The Vespertine by Saundra Mitchell

The Vespertine by Saundra Mitchell
"It's the summer of 1889, and Amelia van den Broek is new to Baltimore and eager to take in all the pleasures the city has to offer. But her gaiety is interrupted by disturbing, dreamlike visions she has only at sunset—visions that offer glimpses of the future. Soon, friends and strangers alike call on Amelia to hear her prophecies. However, a forbidden romance with Nathaniel, an artist, threatens the new life Amelia is building in Baltimore. This enigmatic young man is keeping secrets of his own—still, Amelia finds herself irrepressibly drawn to him. When one of her darkest visions comes to pass, Amelia's world is thrown into chaos. And those around her begin to wonder if she's not the seer of dark portents, but the cause."- summary from Amazon

I loved Mitchell's debut Shadowed Summer and have been really excited to read more from her. This book is simply magical. I really enjoyed reading Amelia's story; Mitchell's prose is lyrical and just so time-specific, it just flows so well.

Normally, I'm not one for historical fiction but I seem to be really enjoying the books I've picked, though I think my criteria seems to include a splash of magic because that makes everything more fun. Amelia's powers were really cool to read about, even though they were a bit scary and turned out bad.

The romance also kept me turning the pages; Nathaniel and Amelia's scenes together were just so sensual. I loved seeing them together and the ending was just so sweet. I also really liked seeing the scenes between Amelia, Zora and their friends. It was fun to see them together and some good humor came through.

Overall, another wonderful, atmospheric book from Mitchell. I can't wait to read what's coming up next for her.

FTC: Received ARC from author. Link above is an Amazon Associate link; any profit goes toward funding contests.