Second book in this series, set during the napoleonic war, Winnie has to resort to smuggling to survive, this story is well written and very enjoyable

4.5 Stars

Evie Grace’s Smuggler’s Daughters series continues with the second exciting and enjoyable instalment full of adventure, intrigue, drama and romance: The Golden Maid.

Being a respectable married woman is all that Winnie Lennicker has ever wanted. Unlike her smuggler father or her sisters, Winnie has never yearned for excitement and she has always despaired at their penchant for getting into all manner of scrapes and getting on the wrong side of the law. Winnie just wants a quiet life where she can look after a husband and their children and leave all the danger, larceny and smuggling to her sisters. But when circumstances force her to tread the same path she has long scorned alongside her family, a defeated Winnie finds herself becoming involved in their nefarious operations and when she is caught by the Revenue, it looks like all of her hopes and dreams for the future are shattered. But worse is to come for Winnie. She is going to need all of her resolve and courage if she is to ever become the mistress of her own destiny. Pregnant and with the eyes of the law upon her, Winnie finds herself abandoning her principles, but always keeping sight of her dreams. She needs to carry on smuggling to keep herself alive and when she is tasked with a perilous trip across the channel, a determined Winnie vows to keep all of her wits about her and not let anyone or anything get between her and her destiny.

Winnie’s journey across the Channel is fraught with peril and danger, but she is a survivor. Even when everything looks set to be destroyed yet again, Winnie vows never to give up and to keep on fighting for her dream and for her future. She is determined to right the wrongs of the past and to leave the free trade behind for good, but will she be successful in her quest for freedom? Will the long shadow cast by her family continue to entrap her in a world she wants no part of? Or will she finally have the necessary wherewithal to find the love and fulfilment which she has been searching for all along?

Evie Grace is a talented storyteller with a wonderful gift for bringing the past to life. In The Golden Maid, 19th Century Kent is described with broad strokes and such vivid colour that you can almost taste the salt on your lips and hear the sails flapping in the wind. A tale of courage, determination, survival and the ties that bind, The Golden Maid is a captivating historical saga written with flair and style and featuring a wonderful heroine who goes on an emotional and dangerous journey which will keep you on the edge of your seat throughout.

Evie Grace’s star continues to rise with every new novel she writes and with another story in The Smuggler’s Daughters series in the pipeline, I cannot wait to see what further turmoil and drama is in store for the Lennicker sisters.

The Golden Maid is an absorbing, gripping read which I thoroughly enjoyed. It’s the second book in The Smugglers series.

I’m a huge fan of historical fiction and especially enjoy learning more about time periods outside of my favourite ones. In this book the author managed to fully transport me back to the 1800 with her vivid descriptions of everyday life back then. I really enjoyed learning a little more about what it was like to be a smuggler back then and the language they used to use.

I loved the main character Winnie who was a very strong, determined lady despite all the challenges she faced. I felt a lot of sympathy with her for some of the hard challenges she faced but admired her resolve to try and make the most of the situation she finds herself. I found I wanted to keep reading to find out what happens to her.

I thought the book was well written with the author’s easy writing style making the book easy to follow. I soon found myself lost in Winnie’s world and would often pick up the book thinking I’d just read a few pages, only to finally drag myself out of the book to realise several hours had passed. I can’t wait to go back and read the first book in this series now and look forward to reading the final book soon.

Huge thanks to Georgina from Arrow publishing for inviting me onto the blog tour and to Arrow publishing for my copy of this book via Netgalley.

I have been a fan of Evie's work for quite a while now. In fact I have been a fan of hers since I had the good fortune to pick up her first book, which is called 'Half A Sixpence' back in 2017. Since then I have read every new book that she has released and I have thoroughly enjoyed reading every one of them. Evie's most recent book is called 'The Golden Maid' and it was released on 20th August 2020. 'The Golden Maid' is the second book in 'The Smuggler's Daughters' trilogy and it is another cracking read from Evie Grace, which I thoroughly enjoyed reading but more about that in a bit.

The main focus of 'The Golden Maid' is on a character called Winnie. She is a young lass, who finds herself in the toughest of circumstances. When the story starts she is up in court on a couple of charges. It soon emerges that she has another problem on the horizon but I am not giving too much away on what this new problem is but needless to say that it is a biggie. Winnie's boyfriend has been taken away and is on a ship somewhere unknown. Winnie doesn't know if he is ok or if he is injured but she sorts of prays every day that he will be kept safe and that he will soon come back to her. Winnie faces many challenges throughout the story, but she is a strong, young lass, who faces her challenges head on and I kept everything crossed that things would work out well for her in the end. What happens? Well for the answer to that question and so much more then you are going to have to read the book for yourselves to find out as I am not going to tell you.

As well as being a book geek, I am also a huge history nerd and I love historical fiction. Admittedly, 'The Golden Maid' is set a bit before my favourite sort of era (Victorian Britain), but that was ok. It took me a little while to get used to the different sort of language that was used back when the story is set but as soon as I got used to the language, I was away. I fully immersed myself in the story so deeply that I managed to shut out all other distractions and concentrate on the story and on the story alone. To say that this book proved to be addictive reading is an understatement. I would pick the book up only intending to read a couple of chapters to fill in the odd half hour and because I was enjoying the story so much I would still be sat there reading over an hour and several chapters later. I think part of my attraction to the book was the fact that I had taken so well to the character of Winnie. All in all this was a delightful book to read.

