The book I’m introducing you to today, A Rumored Fortune, is one of the best I’ve read this year! (That’s saying a lot, I know, but it’s true!!) What makes it even more surprising is that this is only the 2nd novel published by the author. (I also really liked the first one, Lady Jayne Disappears, but this one is on a level all it’s own!)
I have a tendency to do what we’re told to not do–judge a book by it’s cover. In this case, I really think the cover doesn’t quite do the story justice.
I started reading it and loved it from the first chapter! 
Tressa Harlowe, the main character, is an heiress (or so it is supposed), and has to come home from a trip because she and her mother receive bad news about her father. When they arrive home, they are told he’s dead.
In reality, rather being a wealthy heiress, she is penniless because nobody knows where his (rumored) fortune is hidden.
I love treasure hunts, don’t you?! So when I caught on that she’d have to do this, I was thrilled!
I also really like the girl herself. Rich, but not too spoiled. Intelligent, not taken-in easily by all the fortune-seekers that come to their home under other pretenses… Beautiful, inside and out. A rare, rich, ripe grape among the many soured ones.
Woven throughout the story are also tidbits about caring for a vineyard, being a vinedresser, and other wisdom, not applicable only in the vineyards, but relevant for any part of your life.
This a historical suspense novel, just overflowing with mystery, intrigue, good guys and bad guys. A castle, a vineyard, a grieving widow and her beautiful daughter. The author leaves us details, and clues, to help us figure out just what is going on, but the path is not so well marked that it is easily deduced. The story will keep you reading as quickly as you can, just to find out what happens next!
Disclaimer: I receive complimentary books from various sources, including, publishers, publicists, authors, and/or NetGalley. I am not required to write a positive review, and have not received any compensation. The opinions shared here are my own entirely. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255
From the back cover:
Welcome to Trevelyan Castle, home of the poorest heiress in Victorian England
Tressa Harlowe’s father kept his vast fortune hidden somewhere on his estate in the south of England and died suddenly, without telling anyone where he had concealed it. Now Tressa and her ailing mother are left with a mansion and an immense vineyard and no money to run it.
It doesn’t take long for a bevy of opportunists to flock to the estate under the guise of offering condolences. Tressa knows what they’re really up to. She’ll have to work with the rough and rusticated vineyard manager to keep the laborers content without pay and discover the key to finding her father’s fortune–before someone else finds it first.
“Everyone loves a treasure hunt–pair it with a heroine you can’t help but love, a hero you can’t help but swoon over, and a family mystery that’ll keep you on the edge of your seat, and you end up with A Rumored Fortune. This book is a treasure in itself and one you won’t be able to put down!”–Roseanna M. White, bestselling author of the Ladies of the Manor series and Shadows Over England series
Award-winning author Joanna Davidson Politano welcomes readers to Trevelyan Castle, home of the poorest heiress in Victorian England, for a treasure hunt they’ll not soon forget.
About the author:
Joanna Davidson Politano freelances for a small nonfiction publisher but spends much of her time spinning tales that capture the colorful, exquisite details in ordinary lives. Her debut novel, Lady Jayne Disappears, released October 3, 2017 from Revell. She lives with her husband and their two babies in a house in the woods and shares stories that move her at http://www.jdpstories.com.
All-of-a-kind Mom 