About the Book

Book: Beauty Among Ruins

Author: J’Nell Ciesielski

Genre: Historical Romance

Release Date: January 12, 2021

American socialite Lily Durham is known for enjoying one moment to the next, with little regard for the consequences of her actions. But just as she is banished overseas to England as a “cure” for her frivolous ways, the Great War breaks out and wreaks havoc. She joins her cousin in nursing the wounded at a convalescent home deep in the wilds of Scotland at a crumbling castle where its laird is less than welcoming.

Alec MacGregor has given his entire life to preserving his home of Kinclavoch Castle, but mounting debts force him to sell off his family history bit by bit. Labeled a coward for not joining his countrymen in the trenches due to an old injury, he opens his home to the Tommies to make recompense while he keeps to the shadows. But his preference for the shadows is shattered when a new American nurse comes streaming into the castle on a burst of light.

Lily and Alec are thrown together when a series of mysterious events threatens to ruin the future of Kinclavoch. Can they put aside their differences to find the culprit before it’s too late, or will their greatest distraction be falling in love?

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Guest Review from Mindy Houng

“Aye, but you seem to have smiles, and sometimes that is what is needed more than a clean apron.”

What a delightful and enchanting historical romance set during WWI. The book does not boast of detailed accounts of the war nor does it have a faith element in the story, but it does boast of raw, palpable emotions, breath-taking beauty, and the heart’s call for home. If you enjoy historical romance, this is a book not to be missed. It made me laugh out loud from the well-placed humor and banter, weep from the sorrow and heart-break, and sigh with contentment at the tender sweet romance.

Lily, the American, is full of life and zest but is deemed impertinent and selfish so is sent across the ocean to England before the start of the war in 1914. 1915 finds her as a nurse’s aide, tending to the broken soldiers in a Scotland castle. Alec is the reclusive laird, brooding, stubborn, straight-laced but loyal and selflessly working towards preserving his crumbling legacy and history. Underneath the gruff and scowling exterior lies a tender, fiercely protective heart of gold that only a few people get to see. Alec is a swoon-worthy hero, for sure. There is great humor throughout the story, even in the midst of fear, pain and horrors of the war seen through the recovering soldiers’ tales. There is even a hint of intrigue and mystery as strange things keep happening around the castle that seem to further put a cloud of doom over them. The title “Beauty Among Ruins” is so appropriate – there is beauty everywhere in this story – in the dilapidated castle of old, in the rugged untamed landscape of Scotland, in the broken hope of the soldiers, in the fledgling star-crossed romance between Lily and Alec.

The author has become one of my favorite historical romance writers and I can’t wait for her next book!

I received a copy of the book via Celebrate Lit Tours and was under no obligation to post a positive comment. All opinions are solely my own.

About the Author

With a passion for heart-stopping adventure and sweeping love stories, J’nell Ciesielski weaves fresh takes into romances of times gone by. When not creating dashing heroes and daring heroines, she can be found dreaming of Scotland, indulging in chocolate of any kind, or watching old black and white movies. Winner of the INSPY and the Maggie Award, she is a Florida native who now lives in Virginia with her husband, daughter, and lazy beagle. Learn more at www.jnellciesielski.com.

More from J’Nell

Inspiration for Beauty Among Ruins

Once again, blame it on Downton Abbey. This time on Lady Rose. She was impulsive, spoiled, a free spirit, yet with a good heart. I knew I wanted to take on the challenge of writing a heroine like her. A character who starts off one way and by the end of the book has completely charmed you over. So I started writing and everything was going great until … it wasn’t. The plot just stopped on me. No matter how hard I tried the story refused to reveal itself to me which is incredibly frustrating for someone who doesn’t like to give up once they’ve started something. But I had to. In the end, I had to put the story, affectionately titled Love on the Limp, away for several months while I wrote The Socialite. Then one day the story clicked. It was meant to be a WWI telling on the classic Beauty and the Beast story. Everything fell into place and the story and characters burst onto the page in glorious technicolor.

Lily and Alec took me by surprised with how much I fell in love with them. Bubbly Lily and brooding Alec. Never had two more opposites been so perfect for one another (at least in my writing experience). They had so many obstacles to overcome, many of them self-imposed, that I often found myself in tears over their heartaches, but golly gumdrops when they came together, boy o boy were there fireworks!

You may have also noticed that the story is set in Scotland because I happen to believe that every good story is set there. I had the privilege of staring at pictures of this breathtaking landscape for months so I could imagine the characters strolling among the heather and watching the river twist through the green moors. To me, nothing rivals the awe inspiring beauty of a certain place, and hopefully readers will feel that through these pages.