The Tea Rose (The Tea Rose #1) by Jennifer Donnelly

I have successfully arrived at the last of my completed books to be reviewed as of now. This is a lot to post at one time but they just add fodder to the next compilation list that I release ( yes there will definitely be more ‘Books vs Moods’ in the future, refer to the home page in case this is the first you have heard of this title)

There was a brief consideration if this should be reviewed together with the next two books of the series but looking at the excerpts I realized that they might not really be pre-requisites to the next.

This story is set in the 1800s and so I labelled it historical fiction. I would have rated it 5 stars but for the beginning which was extremely dreary. About quarter way in it became very involved and therefore very interesting.

The story is about the great American (/English) dream as captivating as those of Jeffery Archer of yore ( Not the latest installments unfortunately). The rags to riches climb is tumultuous and has a lot of twists before ending on a high note.

The lead protagonist is Fiona Finnegan who has one setback after another before she breaks away to America. If you are fond of the style of following a character through the passage of time , this is definitely a series to try. The beginning focuses on the Jack the Ripper case and therefore was not a beginning that I favour. I prefer the gore to be hidden away in the midst of other stories.

I am surely going to follow up to see what happens next. the people are very realistic as well as captivating.