Book Beginnings on Friday March 30, 2012

Book Beginnings on Friday is a meme hosted by Gilion at Rose City Reader. Anyone can participate; just share the opening sentence of your current read, making sure that you include  include the title and author so others know what you're reading.

I just started reading of Crystal Gardens by Amanda Quick, an ARC from Amazon Vine.  This is the first book in The Ladies of Lantern Street trilogy.  Here is the opening paragraph.


"The muffled Thud of the shattered lock echoed like a thunder-clap in the deep silence that drenched the cottage.  Evangeline Ames recognized the sound at once.  She was not longer alone in the house."


I am just fifty enjoyable pages into the book and loving every page.  Here is what Goodreads has to say about Chrystal Gardens:


Welcome to the sensational new series by Amanda Quick, where the lives of the Victorian gentry are filled with secrets – and secret powers... 

Evangeline Ames has rented a country cottage far from the London streets where she was recently attacked. Fascinated by the paranormal energy of nearby Crystal Gardens, she finds pleasure in sneaking past the wall to explore the grounds. And when her life is threatened again, she instinctively goes to the gardens for safety. 

Lucas Sebastian has never been one to ignore a lady in danger, even if she is trespassing on his property. Quickly disposing of her would-be assassin, he insists they keep the matter private. There are rumours enough already, about treasure buried under his garden, and occult botanical experiments performed by his uncle – who died of mysterious causes. 
With Evangeline's skill for detection, and Lucas's sense of the criminal mind, they soon discover that they have a common enemy. And as the energy emanating from Crystal Gardens intensifies, they realize that to survive they must unearth what has been buried for too long..