"Yours is the Night" by Amanda Dykes

Private Matthew Petticrew arrives in France as part of the American Expeditionary Forces, an arrival which a war-weary France desperately hopes will help to end the turmoil. Having faced unthinkable things on the front, he is captivated by the sound of a lullaby, sung by a voice so pure he knows he must have imagined it. But rumors sweep through the trenches like wildfire, dubbing the voice "The Angel of Argonne." Raised wild in the depths of the Forest of Argonne, France, Mireilles finds her world rocked when war comes crashing into the idyllic home she has always known, taking much from her. When Matthew discovers Mireilles, three things are clear: She is alone in the world, she cannot stay, and he and his two unlikely companions might be the only ones who can get her to safety.

This was a beautiful and poignant story of WWI, from an area with which I was unfamilar: the forests of Argonne in NE France, near the Belgian border. There's the expected: trench warfare, snipers, gases; and some unexpected: aristocracy in hiding, a chaplain with no concept of faith, an angel in the wood. It has an almost fairy tale quality to it--Mira is like a princess hidden deep in the wood, though Matthew resembles more a lucky woodcutter's son than prince (which is as much or more a common trope in fairy tales anyway).  They fall in love as swiftly as in any fairy tale, but it works in this story.

As usual, the author's prose is beautiful. As there are five different points of view and all share the author's lyrical style, I did have trouble keeping track of perspective (granted, all I had to do was read the name at the chapter heading and remember it--it really shouldn't have been that hard). Chaplain George's voice was most distinguishable by his ironic irreverence. He was pretty funny, but absolutely not anyone I would entrust with spiritual lives. They were all interesting perspectives, but I wouldn't have minded if it had been limited to Mira and Matthew. Nonetheless, it's a lovely, sometimes heart-wrenching story.

Thank you Bethany House and NetGalley for the complimentary e-book. I was not required to write a positive review, and all opinions are my own.

"The Barrister and the Letter of Mark" by Todd M Johnson

As a barrister in 1819 London, William Snopes is a strong advocate who chooses to defend the poorer classes against the powerful. That changes the day a struggling heiress, Lady Malissa Jameson, arrives at his door. In a last-ditch effort to save her faltering estate, Lady Jameson invested in the acquisition of a merchant brig, the Padget, allowed by a letter of marque from the king's regent to legally capture cargo from French traders operating illegally in the Indian Sea. Yet when the ship returns to the London harbor, it's met by constables and soldiers ready to seize its goods, accusing the sailors of piracy. And the letter proving their legality has disappeared. Moved by the lady's distress, intrigued by the claimed letter, and goaded by an opposing solicitor, William Snopes cautiously takes the case. But as he gets deeper into the mystery and prepares for trial, he learns that the forces arrayed against Lady Jameson, and now himself, are even more powerful than he'd imagined. 

I've read a fair number of Regency novels, and I think this is the first one that isn't a romance, barring Naomi Novik's fantasy series Temeraire (which is focused on the use of dragons in the Napoleonic Wars and less on the general drama of the period). Sure, some novels have been romances with a heavy dose of suspense (generally involving French spies), but at their heart, they are romances. This book does have a small dash of romance, but it is a bit of icing on what is most definitely a conspiracy and courtroom drama. This book definitely features a darker side of some historic figures that are often only represented in a fond, indulgent way, offering a layer of depth we rarely see. 

The piracy scam seems simple on paper, but as Snopes is trying to figure it out, it reveals just how complex it is, with many moving pieces. Even though the reader is shown glimpses of the villains' movements to give us a better idea of what's going on than Snopes, it doesn't come all together until the end, when Snopes pieces the mystery together. I enjoyed being right about the significance of certain characters, but had my share of surprises in the story too--particularly how they work everything out in the end. It was an enjoyable historical mystery.

Thank you Bethany House and NetGalley for the complimentary e-book. I was not required to write a positive review, and all opinions are my own.