What's a Lord to do?

-
A Lord Apart (The Way to a Lord's Heart #1) by Jane Ashford            
A bit of a conundrum and then some. Arthur Shelton, Earl of Macklin is still pursuing his aim of helping others to deal with death and the loss that represents. He wanders in and out of the story like a benevolent fairy god father. As he explains to his current array of guests, “Grief is insidious, almost palpable, and as variable as humankind ... No one can understand who hasn’t experienced a sudden loss. A black coat and a few platitudes are nothing.”
This time Daniel Frith, Viscount Whitfield is the person he turns his attention towards. Daniel has had a solitary upbringing due to his parents always being abroad so frequently. And now with their deaths the abandoned inner child and the adult Daniel feel that disconnect keenly.
In attempting to taking over the reins of his earldom, a puzzling question is why Rose Cottage been left to a complete stranger, one Penelope Pendleton. When Daniel meets her it is obvious that she's a woman with a genteel background. Yet here she is learning to make bread and manage a cottage without the requisite servants.  Daniel is determined to find out all he can. Macklin's assistance is given. Although sometimes Macklin's helpful enquiries don't bring the outcome desired. More like, they just add to the tension as the story develops. I love his assistant Tom and am expecting more interesting developments of his character.
Penelope it appears is daughter of a peer and sister to a traitor, a Luddite who according to Penelope "was murdered ... at the Peterloo." Then "her brother Philip was posthumously convicted of treason and stripped of his title and estates. [Their] home went to the government."
Penelope was homeless until Daniel's parent's will was read.  She had spent the past year being interrogated by the Home Secretary, Lord Sidmouth's agents. A devasting experience! This surprise inheritance of Rose Cottage gave Penelope a place to flee to.
However interaction with the viscount and the search through Daniel's mother's papers bring something even more sinister to light. As does the arrival of Sidmouth's agents demanding those papers and threatening Penelope. One of those agents interrogated her. Penelope is fearful. Who would not be?
Daniel puts in place a plan!
There were amusing parts. The dogs and the goat interactions are the loveliest of whimsies. The novel is a very busy place with all sorts of things happening off center stage but the story flowed well with enough romance and intrigue to hit a nicely balanced note.

 A NetGalley ARC

****

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Things aren’t as they seem!

-
Image
A Murderous Tryst  (Beatrice Hyde-Care Mystery #11) by Lynn Messina    ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Oh my! Bea certainly has a lot to contend with. Bea’s rattled! The Duke has been missing from their bed for a night. When a distraught Bea come downstairs the next morning she finds her beloved husband Damien clasped in the arms of a glamorous female. A female who turns out to be Kesgrave’s first mistress, Mrs. Penelope Taylor! What?! Of course Bea’s heart sinks and she falls back on her painful memories of Aunt Vera’s responses to such a situation. Bea is both shaken and traumatised, but determined not to show it.  It seems Penny has been accused of murder. Actually  Penny’s desperately trying to avoid Newgate.    As a former mistress Penny does the unthinkable thing in society’s eyes. She asks for help from Bea. Bea’s response is just as shocking. She says yes. Kesgrave is as usual inscrutable. Of course this is the beginning of a harebrained chase, complications between Bea  and Amien,  and an investiga
Read more

Women in war—Internment by the Japanese 1942-45.

-
Image
Sisters Under the Rising Sun  by Heather Morris    ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ A fitting tribute to the women interred by the Japanese in Indonesia and Malaya during 1942 until liberation in 1945. Amongst the internees are a group of Australian Army nurses who were not given recognition by the Japanese as members of the armed forces and therefore not prisoners of war according to the Conventions of war.  Sister Vivian Bullwinkle is the only survivor of the massacre of a group of soldiers and nurses on Radji Beach, Bangka Island near Sumatra  in 1942, after the sinking of  HMS Vyner Brooke. There are a number of civilian prisoners in the camps like Norah Chambers and her sister Ena.  Combined, the story of these women interred under terrible conditions, their struggles and achievements are monumental.  Their gifts to their fellows beyond speech. Music plays an important part in uplifting the prisoners’ spirits. It’s truly a privilege to read about their plight, their vows to each other, and their braver
Read more

The Three Muscateers—three widows, three sets of different circumstances

-
Image
The Widows' Wine Club  by Julia Jarman    ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Different enough to be interesting but I kept losing which character was which. I almost feel I need to read it again to follow who’s who. I do know that three women came together to form a support group, going to the pub for lunch etc. Better than the local widow’s group in the church hall.  All three had recently lost their husbands and now had to find a way to face their new lives. Viv Halliday is a knowledgeable gardener. Zelda Fielding is setting herself up with internet dates and searching the web for her unknown father. Janet had a controlling husband who it turned out was having affairs, and their son is just as controlling. How their lives unfold is the new challenge. A Boldwood Books ARC via NetGalley.                                               Many thanks to the author and publisher.
Read more