#SpooktasticReads | Book Review “The Secret Kiss of Darkness” (Book No. 2 of the Shadows of the Past series) by Christina Courtenay #ChocLitSaturdays

Why I feature #ChocLitSaturdays (book reviews & guest author features)
and created #ChocLitSaturday (the chat via @ChocLitSaturday):

I wanted to create a bit of a niche on Jorie Loves A Story to showcase romance fiction steeped in relationships, courtships, and the breadth of marriage enveloped by characters written honestly whose lives not only endear you to them but they nestle into your heart as their story is being read!

I am always seeking relationship-based romance which strikes a chord within my mind’s eye as well as my heart! I’m a romantic optimist, and I love curling into a romance where I can be swept inside the past, as history becomes lit alive in the fullness of the narrative and I can wander amongst the supporting cast observing the principal characters fall in love and sort out if they are a proper match for each other!

I love how an Indie Publisher like ChocLitUK is such a positive alternative for those of us who do not identify ourselves as girls and women who read ‘chick-lit’. I appreciate the stories which alight in my hands from ChocLit as much as I appreciate the inspirational romances I gravitate towards because there is a certain level of depth to both outlets in romance which encourage my spirits and gives me a beautiful story to absorb! Whilst sorting out how promote my book reviews on behalf of ChocLit, I coined the phrase “ChocLitSaturdays”, which is a nod to the fact my ChocLit reviews & features debut on ‘a Saturday’ but further to the point that on the ‘weekend’ we want to dip into a world wholly ideal and romantic during our hours off from the work week!

Acquired Book By: I am a regular reviewer for ChocLitUK, where I hand select which books in either their backlist and/or current releases I would like to read next for my #ChocLitSaturdays blog feature. As of June 2016, I became a member of the ChocLit Stars Team in tandem with being on the Cover Reveal Team which I joined in May 2016. I reference the Stars as this is a lovely new reader contribution team of sending feedback to the publisher ahead of new book releases. As always, even if I’m involved with a publisher in this sort of fashion, each review is never influenced by that participation and will always be my honest impression as I read the story. Whether the author is one I have previously read or never had the pleasure to read until the book greets my shelf.

However, a few years ago, I won a bookaway for one of Ms Courtenay’s novels – happily surprised to have found a few extra titles tucked into the parcel, this was one of the stories I received. I believe this is the title I ‘won’, although I am forgetting which title I received was the bookaway book! I received a complimentary copy of “The Secret Kiss of Darkness” from the author Christina Courtenay without obligation to post a review. I have loved reading her stories in the past and this review is being shared for my own edification as much as I wanted to share my joys of reading it with my readers. Therefore, it’s an ‘addition’ to my regular reviews during #ChocLitSaturdays. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.

Why I am enjoying reading this series:

I can assure you dear hearts, you get so attached to the 15th Century, between walking the vast estate and being caught up in the particulars of that century’s sociopolitical drama that by the time you ‘pull yourself’ forward back into the Manor to see how the research Melissa is doing into the ancestral records for her family & Jake’s family lineage, you nearly do not know which era you’d prefer to stay in a bit longer! I especially loved one scene where Melissa is being given the access to an ancient copy of the original will penned on behalf of Sibell; as she starts to read the words in Latin, her mind takes her physically back to Sibell’s time. She can sense and feel everything happening to Sibell at the time the will is being written. The visceral imagery and sensory connectedness was conveyed in such a convincing way that you could ascertain exactly what was happening in that ‘one single second’ of Sibell’s young life.

The heart of the story is etched inside the beguiling truths which separated lost loves through such a violent ending of their lives. In some ways, parts of Sibell & Roger’s story reminded me of Romeo & Juliet, fated in such a way as to not find happiness within their own lifetime; at least not one that would be forever lasting. An element of the backdrop is quite close to my own heart, is the pursuit of genealogical research! I loved watching Melissa find the tethering ties out of the records of the archivists and how the pursuit of research truly started to reveal much more than she could ever have hoped to find! The manner in which Sibell and Roger insert themselves into her reality is a bittersweet haunting any reader of psychological suspense will enjoy! Especially considering the way in which things end and resolve!