'The Golden Maid' is superbly written but then I have found that to the true of all of Evie's books to date. She has a writing style that is easy to get used to and easy to get along with. Evie also has a first rate attention to detail. She has clearly done a lot of research into this particular era and this shines through in the quality of the story and the quality of her writing. Evie uses such powerful and vivid descriptions that I literally felt as though I was part of the story myself.

In short, I thoroughly enjoyed reading 'The Golden Maid' and I would recommend it to other readers. I look forward to reading much more of Evie's work in the future. The score on the Ginger Book Geek board is a very well deserved 5* out of 5*.

Winnie Lennicker is brought before the magistrate and found guilty of obstruction and sentenced to an hour in the pillory. Being pelted with rotting fruit and vegetables does nothing to help Winnie’s sombre mood nor does the fact that everyone now knows that she is going to have a baby out of wedlock. Determined to pull herself out of the free-trade business and being forever at the mercy of the law, Winnie has a choice to make, either she continues with smuggling and risk punishment from hiding contraband, or she finds a way to get out in order to bring her baby up in safety.

There’s a authentic sense of atmosphere and the author, with some fine detailing, brings the history of this early part of the nineteenth century accurately alive. The setting of the story during the Napoleonic war with France highlights the dilemma faced by Winnie as she gets drawn into carrying dispatches on behalf of British agents and spies across the channel. The lively adventure which follows proves just how strong the women folk were during this troubled time. I enjoyed getting to know the Lennicker sisters, especially Winnie who is a strong and determined character.

The Golden Maid is an interesting historical saga which continues the trilogy begun in The Lace Maiden, and whilst it would have been helpful to have read the first book it’s by no means essential as the author includes some references to what has gone before so, once I had the characters firmly fixed in my head, I was able to read this as a stand-alone story without any difficulty.

Overall this is a good blend of history and mystery in a historical saga which entertains from start to finish.

I really enjoy historical fiction and jumped at the chance to read this story based in Deal which is a local town to me in 1812. Although the era is slightly earlier that what I normally read with it being based so close to home I was keen to jump in.

I really enjoyed reading this story about the smugglers of Deal and getting to know the Lennicker girls. The laws were so different in this era and the way that justice was delivered was also very different and it all added to this story and made me keen to keep reading.

A wonderful insight to how life would have been for a lot of families, I found that once I had gotten to know Winnie and Billy the pages were flying by and I was hurtling towards the end even though I had no idea how it would end up for these apparently jinxed young lovers.

In The Golden Maid, we follow the story of Winnie Lenniker who comes from the coastal village of Deal in Kent, England. We meet Winnie as she is brought before the court when caught with contraband in her handcart. It is 1812 and the court system is a world away from the present day. Winnie reveals to the packed courtroom that she is pregnant in the hope that her punishment will be reduced. She then has to undergo the humiliation of being marched through the streets and taken to the stocks.

Her sweetheart Billy is missing and Winnie is worried for his life. He was taken in by Winnie's Pa as a boy and treated as part of the family. Winnie considered Billy a permanent fixture in her life and hoped to marry him. Now she has to face the fact that she may have to bring up their child alone.

Smuggling is a huge part of the Lenniker family's heritage and with that comes extreme danger. Winnie is a warm-hearted girl who would love nothing more to settle down and peacefully care for her family. However, when there are mouths to feed and financial proposals on offer, it is hard to resist. The three sisters have recently lost their father who was shot by a gang, so they are fully aware that there could be danger around every corner.

This is expertly written historical fiction and the period and location are extremely well researched. I enjoyed reading the characters talking in the dialogue and dialect familiar to the time and location. The story is beautifully written, taking you back in time and swept along with strong female characters determined to defy adversity. 

Evie Grace is a new historical fiction author for me, however I shall be keeping a watchful eye out for more titles  from such a talented storyteller.

I was a little unsure of this book at first but once I got into it I couldn't put it down. I love the three sisters and can't wait to see how their lives pan out in the future. It's great to hear of smugglers in British waters and the struggles they and their families faced because of war and how they evaded capture. I am glad it was Winnie who became the heroine in this story as Louisa is already known as the lace maiden. What lies in store next for Grace? The way the author uses language such as sennight and dumbledores only adds to the atmosphere as well as using a Deal accent throughout. Brilliant.

Historical novel set during the Napoleonic wars,a look at spies and smuggling. Interesting well rounded characters and a lively story.

This book is filled with so much detail in the writing, I am literally speechless by how much I have loved this book. I have fallen in love with historical fiction books since reading Susanna Bavin. However, following this book I definitely need to add more by this author to my TBR. I am definitely a converted fan based on this book. 
The characters in this book are likeable, I have loved Winnie from the very beginning. The plot is completely unique to anything I've read previously. A main theme of this book is smuggling which I haven't found in a book set in this period before. 
I have been completely addicted to reading this one. The author has created an expert storyline and the writing flows so well, I've had a clear picture throughout. This is definitely one that I would love to see as a series. 
I am so excited to read more by this fantastic author. This is without a doubt a five star read.

This is the 2nd book in The Smugglers Daughters series. It’s certainly different. Three sisters left after their parents die, there is Grace the youngest, Louisa the eldest who feels responsible for the others and Winnie who the story centres round. They all have dealings in the free trade which don’t always work out as planned with the customs men keeping a close eye on them. Winnie gets asked to help the British carrying goods across the channel but things don’t go to plan. What will become of Winnie?

This book is the 2nd instalment in the series. It is an easy read and has great detail of the area and the workings of these villagers. The characters are strong and make you think about them as sisters each with their own mind set for their futures.
An enjoyable read and the author has given great detail of the area.