Blog Tour & Review: The Shadow Sister by Lucinda Riley (audio)

Title:The Shadow Sister

Author:Lucinda Riley

Series:The Seven Sisters, #3

Narrator:Jessica Preddy

Published:November 2016, Whole Story Audiobooks / April 2017, Atria Books

Length:18 hours 36 minutes / 512 pages

Source:Personal Copy via Audible

Travel through the lush
English countryside and explore the magnificent estates of the British
aristocracy in this next spellbinding love story in The Seven Sisters
series by #1 internationally bestselling author Lucinda Riley.

Star
D’Aplièse is at a crossroads in her life after the sudden death of her
beloved father—the elusive billionaire, affectionately called Pa Salt by
his six daughters, all adopted from across the four corners of the
world. He has left each of them a clue to her true heritage, and Star
nervously decides to follow hers, which leads her to an antiquarian
bookshop in London, and the start of a whole new world.

A
hundred years earlier, headstrong and independent Flora MacNichol vows
she will never marry. She is happy and secure in her home in England’s
picturesque Lake District—just a stone’s throw away from the residence
of her childhood idol, Beatrix Potter—when machinations lead her to
London, and the home of one of Edwardian society’s most notorious
society hostesses, Alice Keppel. Flora is torn between passionate love
and her duty to her family, but finds herself a pawn in a larger game.
That is, until a meeting with a mysterious gentleman unveils the answers
that Flora has been searching for her whole life…

As Star
learns more of Flora’s incredible journey, she too goes on a voyage of
discovery, finally stepping out of the shadow of her sister and opening
herself up to the possibility of love.

The Shadow Sister is the third in the sweeping Seven Sisters series, “soaked in glamour and romance” (Daily Mail) and perfect for fans of Downton Abbey and the novels of Kate Morton.

My thoughts: I am a big fan of Lucinda Riley’s books and this series in particular. I keep saying that with each book, I find a new favorite…but I don‘t know, this one really might be it! Though it could be that I happened to read it just after returning from a trip to London and this one happens to be set there and it features Beatrix Potter – one of my favorites! Either way, this series is so uniquely written and the story so fantastically plotted that I just loved it and cannot wait until the next one comes out.

I’ve been waiting to hear Star’s story since we first met her in the first book, The Seven Sisters. Oh how she needed to step out of her sister’s shadow and find herself and given Pa’s last gift to each of the sisters’ she is given that much needed push to do so. There were so many times, though, that I wasn’t sure if she actually would.

This story is such an emotional journey, not only for Star, but also for Flora. I found myself so invested in both these characters – each time the story would switch from one to the other, I felt a bit sad. While I wanted to know more about each, I wanted to stay with the one we were just with – if that  makes sense. 

The way this story is crafted, taking us back and forth between the past and the present, and ultimately bringing us to the origin of the sisters is almost magical as it never ends up being quite what you expect it to be. I also love that these stories are almost set up to be happening in a parallel time-frame – they all start off happening at the same starting point and then move from there. At times, events from the previous books occur in the current book – this takes some serious plotting on Lucinda’s side – and I love it!!! To tie in these books and know where you’re heading – I can’t imagine all the work that goes into that. 

I also love that we are not given the whole story – there is still a bit of a mystery left and I think that is not going to be solved until the very last book. Yes, we are given little clues here and there as to who the next book will be about, but there’s also some other clues that have been dropped that I think will come together in that final book.

This is definitely going to be a series that I will be rereading once I read the whole thing. I’ve been listening to it on audio, but also buying the hardcover books as they come out – aren’t the covers just beautiful? I want those books on my shelf – I love looking at them, glancing at the covers and reminiscing about the stories. Do you ever do that? Just look at a cover and think about a character or the story itself?    

Lucinda Riley, you are a master storyteller and it shows in this series. I cannot wait to see where you go next, who’s story you give us. I’ve loved each one so far and know this is without a doubt my favorite series to date! And, for those who haven’t heard, Lucinda Riley signed a deal with a Hollywood production company for a multi-season TV series of ‘The Seven Sisters‘ – how awesome is that!!!

Audio thoughts:Having made the decision to listen to this series on audio, I’ve come across some wonderful, new-to-me narrators so far. Jessica Preddy is another new-to-me narrator and I thought she did a fantastic job with this audio production. I felt she really did a great job voicing Star‘s character and did well with the other characters as well.  

So far, there have been different narrators for all three books, so I will be curious to see if that is the case for the whole series. Usually I like consistency, but as this series is a bit different, having different narrators makes sense.

Books in this series: 

1. The Seven Sisters
2. The Storm Sister
3. The Shadow Sister
4. The Pearl Sister – (Due out in UK 11/17, not sure when in US)

About the Author:  

Lucinda Riley is the #1 internationally bestselling author of sixteen novels, including The Seven Sisters and The Storm
Sister. Her books have sold more than eight million copies in
thirty four languages. 

Lucinda lives with her husband and four children
on the North Norfolk coast in England and West Cork, Ireland.

Authors Links: 

Website   |   Twitter   |   Facebook  |   Goodreads   |   YouTube