The Biltmore Estate is magnificent and more. A chance exploration brings a discovery of a machine decades old which has throwbacks to a long ago machine made by Leonardo da Vinci. What the machine is, how it works and getting it to work is the job of Daniel.

Not only are the odds against him by his colleagues on campus, who want to get rid of him from his professorship, but at Biltmore he faces antagonism from one quarter, who is against him and wants his own engineers to solve the mystery.

Working in two time frames is always interesting and we go back to Antonio who is a young inventor whom the Vanderbilts believed in, and the one who successfully built the machine, to the romance which started on the estate and then coming to the parallel story of Daniel and Penny who followed the identical way of romance.

The romance was just part of the story, the main part was the invention and in present times the remake and installation of the machine. The Vanderbilt family forms part of the background of the story.

Beautifully descriptive of every location the story was set in, the characters themselves were very interesting and varied.

Beneath the Estate by Nick Allen Brown was such a joy to read. As a rabid Historical Fiction fan, this dual timeline novel has that oomph that is sometimes lacking. It has just enough uniqueness for the reader to sit up and take notice. The historical details are fascinating, George and Edith Vanderbilt are a delightful couple, and the Biltmore Estate bits are riveting. Hidden rooms are irresistible enough but this one contains a beautifully-crafted puzzle which mesmerized those who saw it...as well as this reader. The timelines were intricately woven into a stunning tapestry which I adored.

In 1906, the Vanderbilts enjoyed a bit of a getaway. George eyed something he just couldn't believe at a festival vendor, found the person responsible for such a creation and oversaw the project with him. In the present, while preserving the Biltmore Estate, exploration underground was needed. An important discovery necessitated the Board to meet to decide how to proceed. A mechanical machine with glass, metal, mirror and a clever timing mechanism was enveloped by a gorgeous wooden box with cutaways leaving onlookers aghast. The craftmanship was surreal. Professor Dr. Daniel Garrison was called in to determine its purpose and origin. Meanwhile, Penny supplied him with fabulous meals while he worked and the two grew closer and closer. Penny's father suffered from PTSD and needed full-time care so she was overwhelmed. Her moments with Daniel became precious. Daniel relied on a journal to help him fit the puzzle pieces together. He gained far more than he would have ever dreamed. Most characters did.

What a beguiling story! Both timelines are such a treat but what tugged my heart most was the sweet and wholesome relationship between Penny and Daniel. The PTSD angle was written sensitively and realistically. The entire book is a breath of fresh air. Talk about easy reading, too. The pages and time flew by as I got completely lost in the story. It gripped me hard and enlightened me in the process.

My sincere thank you to Turner Publishing Company and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this beguiling novel. How I yearn to see more like it!

The is a wonderful story set in the Biltmore House. It is a story of one mans love for his wife in one time period, and another mans budding love as it folds out. In 1906 George Vanderbilt is set to give the love of his life something most wonderful. In the present Dr Harrison is called in to identify a machine of sorts and possibly rebuild it. I don’t want to tell to much but this book is not a romance it is most definitely a mystery, a mystery to all.

10 stars! What an amazing book! I can’t say enough great things about the story! The characters, the plot, the mystery-everything is perfect! The dual timelines tie together wonderfully. The ending took my breath away! This is my favorite book of 2024!

I love how this author takes you from past to future in the journey of discovery. The mystery keeps you hooked and each time I thought I knew where it was taken I was left surprised.

It was a bit strange reading a book about the Biltomore know it was hit hard by Hurricane Helene and trying to open for the holidays (they are open now!)

A hidden room is found at The Biltmore and a contrapiton that looks like something from a Da Vinci scetch. So the board brings in Dr Daniel Garrison a professor at Middlebury College, a professor that is known for his work on Da Vinci, except they brought in his son, who is also a professor and fighting for his job.

The story is dual timeline current times and back when Vanderbuilt had this mystry machine built. I enjoy a historical fiction with dual time lines.

Thank you NetGalley and Keylight Books #BeneaththeEstate #NetGalley

An amazing discovery has taken place at the revered Biltmore estate once owned by George Vanderbilt 3rd causing history to come alive whilst the mysterious machine is investigated by Dr Daniel Garrison a professor at Middlebury college who is fighting to keep his position.
Dr Garrison discovers the machine was built and designed by Antonio Andolini who was brought to the states to craft the machine as a gift for George’s wife. As the story explores both time periods we discover the parallels in Daniel’s and Antonio’s lives and how there knowledge and love of Da Vinci and his inventions bind them together.
I love the way the lives of both different men intertwined and how similar their characters were despite the different time periods they lived In including their values of romance!
A fantastic book for historical fiction fans as well as those romance readers looking for something a little different.
Thank you to the Turner Publishing Company and NetGalley for allowing me to access this ARC.
#beneaththeestate #netgalley

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC. Dual timelines can be challenging. Finding drawings of a machine designed 100+ years ago and trying to build it in modern day is such an interesting idea. Based at the Biltmore estate, this book is well written and keeps the reader’s attention. . I look forward to reading more books by Nick Allen Brown.

I am drawn to books about the Gilded Age and this book did not disappoint. The Dual time line kept the story moving and I found myself mesmerized by both stories and could not wait to see how they tied together at the end! If you’ve been to tour the Biltmore in Asheville, you will enjoy the behind the scenes storyline. This book makes me wonder just how excessive and opulent the Gilded Age could have been!

Beneath the Estate is an interesting and intriguing about the Vanderbilt mansion in Asheville, NC and is written in mostly alternating chapters from 1906 to the present day. The basis of the novel is building a machine (1906 and thereafter’) and restoring the machine (present day) with a significant portion devoted to several of the major characters and how similar their experiences are/were despite them being more than a century apart. The writing is excellent and very descriptive. — for example “….eyebrows that. could hold a gallon of water.” This book is highly recommended and I thank NetGalley and Keylight Books for the opportunity to read and review this book prior to publication.

This story was an overall neutral for me. We follow the story of an engineer who is commissioned to create an invention that the engineer has only thus far sketched out. The story continues in a dual timeline, one describing the engineer's journey to the US and his creation of his invention. The second timeline describing the re-discovery of this invention which was previously lost to history and the process or recreating it.

I enjoyed the concept, bringing to life a da Vinci inspired invention, but the execution left something to be desired. I think nuance is what it lacked. There were multiple detailed descriptions of food served at the Biltmore, the main setting for the book, but they felt out of place in comparison to the other less detailed aspects of the story. The characters did not feel very well fleshed out. Honestly the writing felt like a recent college graduate's first novel; their style and voice haven't matured yet. The dual love story was sweet, I just felt there could have been so much more depth to the character backstories and their emotions. One of my favorite moments is one the other also mentioned as their favorite. It was a Cinderella type moment where the fairy godmother makes the modern day main character's dreams come true, as she is treated like a princess for the day. I would have liked to better understand the Biltmore's director's thought process and motives. I am torn about my feelings regarding the serendipitous similarities between the 1900s couple and the present day couple. I think I wanted something more magical or supernatural to be behind that connection and the nature of the invention.