Cornick (The Phantom Tree) ably interweaves genres, eras, and narratives in this romantic suspense novel with paranormal elements. In 1763, Lady Isabella and Lord Eustace Gerard are locked in a vicious marriage. She takes lovers to help her tolerate his brutality as he grows entangled with a violent smuggling ring operating near their estate in Wiltshire. When Gerard gives Isabella an opulent gold silk gown, the dress seems to speed their trajectory toward disaster. In 2004, 13-year-old Fenella Brightwell is driven by sudden compulsion to steal the gown during a school visit to the estate. Disturbed by the turbulent emotions and images it engenders, she hides it away in the house she shares with her grandmother, Sarah. Fourteen years later, Sarah dies and the gown is returned to Fenella, who's now trying to rebuild her life after divorcing her abusive husband. Assailed by alarming visions, she teams with her best friend's brother, art expert Hamish Ross, to learn more about the gown's dark past. The tentative romance between Fenella and Hamish effectively balances the sinister mood of the 18th-century story. Romance fans will be most satisfied. (Feb.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Upon returning home to Swindon in Wiltshire following the end of her marriage to the abusive Jake, Fenella Brightwell finds herself once again in possession of a beautiful golden gown that she filched back when she was a schoolgirl on a class trip to Lydiard Park, a stately home. Or rather, it would be more accurate to say that the gown is once again in possession of her, since it seems to exert a malignant control over anyone who comes in contact with it. In an alternative time line some 250 years earlier, the gown is presented to Isabella by another abusive husband, Eustace, lord of Lydiard Park. A third narrative layer is provided by Isabella's maid, Constance, whom Eustace has engaged to spy on his wife. Murder, kleptomania, smuggling, secret tunnels, and a pinch of time travel all get thrown into the pot, but at its heart, this is the story of three women struggling to find themselves and break free of the past. Give it to readers who would enjoy a mix of history, mystery, and fantasy.--Mary Ellen Quinn Copyright 2019 Booklist