Sometimes I travel by boat, plane, or automobile. Sometimes I travel by book. This week I traveled up to Lincolnshire by coach with Jade Lee and Lord Satyr.
There is nothing ordinary about this little gem. The heroine is a standout, a fascinating woman with what we would now call issues (or perhaps suggest she is “on the spectrum”) but during the Regency she was merely a odd duck, resigned to loneliness and determined to live independently now that she was “on the shelf.” All the women in this story are remarkable, even the villain, Lady Meunier, a business and financial genius with an unfortunate gift for manipulating men and an obsession with control. The hero is more of a cipher, a classic penniless lord trying to save his family, but he manages to hold his own.
Why Lincolnshire? That’s where the hero’s family seat lies, and, what’s more important, where his daffodils grow. Daffodils you say? Yes. The author manages to convince us that the hero and heroine, who form a partnership—his flowers; her expertise—can make a fortune on daffodils by bringing them into fashion, and it is a joy to watch them do it while thwarting the villain at every turn.
The ending however, fell flat. We didn’t get enough about their success after the Big Crisis, and would have like more on his troubled relationship with his crank father and rather wonderful collection of colorful sisters. Aside from that… recommended.
About the Book
Lord Sayres has a reputation for frivolity when what he wants is something substantial. He’s looking for a business endeavor free from his past entanglements. Something fresh and completely new for a world that has seen and done everything.
Lady Gwen
Masquerades are not Lady Gwen’s typical entertainment. She’s a bluestocking with a love of botany. When her husband-hunting plans go awry, she amuses herself by analyzing the flowers with a man who looks as depressed as she feels. When they stumble upon a business idea, she’s torn between clinging to the life she’s always known and joining forces with a known flirt. Could their unlikely partnership solve both their problems?
A Special Magic
Everything hinges on presenting their product in the most intriguing way and what better plan than to make Gwen society’s newest darling? Where she leads, everyone else will follow. But how can an awkward bluestocking transform into a beauty? It requires a special kind of magic from a lord who knows how to bring out the best in a woman. And all it will cost is his heart.