The Tutor's Daughter by Julie Klassen - a book review

I love good historical Christian fiction and The Tutor's Daughter didn't disappoint me. And when you throw in a little intrique, mystery and suspense, it's a winner!  This author keeps you on your toes right to the end.  Even the cover of the book is a winner (and I don't usually comment on the cover of a book), but this one is perfect for the story.  A young woman, dressed appropriately for her station in life as a school master's daughter, poised on the edge of a cliff with dark clouds in the distance.....perfect!

The story is about Emma, the daughter of a boarding school master whose wife has died.  Their school is slowly fading away so when they are asked by a former students family to be in-home tutors to their two young sons, they agree and move to Ebbington Manor, home of the Weston's.  The Weston's are, to say the least, a disfunctional family.  There are secrets, strange noises in the night, locked doors, haunting music, and even a little attempted murder.  Here is what the publisher's website says:

"Emma Smallwood, determined to help her widowed father when his boarding school fails, accompanies him to the cliff-top manor of a baronet and his four sons. But soon after they arrive and begin teaching the two younger boys, mysterious things begin to happen. Who does Emma hear playing the pianoforte at night, only to find the music room empty? And who begins sneaking into her bedchamber, leaving behind strange mementoes?
The baronet's older sons, Phillip and Henry Weston, wrestle with problems--and secrets--of their own. They both remember the studious Miss Smallwood from their days at her father's academy. But now one of them finds himself unexpectedly drawn to her...
When suspicious acts escalate, can Emma figure out which brother to blame and which to trust with her heart?
Filled with page-turning suspense, The Tutor's Daughter takes readers to the windswept Cornwall coast--a place infamous for shipwrecks and superstitions--where danger lurks, faith is tested, and romance awaits."

Go HERE to read an exerpt

This book is a faith based book but it's not at all 'preachy'.  It's a good, clean, suspenseful story that will leave you wanting to read more from this author. The ending is predictibly happy. This is after all, Christian romance but even though you know Emma is going to end up in love and happy, you're never quite sure who she's going to end up with until very close to the end.

You can read more about the author and her other novels on her website.

I hope you give this one a try.  If you like faith based fiction and suspense, you won't go wrong with The Tutor's Daughter.