Butterfly Palace

For fans of Downton Abbey who want a little bit more spice in the storyline, you might just want to pick up Colleen Coble's latest novel, Butterfly Palace. Set in Larson and Austin, Texas in the early 1900's we find that the romance between Lily Donaldson and Andy Hawkins have all but fizzled. They were at one time engaged to be married but with the deaths of both of their fathers in a horrible fire, it seemed that Andy blamed himself for not being able to get the men out alive and he left Lily behind in ashes of their love.

Now that four years have passed Lily has found employment working as a ladies maid in Butterfly Palace, the wealthy home of the Marshall family. She finds her job enjoyable as Belle Castle's lady's maid putting her knowledge of fashion and hair design to work for her. She learns that Belle has her sights set on marrying Drew Hawkes, a guest in the Marshall home. Little did she realize that Drew is her Andy from Larson. Why he has changed his name and what he is doing in Austin cause her to be concerned and both hope that neither of them will share their intimate past with their current employers.

While Belle has her sights set on Drew, her father meanwhile wants Belle to marry Mr. Stuart Vesters, an up and coming wealthy politician and businessman. But it seems Mr. Vesters isn't all he appears to be to the Marshall family. Now that Lily has found work in the home, she finds herself the unlucky victim of the Servant Girl Killer, a serial killer that has been murdering maids around the city, preferring women who fit Lily's mold as the intended victim. Will Drew be able to keep up his pretense of acting like he doesn't know who Lily is even when she is almost murdered in the church or will their love reignite once again despite the obstacles facing them both?

I received Butterfly Palace by Colleen Coble compliments of Thomas Nelson Publishers for my honest review. I did not receive any monetary compensation for a favorable review and the opinions expressed in this review are strictly my own unless otherwise noted. I found myself completely captivated by this novel because I am a huge fan of Downton Abbey. I think Colleen Coble did an exceptional job at incorporating the characters of the upstairs wealthy aristocratic family from those of the household staff. The intermixing of those stereotypes is necessary to understand when Lily finds herself at odds wanting to talk to Drew but being in her position as a maid, wasn't something that was allowed. There are social barriers keeping them apart as well as the roles each of them in playing in their current situation which complicates their conversations. Lily at one point is discovered conversing with Drew by Belle who believes that Lily it out of place as a maid and threatens to fire her if she doesn't discontinue in her pursuit of being in Drew's company. A little jealous rivalry since despite Lily's attempts to downplay her beauty, she still comes shining through. I honestly had my suspicions about who was the murderer, but Colleen truly mixed me up and had me chasing my own tail by the end. Well done in my opinion and thus a just deserved 5 out of 5 stars!

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Butterfly Palace by Colleen Coble

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To read more reviews on Butterfly Palace, please visit Thomas Nelson's website. 


Length: 336 Pages
Publication Date: January 21, 2014
Company: Thomas Nelson
ISBN-10: 1595547835
ISBN-13:9781595547835