Book Review: The Rose Garden by Susanna Kearsley

Eva Ward returns to Cornwall to the place she and her family vacationed in long ago summers to spread her sister's ashes. Trelowarth is an old estate noted for its lush rose gardens, a legacy of the current owners' grandfather. Eva stays to help siblings Mark and Susan, the friends of her youth. She thinks it's stress when she starts hearing voices and sees apparitions, but soon finds that she is slipping into a past when Trelowarth was the home of smugglers Daniel and Jack Butler. She and Daniel establish a rapport, and maybe something more, but their relationship is hard to define when Eva keeps sliding back to her own time.
If you like Diana Galbadon, you'll love The Rose Garden. Though it takes place in Cornwall, there is a connection to the Stuarts. But it's mostly a story about smuggling, the beauty of Cornwall, and the relationship between Eva and Daniel. Eva must balance her life in the present with her longing to be with Daniel.
I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Fergal. He is Daniel's friend, an Irishman who 'adopts' Eva as his sister and the Murtagh of this story (though this isn't in any way a clone of Outlander).
The writing is lovely. I did find it a little slow at the beginning, but once Eva meets Daniel, I couldn't put the book down. Another wonderful story by Ms. Kearsley.

Link to Amazon