My rating: 4 stars / I really liked it
Synopsis
After caring for a
crotchety countess, Patience Ramsey wants a more purposeful position.
So, when Miss Thorn of the Fortune Employment Agency offers her the post
of assistant to amateur apothecary Augusta Orwell, Patience jumps at
the chance. Then her new employer introduces her at an Easter house
party as the bride-to-be of her nephew Sir Harold Orwell. Miss Thorn’s
cat Fortune may approve of Sir Harry, but Patience has no interest in
borrowing the handsome baronet. She’s had her heart trampled on by false
promises before.
Sir Harry has enough on his hands trying to
restore the family name while spying for the English against the
French. But the pretty Patience could cover for him when he must ply his
trade during the house party, so he convinces her to agree to the
charade. As Harry’s work brings danger closer, he begins to realize
Patience embodies everything he could want in a wife. Can he convince
her to overlook the scandals surrounding him and exchange their false
engagement for a true love?
My Review
This lovely series continues with Miss Thorn helping another lady of reduced circumstances find a new position and ultimately, the opportunity to fall in love. There is a great cast of vibrant characters that made this book such fun to read- Patience, with her up-for-anything attitude; Harry, with his hands full of spies, smugglers, and suspicious guests; Miss Thorn, trying to avoid her childhood sweetheart who is staying in the same house; Augusta, creating concoctions that terrify her guests; Lydia, all too eager to help Augusta and stir things up a bit; Yvette, a French spy with nothing to lose. The fake engagement and other secrets create quite a bit of tension, especially as Patience and Harry begin to grow closer. The weather traps everyone on the property and they have to wait for the water to subside before the guests from the house party can depart, which made the pace drag a bit after the middle of the book. The author did a good job of getting across the feeling of
frustration and desperation the characters had from being stuck, and I think I started
feeling that too. It picks up again with some action and the climax at the end, and leaves the door open for Miss Thorn to reconcile with her long-lost love. I'm especially looking forward to reading the next books since we were introduced to both characters who will be featured in them, Yvette and Lydia.
(I received a complimentary copy of the book; all opinions in this review are my own)
Check out the other books in the Fortune's Brides series . . .
Synopsis
After spending the last
ten years following her late husband on campaign, the irrepressible Jane
Kimball finds herself badly in need of a position to support herself.
Marriage holds no appeal; she’s not likely to find a husband like her
Jimmy again. But when Miss Thorn of the Fortune Employment Agency offers
her a post with the Duke of Wey, Jane feels drawn to help the lonely
widower with his three daughters. He may seem a bit aloof, but Miss
Thorn’s cat Fortune approved of him. Why should Jane doubt a duke?
Alaric,
Duke of Wey, commands his staff, his tenants, and the halls of
Parliament, managing vast holdings in England and across the seas. Why
is it he cannot manage his own daughters? As an old danger rears its
head, he comes to rely on Jane’s practical nature, her outspoken ways to
navigate the waters of fatherhood. And when necessity dictates he take a
wife, thoughts turn to an unlikely governess who might make the perfect
bride.
Book Three
Synopsis
The saucy Yvette de
Maupassant is used to danger. She’s spent the last 10 years spying for
England in Napoleon’s court. Now that her work has been discovered, she
must hide, and what better place than the remote wooded estate of the
Earl of Carrolton? Her friend Miss Thorn and that delightful cat Fortune
place her in a position where she can pretend to be companion to the
earl’s sickly mother. Yet one look at the earl has Yvette rethinking why
she wants to stay.
Gregory, Earl of Carrolton, is used to
power. So why does one moment in the company of his mother and spinster
sister leave him feeling powerless? And why does the look in a certain
Frenchwoman’s eyes leave him weak at the knees? As danger draws closer,
Gregory and Yvette must work together to protect her, his family, and
the future of England, as they discover the greatest danger and delight
is falling in love.
Book Four
Releasing November 2018!
Synopsis
Lydia Villers is
determined to leave behind her life as a social butterfly and do what
she's always dreamed of doing--pursue a career in science. A shame the
only scientist willing to assist her is the one man she had once hoped
to wed. Frederick, Viscount Worthington, Worth to his friends, has been
betrayed once too often. How can he believe Lydia's intentions are true?
With the help of Miss Thorn and her beloved cat Fortune, a determined
young lady and a jaded lord might just discover that only together do
they make the perfect chemistry.