-quoted from my review of The Silent Touch of Shadows

On my Connection to Ms. Courtenay:

Three years ago, on the 26th of April, 2014, I created #ChocLitSaturday a weekly Rom chat to celebrate the novelists of ChocLitUK but also, to expand to include book bloggers, readers and writers of Romance who have a penchant for the genre as a whole. Ms. Courtenay started to become a regular fixture, and her encouraging conversations & ability to inspire others to converse freely throughout the chats put me at ease in my new role as a ‘Hostess’. She always seemed to know how to either start a topic or how to best suggest something to break the ice! I was always so very grateful to her and I am thinking I might have forgotten to tell her directly how much gratitude I had for her in those earlier chats! Over the weeks that have followed, I have found myself attached to each of my ‘regular’ chatters during the hour, and I consider Ms. Courtenay a bookish like-minded soul, as we tend to appreciate the same types of stories!

During [2017] #ChocLitSaturday started to meet bi-monthly (if possible) rather than the usual weekly meet-ups which the chat had engaged in originally. During the course of the year, Ms Courtenay was not oft able to attend and her presence was dearly missed.

I am disclosing this, to assure you that I can formulate an honest opinion, even though I have interacted with Courtenay through our respective love & passion of reading inside the twitterverse whilst I host #ChocLitSaturday the chat and having previously read her time slip novels and series set in Japan (Kumashiro). I treat each book as a ‘new experience’, whether I personally know the author OR whether I am reading a book by them for the first time or continuing to read their releases as they are available.

 The Secret Kiss of Darkness
by Christina Courtenay
Illustrator/Cover Designer: Berni Stevens
Source: Direct from Publisher

Must forbidden love end in heartbreak?

Kayla Sinclair knows she’s in big trouble when she almost bankrupts herself to buy a life-size portrait of a mysterious eighteenth century man at an auction.

Jago Kerswell, innkeeper and smuggler, knows there is danger in those stolen moments with Lady Eliza Marcombe, but he’ll take any risk to be with her.

Over two centuries separate Kayla and Jago, but, when Kayla’s jealous fiancé presents her with an ultimatum, and Jago and Eliza’s affair is tragically discovered, their lives become inextricably linked thanks to a gypsy’s spell.

Kayla finds herself on a quest that could heal the past, but what she cannot foresee is the danger in her own future.

Will Kayla find heartache or happiness?

Genres: Genre-bender, Historical Fiction, Historical Thriller Suspense, Time Slip and/or Time Shift, Romance Fiction, Romantic Suspense, Ghost Story, Reincarnation Fiction

Places to find the book:

Borrow from a Public Library

Add to LibraryThing

Book Page on ChocLitUK

ISBN: 9781781890677

Also by this author: Guest Post about Time Slips, The Silent Touch of Shadows, The Scarlet Kimono, The Velvet Cloak of Moonlight Cover Reveal, The Velvet Cloak of Moonlight Cover Reveal, Marry for Love, The Gilded Fan, The Jade Lioness

Published by ChocLitUK

on 15th March, 2014

Format: UK Edition Paperback

Pages: 299

Published by: ChocLitUK (@ChocLituk)

Available Formats: Paperback, Audiobook, Large Print & E-Book

Celebrating the Paranormal Romances of Christina Courtenay
& her “Shadows of the Past” series

Read the author’s thoughts on writing Time Slips via her Guest Post
(which focuses on this series)

The Silent Touch of Shadows began the series

The Soft Whisper of Dreams is the sequel to The Secret Kiss of Darkness

& The Velvet Cloak of Moonlight is the fourth in the series to release!

Converse via: #HistRom + #TimeSlip + #GhostStory + #PNR + #ChocLit

My Review of the secret kiss of darkness:

I was smitten by the opener in this story, if only to smirk a bit knowing my love of auctions is shared with the author; as previously disclosed through #ChocLitSaturday chats! Auctions have such a zest of rapt anticipation about them, plus half the folly is having the patience to wait out the results – of seeing who bids against which item up for sale and of which of those items you might be able to cart home yourself if the bidding wars are not too extreme! Ahh, auctions – if there ever were a story evolving out of the items in which we gravitate to collect within our lifetimes, an auction would hold certain clues towards understanding those motivations; or at the very least, our inclinations!

I understood the fever of excitement Kayla felt as she was bidding – mind, I’ve never been to an art auction – the ones I liked to frequent when I actively visited them were estate sales, early attic sales & the kind of eclectic baubles you’d find at antique emporiums before they were sold to such stores having found no interest in buyers at local auction houses. Still. There is something to be said for the ‘pursuit of the bid’ and of feeling the exhilarating after effect of the ‘win’. In Kayla’s case, I’d imagine slight remorse might have been coming soon – having busted her budget even if she purchased the one piece of art which stirred her soul in ways she didn’t seem yet to fully understand?

Prior to meeting Kayla, we were privy to a bloke whose caught between worlds (herein enters the PNR overlay) – of where his waiting hours are impatiently being greeted by each new century with the kind of doubt which trickles into your thoughts when hope starts to funnel out. It is also where Ms Courtenay shared the meaning behind the title of this novel –

The scent of honeysuckle and roses unexpectedly jolted him out of the shadows and he looked at the woman standing before him, staring with rapt attention. It wasn’t her, his lost love, but there were similarities and that perfume teased at his nostrils, bringing bittersweet memories. He felt hope well up inside him once more, stronger this time. Perhaps it was a sign? Yes. It had to be.

She walked away, but she would be back, he was sure of it. He smiled as he returned to the secret kiss of darkness.

_{-quoted from ‘The Secret Kiss of Darkness’ with permission of the publisher.}

You feel connected to this person, even with so very little to understand on his behalf – there is an emotional connection within this short glimpse into his dilemma; you just feel anchoured to his story somehow. As if, through his angst you can see the hope fractured through his observations – of noting how despite his will to remain steadfast, he’s wilting round the edges of his own resolve.

Shortly after the auction ends, we travel back into 1781, where there is presumption about domestic violence on behalf of a half-brother – of whom, I presumed, was the key to the anguished spirit whose been keeping time and impatiently unsure of how to entertain the emptiness he feels has become his hours. His name gave me a smile, as despite being a wholly new character, he was reminding me a bit of the smuggling family inside Ms Mitchelmore’s series (as I’ve just finished reading the second novel!) – of late, I’ve noticed if it comes to Rebels, Rogues & other curiously law bending characters, I’ve seem to have taken a fancy to reading their tales! (ie. for #RRSciFiMonth, I started off with ‘Rimrider’, otherwise known as ‘pirates in Space’) This Jago, however, is mindful of a woman’s sensibilities despite his station in life and there was something about his countenance which reminded me dearly of the crew I loved listening to within ‘Rimrider’; especially as they voiced their ‘smuggling’ trade equally of each other as being ‘free traders’ rather than the way in which everyone else views their exploits! Another nod of how our reading lives have a curious threading of thought, themes and the innate nature of how we’re led to read certain stories at certain moments in our lives,..

You nearly have to wonder – there were little red flags smarting round the pages, as I was being introduced to Kayla’s fiance Mike. Little things which were not quite right by all counts, noting how Kayla herself was feeling in those vexed moments of angst – of how there was a hint of patterned behaviours and of how Kayla was refusing to listen to her heart in a moment of truth. I wasn’t sure then if this was a forethought of future events; of Kayla finding her heart wasn’t as keenly tethered to her beloved as she first reckoned it was or if there was something else stirring – if perhaps, what was truly happening was influential of her recent purchase?

Listening to how Kayla found the painting – of how the image of Jago spoke to her (as I felt it was Jago in the painting) as if conveying a hidden message knitted out of desire, passion & the aches of where life leaves off unfulfilled affairs through death – this painting was drawing Kayla into it’s orbit by it’s own volition because of the past circumstances connecting Jago to his lost love; or, in this instance, the woman of whom he feels is inheriting either the resemblance or spirit of his beloved, Eliza. It could go either way – of being her (ancestrally linked or reincarnated directly) or being in the essence of her attributes therein.

