I have had this on my to-read list for years. The description was very enticing. And then someone actually gifted me the book and I couldn't get over the god-awful, cheesy cover enough to give it a go. But then I found myself in a desperate situation and decided to give it a try. I was, at the start, pleasantly surprised. The story starts out as a pleasant and good-enough Austen pastiche, then it abruptly shifts gears into Bronte territory with a dash of Dickens thrown in for good measure. I enjoyed the characters and the mystery, but overall I wasn't wowed. The pace of the first two sections is a bit leisurely, but not unenjoyable as it fit the style being mimicked. The end, however, felt like it belonged to a different novel - a bit slap-dash and missing the 'style' of the first two parts. I also felt the premise proposed in the description was never really delivered upon. Perhaps it is in subsequent novels, but I just didn't love this enough to continue on with the series.
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