Review + Tour GIVEAWAY: An Hour Unspent by Roseanna M. White

About the Book

Once London’s top thief, Barclay Pearce has turned his back on his life of crime and now uses his skills for a nation at war. But not until he rescues a clockmaker’s daughter from a mugging does he begin to wonder what his future might hold.

Evelina Manning has constantly fought for independence but she certainly never meant for it to inspire her fiancé to end the engagement and enlist in the army. When the intriguing man who saved her returns to the Manning residence to study clockwork repair with her father, she can’t help being interested. But she soon learns that nothing with Barclay Pearce is as simple as it seems.

As 1915 England plunges ever deeper into war, the work of an ingenious clockmaker may give England an unbeatable military edge—and Germany realizes it as well. Evelina’s father soon finds his whole family in danger—and it may just take a reformed thief to steal the time they need to escape it.

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My Thoughts

In one word, An Hour Unspent by Roseanna M. White is exquisite. I don’t know when the theme of a series and its characters have more completely captured my heart. These stories – A Name Unknown, A Song Unheard, and An Hour Unspent – are so very well written, rich with interesting historical detail, and filled with memorable characters who tug at the heartstrings. Reading the entire series in order will provide the most fulfilling reading experience, but An Hour Unspent stands alone and should be read, no matter what.

White’s stories feature women who are strong, and the clockmaker’s daughter, Evelina Manning, continues that trend. It took me a while to warm up to her, but that certainly happened as some of her insecurities and family background came to light… “The Manning house…it hadn’t been alive, not really, in fifteen years. It had just kept ticking along, because that was what gears did when set in motion.”

The heart of this story, and one of its strengths, is Barclay Pearce – founder, caregiver, leader. Barclay, who we’ve followed as a background character through the two previous books. Barclay, once a thief, now a moral leader working to assist the government as war deepens. Barclay, father to the most precious group of orphans, who emulate what real family means. Barclay, longing to find his brother who “had vanished into London’s orphanage system as surely as their mother had into its prisons.” And Barclay, a relatively new-to-the-faith Christian who struggles with the same questions that seasoned believers face as he asks, “When one’s government told one to slip back into one’s old habits…was it wrong? Or justified?” I have been hoping for and eagerly anticipating his story, and it is so much more than I could have imagined.

The element of faith is the sustaining thread that flows gently and effectively throughout. As Roseanna said in her guest post below, this is “a story about how far people should go for love.” And really, should there ever be any limit, deadline, or last chance? An Hour Unspent is an incredibly moving story and Barclay one of my favorite characters ever. While this may complete the series, I certainly hope to see this family and the younger siblings in the future.

I can’t resist adding this thought… While the cover perfectly fits the story’s theme, I would love for Barclay to have been featured on it.

An Hour Unspent is an all-time favorite, best of the best, highly recommended.

I received a copy of this book from Bethany House through the author and Celebrate Lit. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

About the Author

Roseanna M. White is a bestselling, Christy Award nominated author who has long claimed that words are the air she breathes. 

When not writing fiction, she’s homeschooling her two kids, editing, designing book covers, and pretending her house will clean itself. 

Roseanna is the author of a slew of historical novels that span several continents and thousands of years. Spies and war and mayhem always seem to find their way into her books…to offset her real life, which is blessedly ordinary. 

You can learn more about her and her stories at www.RoseannaMWhite.com.

Guest Post from Roseanna

Last year, as I finished up the writing of An Hour Unspent, my great-grandmother passed away at the age of 103. As I sat at her funeral service and listened to the heartfelt memorial raised up to her by her kids and grandkids, I realized anew that this woman had been a matriarch in the truest sense of the word. She’d taught my family for generations how to love the Lord and each other, how to serve the Lord and each other, and how to trust the Lord and each other. Grandma Seward was, in so many ways, the one who instilled in me my idea of what family really is. 

That idea—that it’s those knit together by love more than blood, and that faith is the strongest foundation—is what I built my unusual family of thieves upon in the Shadows Over England series. And strange as it is to liken my twenty-something reformed-thief hero to my 103-year-old-grandmother, Barclay Pearce is very much to his family what Maxine Seward was to mine. 

The founder. The caregiver. The leader. 

I knew as I began the series that I would write about Barclay in book three, and as I got to know him better throughout the series, I grew so excited to share his story! This is a man who led his family first into and then out of a life a crime, always for the right reasons—so he could provide for the children under his care. All he ever wanted to do was give them what he himself had lost. To show them love. To prove to them that they were worth any sacrifice. 

It was truly a blessing for me to get to write the story in which Barclay found someone to come alongside him, to appreciate and learn to understand him. To finally share what started him down this path. I loved the idea that only a reformed thief could steal the time another family needed to overcome their own trials. 

There are many historical items in the book that were such fun to explore—watchmaking of the era, the suffrage movement in England, technological advancements of the war—but at the heart, this isn’t a story about any of those. It’s a story about how far people should go for love. 

I hope you enjoy Barclay’s story as much as I did!

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Roseanna is giving away a grand prize of a signed book, a London mug, and a 48-pack Twinings tea sampler!!

Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the image above or the link below to enter.

https://promosimple.com/ps/d570/an-hour-unspent-celebration-tour-giveaway

Blog Stops

The Avid Reader, October 30

The Power of Words, October 30

Back Porch Reads, October 30

Kat’s Corner Books, October 30

Janice’s Book Reviews, October 30

Where Faith and Books Meet, October 31

Reading Is My SuperPower, October 31

Faithfully Bookish, October 31

Genesis 5020, October 31

Fiction Aficionado, November 1

Among the Reads, November 1

The Lit Addict, November 1

Just the Write Escape, November 1

Multifarious, November 2

Godly Book Reviews, November 2

Real World Bible Study, November 2

Madeline Clark, November 2

Reflections From My Bookshelves, November 3

Christian Bookaholic, November 3

Inspirationally Ever After, November 3

Bookworm Mama, November 3

Bigreadersite, November 3

Blogging With Carol , November 4

D’S QUILTS & BOOKS, November 4

Life with the Tribe, November 4

The Becca Files, November 4

Kathleen Denly, November 5

Cordially Barbara, November 5

Abba’s Prayer Warrior Princess, November 5

Simple Harvest Reads, November 5 (Guest Post from Mindy Houng)

God’s Little Bookworm, November 6

All-of-a-kind Mom, November 6

Faery Tales Are Real, November 6

Christian Chick’s Thoughts, November 6

Carpe Diem, November 6

Margaret Kazmierczak, November 7

Locks, Hooks and Books, November 7

Christian Author, J.E.Grace, November 7

Blossoms and Blessings , November 7

Maureen’s Musings , November 8

Connie’s History Classroom , November 8

Book by Book, November 8

Just Commonly, November 8

cherylbbookblog, November 9

The Christian Fiction Girl, November 9

Have A Wonderful Day , November 9

With a Joyful Noise, November 9

KarenSueHadley , November 10

Tell Tale Book Reviews, November 10

Babbling Becky L’s Book Impressions, November 10

Baker kella, November 10

Bibliophile Reviews, November 10

Book Bites, Bee Stings, & Butterfly Kisses, November 11

Inklings and Notions , November 11

Two Points of Interest, November 11

Inspiration Clothesline, November 11

A Baker’s Perspective, November 11

Henry Happens, November 12

Texas Book-aholic, November 12

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, November 12