And, of course – once your mind knits something like this together, it sparks further discourse to ferret out how you feel about your current relationship. Which is why of course, Kayla is dearly confused about her feelings for Mike – are they a proper match, or are they something else entirely? I must admit, his reactions to her rankle quite a bit – as if somehow, they suddenly cannot be free to be themselves simply because of his status change at work. That would needle anyone the wrong way, I’d suspect!

As soon as the painting arrives at her flat, Kayla’s heart eclipses into a heady sea of desire – desire she hasn’t felt inside her blood for Mike, which startles her a bit. How could she ache after a man from the 18^th Century, no less? And, yet, as you observe her looking at him – drinking in his physique and noticing the touches of what marks his personality traits and physical attributes; you see something Kayla has yet to see herself: this bloke is someone she already knows, intimately well.

I was quite elated by certain events happening shortly hereafter – especially as I wasn’t keen on Mike! What was imploring though is how Ms Courtenay brought Jago into the present – of having him meet with Kayla in a creatively unconventional way – even though, for me, it felt startling ‘right’ for him to be where he was and for her to be interacting with him the ways in which she were – the two were colliding back into each other, and how this plays out was quite wicked indeed! On that score, what I felt was befitting is both Kayla and Eliza shared one truth together on the outset – they both had trust issues – not just for men (in general) but for their own thoughts, feelings and emotions. They struggled to trust what they felt but also, how they set their minds to understand themselves. Neither had full confidence in herself until they crossed paths with Jago; a credit to his influence on them.

Courtenay developed a wonderful ebb and flow feeling inside ‘The Secret Kiss of Darkness’ – as we find ourselves fluidly moving between both centuries. I must confess, part of me wanted Kayla to ‘step through’ the painting and stand next to Jago! Although, why Eliza had to be placed ‘next’ to Jago (as each had their portrait painted whilst they were alive; the paintings, you see, are partially the key to the riddle of how they are held ‘outside of time’) had me museful of reasonings which seemed logical even if there were notes of paranormal abnormalities at play! It’s a delightful story to feel lost inside – of getting caught up in the moment of discovery such as Kayla and finding yourself following the rueful wisdom of Jago as he attempts to re-align his own stars to his beloved Eliza!

As Kayla turnt into investigating ancestral records to see if she could get a feeder line on Jago, my own heart fluttered in excitement! Being an Ancestry Sleuth myself, I get wicked giddy about the possibilities of what you can unearth when your researching your ancestry! The fact I recently met my 2^nd Cousins from Sweden is part of the best blessing I’ve received since I re-took up the torch my Mum started herself with my grandfather! Imagine? 15 years lateron and my Cousin and I, along with my Mum meet-up for the first time and reconnect our ancestral lineage through the sharing of our living histories? It doesn’t get more magical than that! Unless of course, your Kayla and you can communicate with someone straight out of the 18^th Century!

I felt Kayla’s angst of being ‘lost’ en route to Marcombe Hall! Anyone whose addicted to travelling by car will understand how it goes – sometimes you feel you’ve taken the best route you could discern from a map or second-hand advice (esp at petrol stations) but there are moments – there are some roads so winding, so darkly illuminated – you seriously wonder where you could possibly be at the ‘moment’ and how best to scoot yourself along to where your needing to be next! Of course, the other side of it, of course, is finding buildings from a past century, tucked away landscapes and a beauty of unknown delights which might greet you instead of what you felt you’d see as you travelled through to your destination. It just depends – as patience is your best vice in these situations – leaning on it to carry you through and hopefully, the tides turn and you’ve reached a place less intimidating!

Once we were ensconced inside Marcombe Hall – I was happily observing Kayla with Wes; the unbeknownst descendant of Jago (wouldn’t he be gobsmacked!) who was as smitten with Kayla as he was with her; or rather, bewitched is more like it! The best bits though were watching how they interacted with each other – of the slight tease in attraction they were volleying off of each other and how neither of them wanted to acknowledge any of it to the other! What jolly fun! All of this, of course, was in the foreground whilst Kayla was determined to sort out a reason for why the painting of Jago’s beloved was displaced – either from history, memory or the family collection.

