2.5
Quite enjoyed the first 2/3 of the book, but after the musical I just couldn’t stand Sybil. So much so I didn’t enjoy the remainder of the book. ( )

In January 1873 London, Sybil Ingram leaves her theatre group and travels to the States to marry. But nothing goes to plan and she finds herself at Brooke House, in the Hudson Bay aiming to be a guardian to young Roderick Brooke.
This romance with a bit of a gothic mystery is a fun and enjoyable read. ( )

Sylvia Ingram has been the darling of the British stage for a while, but it looks like it may be time to step down. She accepts a proposal from a wealthy American widower who has shown serious interest in her for a while.

Sylvia packs her bags and sails to America under the belief of a secure life is awaiting her upon her marriage. She arrives to find her intended is deathly ill and his family is completely against his marrying an actress. Things go from bad to worse when her husband dies on their wedding night and she shortly finds out that she is a penniless widow. The only thing left to her is the Brooke House located in the rural Hudson Valley. It is an eerie mansion inhabited by a staff member, a ghost and Roderick, a local teacher and formerly a concert violinist. The ghost and Roderick are not happy about Sylvia’s arrival and make no bones about it.

Sybil and Roderick are constantly at odds. He makes scathing remarks about her in hopes of driving her away, while she takes it but also dishes them back. At a point they find themselves on the same side of the fence when the local society queen, Mrs. Dove, makes it clear she is out to get Brooke House and Roderick for herself at any expense. Why is the woman so determined?

Along with the mystery, there is tension between Roderick and Sybil from their stubbornness, their artistic tempers and there is an underlying current of attraction to each other that neither one will acknowledge.

This isn’t a deep book, but it is a fun read with a little romance, bantering/bickering between the lead characters all in a Victorian setting. ( )

If you are into both ghosts and romance, then this is the book for you. Sybil is an almost 30 year old English actress. She knows her days are numbered as a first rate actress, so she decides to accept a marriage proposal from a much older American gentleman. But before she leaves the troop, the manager convinces her to take the fall for his gambling debts telling her that since she is already quitting the business, it wouldn't hurt her. She travels to America, marries the American, but.....he dies on her wedding night. Now what is she to do? She can not return to England. She is told that there is a house that belonged to her husband's first wife. There is also a son....a son she thinks is a little boy. That little boy happens to be a roguish 30 year old. When they meet, sparks fly. Both are adamant that the house is theirs. And then strange things begin to happen....... ( )

Nocturne for a Widow is the Gothic tale of what happens when an English actress decides to retire and accept a marriage proposal from an American, only to have her husband die shortly after her marriage leaving her only a doubtful ownership of a house deep in the country and a stepson. Suffice to say, nothing is as it seems, either the house or the stepson. Because someone or something is unhappy in that house and wants our heroine to fix things—if only she could figure out just what went wrong in the first place.

A fun story, if a bit formulaic, but it comes with the excellent style I expect from the author. If you like contemporary Gothics with an only-fashioned feel, you'll want to check DeWees out, whether it's this one or one of her other books. ( )