By the early afternoon, she’ll have done all her correspondence, paid a few bills, and written out a shopping list. Nothing all that romantic, but entirely necessary. After she’s done that, she’s earned a cup of tea and some custard creams in a biscuit tin. But sitting at a computer for hours isn’t too good on the figure, however so she typically takes her dog for a walk. Dolly Blanchard dreams of a bigger life. She wants to make a mark on the world, not simply wait for a husband to come along. So when an impoverished actress offers her a lifeline, Dolly flees to London, determined to make it on the stage and prove to her family – and herself – that she can strike out alone.

There’s a dashing man she was thinking would be the hero all of a sudden develops some unattractive traits and will upset Dilly, along with her heroine. Then there’s times a rough diamond, that looked destined to swing from a noose’s end, winds up being an absolute charmer and she finds herself falling for them, so the heroine’s got zero chance of escaping.However when one good deed goes sour, a dangerous foe threatens to ruin all of them. Is she going to be able to save her new buddies along with her future? If she’s able to, there’s a Christmas gift that’s waiting sure to change her life forever. Piers says he wants to help pay off the family’s debts. But how can Rosalind be sure he isn’t out to take what is his and leave them all homeless? Only a closely-guarded secret will convince Rosalind she can trust Piers to protect her family – and her fragile heart.

Abandoned by their parents and left to fight for themselves, the children comprising of headstrong Rosalind Carey, sister Patricia, brother Bertie who stands to inherit the castle, bookworm Walter and their grandfather Sir Lucien who is suffering with dementia after a long career in the Navy. This is the second book out of a six part series and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I'm a huge fan of the author, she never disappoints. It's well written with some great characters who are well rounded and believable. I like Rosalind, she's level headed and knows what she wants. But will she find happiness with Alex? You'll have to read the book to find out. To me the characters were like something out of a Jane Eyre or Daphne Du Maurier novel, and I could often see myself imagining Judy Dench as Lady Pentelow, and Keira Knightly as Rosalind…the jury is still out in my mind as to who would play Piers!Then this one night, she has to transport this mysterious guy from a foreign ship onto the banks of the Thames. He is a man that ends up renting a room inside of Essie’s house, and only identifies himself as ‘Raven’. I particularly loved the relationship between Rosalind and the two children that she took in (Nancy and Tommy) — it was such a nice touch to a wholesome holiday story.

This book, like all the other books in the series, was excellent. I just couldn't put it down. It was filled with mystery and romance from beginning to end’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Dilly’s debut novel, called “Mermaids Singing”, was released in the year 2005. She writes family saga and historical fiction novels and also writes as Lily Baxter. Piers says he wants to help pay off the family’s debts. But how can Rosalind be sure he isn’t out to take what is his and leave them all homeless? The village in Little Creek, during the long winter of 1867. The first flakes of snow are falling to the ground when Daisy Marshall, who is secretly engaged to her master’s son, finds she’s being jilted at the altar. Each day, Dilly begins at 8:30 and writes until lunch time. Some days she’ll get so immersed in her story that she forgets everything and time will pass so fast that, by the time she finally does stop, she can’t believe two to three hours have gone by. She’s been in some other world her characters who make their own story up actually inhabit.Dilly’s ability to bring the era alive the characters into believable entity’s and the colourful expression and great pace leaves me, the reader, never wanting it to end!!’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