It was here, at Marcombe Hall where the past and present happily collided into a waltz – of where everyone involved finally found restitution and peace. What I loved most though, is how Ms Courtenay brought everything together in the end – of why certain characters had to take their leave and why others, were just finding their way towards each other; as if for the first time. There was a heap of suspenseful bits right at the end – especially a rather vile villain whose emergence into the story-line was paced well and alarmingly elevated the dramatic conclusion! All told, it’s what happens within the painting which musefully leaves you with an uplifted resolution! I daresay, nothing else – only, the ending befits the journey leading into it!

On the PNR & Suspenseful writing style of Ms Courtenay:

Ms Courtenay has captured my heart for combining my love of Paranormal Romances with ghosts & time slipped narratives! The ways in which her mind fuses together the intrigue, the relationships and the interlockings of time itself – is quite the epic treat to soak inside! I knew quite immediately after reading the first novel in this series ‘The Silent Touch of Shadows’ I was going to be quite hooked into the successive chapters of where the next installments would take me! She pulls you in – from the elements of ethereal otherworld ‘moments’ to the grounding realities of where her characters first start to ‘intersect’ with glimpses and glimmers into a veiled existence just past our own ‘world’. It’s how she’s curated this insight, which strikes my fancy most – as she pulls into the heart & drama of relationships – timeless yearnings of love & resolution, against a cross-focus of Contemporary & Historical lifestyles.

I love how Ms Courtenay lays down the foundation of this story – of how the entry is through a painting which sparks a discourse of desire, faded memory and earnest compulsion for unity with a soul from the past. It’s how she etches out the rounding back-story on behalf of both Kayla & Jago; though esp from Jago’s perspective as it knits out Kayla’s from a different angle. Jago has the ‘present’ and Kayla has the ‘future’ – it’s how murky it is combining the two timelines from both points of view which makes the drama so exciting to read because your nearly uncertain which character you need to rally behind first! Your torn truly – because Jago has Eliza but doesn’t have her all the same; whereas Kayla is working against her own heart and not listening to the truth of what she feels,..

I truly loved the ancestral angle of this story – of peering into the research needed to uncover your ancestors & the lineage left behind for you to find! Being an active Ancestry Sleuth myself, I love stories which knit out of the passion for researching the past if only to find hidden relatives and unknown circles of familial connections just waiting for you to reconnect the dots & resume a heritage you’ve never realised you had to find! Part of what I love about these kinds of threads of thought is how small the world is by relation to how well connected we all can become through our own ancestral backgrounds. You just never know when you’ll find a missing component of your own living history – of finding someone alive, rather than finding listings of ancestors of whom you know so very little about except for the partially specific bits like age, name, place of birth or death and perhaps an occupation here or there; along with the list(s) of their children and parentage (if your lucky!). It’s the stories themselves which are the hardest to find and once you do? Oh, my! Those are to be savoured forever! Therefore, whilst Kayla was embarking on helping Jago by back-tracing his origins and the footprints he left behind for her to recover through genealogical means – it left me wicked giddy!

The paranormal attributes are softly touching the edges of the Contemporary world – of gently bringing you into a mindfulness of their presence but without overtly making their ‘awareness’ known. I liked seeing this happen because if you blinked, you might have forsaken how this novel is ‘paranormally inclined’ and how the slippages into the past are softly rounded to fit neatly into the timeline of the lead character (Kayla)’s own inquisitive nature. What curated the best part of the ongoing Suspense is the unknown elements hidden from our sight – as Ms Courtenay has a wonderful way of guiding us through her stories – without letting us feel remiss for information – yet at the same time, allows us to remain patient to find the connective threads where everything is stitched together in the end! It’s the journey you get to take – suspending what you know of time and the past, of what is plausibly real and what is potentially a shift of awareness,… this series is about what you feel, sense and understand as you follow the characters through their extraordinary adventures where time happily bends to the will of Ms Courtenay’s imaginative pen!

This book review is courtesy of:

In case you’ve missed my ChocLit readings:

Please follow the threads through #ChocLitSaturdays!

And, visit my ChocLit Next Reads List on Riffle

to see which stories I fancy to devour next!

