era), I had to give it a read. And I am glad I did, for it was an absolute fun, thrilling ride.

There are a couple additional caveats. This book was originally published in 1977, as as such some of the elements feel a bit dated to the modern romance reader. Specifically, its use of the mental illness trope often employed in gothic romance and the toxic masculinity on display by the hero. The first kiss scene is borderline SA, and the romance that develops requires a bit of understanding of gothic romance tortured hero trope.

Its not an epic love story, by any stretch of the imagination, as the romance is a bit underdeveloped. Similarly, for fans of the genre, its not hard to figure out who the villain is. But what I enjoyed was the unfolding of the narrative and how the heroine works to solve the mystery and keep herself safe.

As with many governess gothics, this is told in the first person as we follow the journey of heroine to the island of Cameron’s Landing. Its a misty, mysterious, and dark place high upon sea cliffs with the crashing ocean surrounding it.

Lorna is new to service, seeking employment after her farmer father’s serious accident, and so arrives with a headstrong streak that will serve her well. She is also a bit fanciful and there are some mentions of her “second sight” which is used to limited effect throughout. But she is plucky, having packed her brother’s breeches and insisting on helping out in the stables when she has down time.

It turns out she was lured to the island on false pretenses. And immediately is thrown into the middle of a murder mystery where things keep escalating. Including attempts on her life.

The pacing was excellent and the elements of history, mood, and gothic tropes were perfect for a quick read, keeping me entertained from start to finish.

This is kisses only, but there are adult themes (infidelity, parental alienation) and enough violence that its not a great match for all readers.

I am definitely going to seek out more Anne Stuarts.

I had not realized this was a rerelease of an early work by Stuart. Still, it was a nice Gothic novel with loads of spooky elements, an average murder mystery and minimal romance. I think the reveal was extremely predictable, yet I didn't mind reading it. Pretty dark if you actually count the number of deaths,

Interesting read, but her writing has greatly improved over the years. No one does the bad boy like AS.

Thank you to Bell Bridge Books and Net Galley for the chance to read and review this book. The opinions expressed are my own.
I really liked this book-it was a gothic mystery with lots of atmosphere. Lorna MacDougal is hired by the head of the Cameron Family to find out which one of her children killed her husband. Was it Charles, Stephen or Alex? Lots of mystery and romance! Highly recommend if you like gothic stories!

The story starts off kind of slow, but once the mystery is explained and the action starts up it is really good. I guessed who the killer was about mid-way through the book ( he was just too perfect). There is some mild slow burn romance that ends perfectly!!