The Spanish Daughter

Less drama than [b:The Sisters of Alameda Street 31213198 The Sisters of Alameda Street Lorena Hughes https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1482380437l/31213198.SY75.jpg 51867767] — hey, I saw that eyeroll! Pleasantly different, actually, so no more comparing.Lovely evocative writing. Fun pacing. Intriguing premise. Unfortunately, it didn't work for me: the characters just weren't believable, nor their actions, nor the disguise going undiscovered for more than a day. That kept me at a distance, unconnected. I could see the story developing, and see that Hughes had a destination in mind, but the characters were just shoehorned into acting the way they did. Seemingly important characters or plot points appearing, serving their purpose, and unsatisfyingly vanishing.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Spanish Daughter was a really enjoyable book for me. I flew through it and finished it within 24 hours. I loved the time period (1920). I loved the unique setting of a cocoa plantation in Ecuador. It was written well, and easy to read. The mystery aspect was a little weak. I found the family dynamics are what really shined here. The characters themselves were all intriguing. However, the ending I found to be very abrupt and I think the book would have benefited with an extra chapter or two to flesh out the ending more. All in all, this was an excellent book and gets two solid thumbs up from yours truly. I look forward to reading more from this author.

ARC Via NetGalley

3.5 Rounded to 4

I love historical fiction so when I received The Spanish Daughter from Kensington Books, I was all-in. I mean chocolate, mystery and family drama that isn't my own?! It did take me some time to get in the right head space to read this one, but I'm glad I finally did.

This is a quick and easy read and I enjoyed the majority of the story. Most of the characters I couldn't stand, but I think they were written that way in purpose, or at least I hope it was intentional