My ChocLit reads of Autumn:

Reading ChocLit is a cuppa comfort & joy. You get to ‘return home’ to the stories penned in the beauty of the Romantic genres you love to devour with characters who inspire you & give you such a lift of joy to meet.

I wanted to select a few Contemporaries to explore as well as select a Suspenseful story to kick-off my annual focus on Psychological Suspense whilst digging back into a series I began earlier which I loved reading!

Learning to Love by Sheryl Browne (see also Review)

Emma There’s No Turning Back (Book Two of the Emma series) by Linda Mitchelmore (see also Review)

Before You by Kathryn Freeman (see also Review)

The Highwayman’s Daughter by Henriette Gyland

+ The Secret Kiss of Darkness (Book Two: Shadows of the Past series) by Christina Courtenay

+ The Velvet Cloak of Moonlight (Book Four: Shadows of the Past series) by Christina Courtenay

Copyright © Jorie Loves A Story, 2017

I’m a social reader | I love sharing my reading life

| a lovely convo came out of my reading, between two authors & a fellow book blogger |

#SpooktasticReads | @ChocLituk
The Secret Kiss of Darkness by @PiaCCourtenay

Quote from my #bookreview in appreciation for how Ms Courtenay tucked in #PNR attributes w/in a #timeslip narrative I loved #amreading! ☺️Wicked good cross-genre of #HistFic! 😄 pic.twitter.com/u47y55vcod

— Jorie Story 📖🎧 (@joriestory) November 28, 2017

Thank you so much Jorie – what a lovely, intricate review of The Secret Kiss of Darkness! I'm so pleased you enjoyed it :-) ❤️❤️❤️ @ChocLituk https://t.co/ZEuLd8pRz2

— Christina Courtenay (@PiaCCourtenay) November 28, 2017

Aww, thank you, that's lovely to hear! I went to an art auction at Sotheby's in London to try and capture the feeling of a sale there. And Jago's painting was based on a couple of different real ones 😀

— Christina Courtenay (@PiaCCourtenay) November 28, 2017

You truly pulled it off! I love auctions as you know, you captured the whole sequence of first ‘love’ of an item to bid after & the slightly heady after effect of realising you might have burst your budget! lol ?Ooh, I had wondered – Jago *felt!* so very real!?

— Jorie Loves Space Opera (@joriestory) November 28, 2017

Thank you again – so pleased you felt that! 😊😊😊

— Christina Courtenay (@PiaCCourtenay) November 28, 2017

We share this in common – I have adored the work of the Pre-Raphaelites myself – esp when creating mixed media collages – their legacies are very inspiring – plus, I think they captured something honest about love + romance & those feelings! :)

— Jorie Story 📖🎧 (@joriestory) November 28, 2017

You've both tapped into a way to bridge #art, #Suspense + #Romance into a lovely cross-genre/genrebending slice of #fiction! It's lovely to be inside but also, to follow your muse & see where you are pulling us to venture – I could tell you both loved your research!! 🙌📚😊

— Jorie Story 📖🎧 (@joriestory) November 28, 2017

Comments via Twitter:

#SpooktasticReads | Book Review "The Secret Kiss of Darkness" (Book No. 2 of the Shadows of the Pas… https://t.co/uNeT8R5g9M via @joriestory

— karen mace (@bookkaz) November 28, 2017

Wonderfully intricate review of The Secret Kiss of Darkness! https://t.co/ZEuLd8pRz2

— Christina Courtenay (@PiaCCourtenay) November 28, 2017

Have you had the chance to start this series? I find myself captured by how each story not only breathes in a lively ‘moment’ of the #HistFic portions but how as we #timeslip in/out of the ‘present’ we happily find so much to be loving about @PiaCCourtenay‘s vision for the story!

— Jorie Loves Space Opera (@joriestory) November 28, 2017

We should chat about the stories after you do – there is such a lot of breadth to the worlds in which Ms Courtenay is building in the backdrop of the series; I also loved how her & Ms Ferry @kirsty_ferry share a love of #art🎨 & pull this into their story-lines! 😊📚🙌

— Jorie Story 📖🎧 (@joriestory) November 28, 2017

Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

• 2017 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge