This review will appear on Jan 1, 2013 at http://romantichistoricallovers.wordpress.com/Oh My! This was a fast-paced funny read. I loved every minute of it!
Ellie Vyne does everything she can to make sure her sisters are taken care of. She makes sure they have wedding trousseaus and dowries. She also makes sure her father has roof over his head his debts are paid. What does she get in return? Scorn, scandal and nothing but problems.
James Hartley has been Ellie’s nemesis since she was a small girl. A family feud that began when she was little and has not been forgotten. He’s ready to settle down and find a respectable wife that is NOT his grandmother’s choosing. He decides Ellie Vyne is the woman for him.
Little did they know, they would fall in love along the way…….
I found myself snickering and giggling at all the things that go wrong for poor Ellie. All she wants to do is get her family settled so she can retire to the country with books and a dog. Instead she ends up in the most hilarious predicaments. Torn dresses, custard on her rump, mud on her face, are just a few of the things that happen to her. No matter how hard she tries, she ends up in some sort of scandal.
She realizes that she and James can help each other out. She makes an outlandish proposition to him and he agrees! As they attempt to fulfill the requirements of the proposition, they realize each other is more than they originally thought. They slowly begin to fall in love.
But love leads to heartbreak. Especially when secrets are involved. They both have secrets they are scared to share. So, ultimately they think the worst! It was heart-wrenching to watch them hurt each other simply because they couldn’t share their secrets.
Ms. Fresina has created a wonderful story that traverses the ball rooms of London to the country parties in Sydney Dovedale. Using London’s polite society’s penchant for gossip and scandal, she creates a backdrop that is perfect for the story of Ellie and James.
This is the second story in the Sydney Dovedale series. I have not read the first one but I had no problems following the story. I can’t wait to go back and read the first story and it sounds deliciously scandalous!
I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley.