A WHISPER IN THE WIND by Sonya C Dodd

This is a historical romance which takes place in Georgian, England.  It’s the tale of two sisters 17 years of age: Sophia, the rebellious, outdoorsy and strong woman, and Angelina, the quiet, passive girl.  They both fall in love; unfortunately Sophia’s love is the stable manager, Robert.  After both of their parents died, Sophia must fight to stop her uncle, George, from taking over possession of Longley Hall, her and her sister’s birthright.  There is a fatal confrontation, when George’s scheme backfires.

The characters that stuck out for me were Henry Gampton and his daughter Sonya.  Both were strong-willed and trying to do what they deemed right.  The villains were Georgiana Gampton and George Gampton.  They fit their parts really well. 

I thought the dialogue and setting fit the genre of a historical romance.  I did think the use of the word ‘whilst’ was overused.  Every time I came across that word, it felt like a jab with a pin.  I did enjoy some of the description of the surrounding land and the ducks around the pond.  Ducks do like to scold. 

It did take me awhile to get into the story, partly because of the constant shifting of POV from one character to another in the same scene/sequence.  Also I agree with another review, that a big plot twist was missed by not adding the first part of the story as background AFTER the parents died. 

When the conflict between Robert, Charles and Sonya came out at the end, I was on the edge of my chair . . . until the accidental second shot from a black powder gun.  Or, it could have been a cap and ball pistol.  The author never specified.  That brought the whole story, for me, to a screeching halt.  Authors need to research if they use guns as a prop.  In that era, there were no such things as an automatic weapon.  The gun would have had to be primed to be shot again.

Anyway, it had a good contrast of good against bad, it brought tears to my eyes and the conflict at the end did not come out the way I anticipated, so I would recommend this story.  I give it 4 feathers.