A surprisingly wonderful find! I picked this book up to read on a whim, not realizing that I had already marked one of the books in the series as a 'to read', and oh my goodness I LOVED this book! It has almost everything that you could want, secret identity's, a rakish Duke, scorned ex-lovers, family scandals, romance, and an author that keeps you hooked to the very end!Lady Madeleine has a secret, for the last two weeks she has been preforming as the lead actress in a play. If discovered the scandal would ruin her, and quite possibly her family. On the night of what was to be her final performance however her theater, a theater most commonly visited by servants and not nobles of the Ton, is visited by a Duke and his friends. The theater owner seeing and opportunity blackmails Madeleine into another month of acting.It doesn't take long for the Duke, Ferguson, to connect Madeleine with the actress who played Hamlet at his theater. If only he had kept his mouth shut to others then Madeleine wouldn't be in need of a protector from other Men of the Ton looking to make Madame Guerrie, Lady Madeleine's stage name, their mistress. More unfortunate is that he had just previously secured Madeleine as a chaperone for his sisters, now he must help Madeleine continue her charade if he wishes to prevent a scandal which his family can ill afford. Past sins, ex-lovers, well meaning family and the Ton all come into play though and in the end two people who thought to never marry or find love end up doing just that.I loved the end of this book where tensions are high and Madeleine's identity, and reputation, is at stake. I think that if it were me I would continue on with the charade of appearing in public as Ferguson's wife and separately his mistress. Just think of the waves it would cause if they managed to keep the charade going for years, I think I would go on until his sisters and her cousins were all married and then revile it! So a full 5 STARS for this book, I can't wait to sink my teeth into the next book in the series! While I wasn't entirely a big fan of the first few chapters.. I figured the author gets it when she writes the sentence "He wanted a companion.". And for at least that, I have to admire the book. :-)But here Sara Ramsey also writes conflicts which get bitchy between Heroine and Heroine's friends.And the H/H conflict gets uglier than a contrived conflict waiting to be resolved by the Hero realising something in the last few moments of the narrative.I mean, there's lots of conflict and it's all done quite well. These are people fighting with people.So. I look forward to reading the next few books in the series. :-)
What do You think about Heiress Without A Cause (2012)?
Delightful story with a touch of drama to add spice and break up an otherwise straight forward tale.
—lou
Bof, bof, bof..... Je me suis ennuyée.
—Salwasalwa
