Blog Tour: 'The Ruby Ring' by Grace Macdonald!

After a whirlwind romance, Laura Marchmont marries the charming Charles Haywood. Leaving her old life behind, she struggles to fit into Charles’s world, and to be accepted by his young daughters from his first marriage. Laura also hides a terrible secret from her new husband, which casts a shadow over her life. Then, she discovers the story of a young girl who lived more than a century before. Laura is compelled to uncover the fate of Mary Rose. 
1886. When Mary Rose Marchmont’s widowed father remarries it signals the end of her childhood. A series of tragic events leads Mary Rose to be accused of a shocking crime, after which her life will never be the same again.
Corazon Books is releasing a new title today, namely 'The Ruby Ring' by Grace Macdonald, and I was lucky enough to receive an early copy of the book to read and review! Grace Macdonald is actually a pen name of fiction author Sophie King, whose other novels I've really enjoyed over the past few years. She has written some great chick lit/women's fiction titles, such as 'Do You Take This Man?' (click here to read my review), 'Love is a Secret' (click here to read my review), and 'After the Honeymoon' (under the pen name Janey Fraser; click here to read my review). 'The Ruby Ring' has an interesting historical aspect to its story, something which I looked forward to checking out!
Laura Marchmont was never sure whether she would be able to find real love, until she meets Charles Haywood. It's love at first sight between the two of them and they get married quite quickly, not wanting to waste any time. But Laura has some trouble dealing with the two daughters from Charles' previous marriage, while also dealing with a big secret from her past she knows she has to share with Charles. When she unexpectedly stumbles upon the story of a girl named Mary Rose Marchmont, who lived around the 1880s, Laura is immediately intrigued and as she unravels Mary Rose's story she discovers the two of them actually have quite a lot of common...
'The Ruby Ring' is a novel by women's fiction author Sophie King under the pen name of Grace Macdonald, and a book that's slightly different from most of Sophie's other work. It's a historical timeslip novel, focusing on two young female characters who are both struggling with keeping secrets. On the one hand we have Laura Marchmont in the modern day and age, and Mary Rose Marchmont in Victorian times. I was really curious to learn more about both Laura and Mary Rose, and loved the similarities between their two stories. The book consists of several collections of chapters set in different times and told from either Laura or Mary Rose's point of view. I was intrigued by both characters, even though I did personally slightly prefer Mary Rose's story.
Just like the author's other novels, the story is quite fast-paced and written in an easy and comfortable writing style. It is quite a long read with over 400 pages in print, and I did feel like it could have been a bit shorter, to make it a more compact read. I really admire the fact that the author decided to step out of her regular genre and added this historical aspect to her latest book. It's not my favourite one of her reads, but still definitely an enjoyable one! 'The Ruby Ring' is a captivating, interesting and well-told timeslip novel focusing on two women living in different times; another entertaining read by author Sophie King!

Rating:8/10

  For more information about this book: Amazon.co.uk / Amazon.com / Goodreads

Thanks to the publisher for providing me with a review copy in exchange for an honest review.