Astonishing! I was hooked!

My Lady's Secrets by Katy Moran   

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Exciting tale of an Irish society bride who’d been left to languish by her husband only to be seduced by the Duke of Cleveland at a ball. They were discovered. No retribution for the Duke, but Cressida was disgraced. After harsh words with her husband Cressida fled on the next transport to Portugal and the Peninsula War. From there she followed the drum with a regular Irish soldier, O’Malley.

It was after the seige of Badajoz in Spain that her husband found her about to be ravaged by soldiers. So her unforgiving husband, Lieutenant Colonel Lord Greville Nightingale arrested his errant wife for treason. However, it was Major Lord Arthur Lascelles of the Peninsular Corps of Guides who shipped her home.

In England she’s persuaded to work for Lascelles, partly to bring her friend George Byron and her renegade father to account. (Oh yes, so much history here!)

Cressida travels to the highlands with her Greville, Byron and her sister-in-law. They’re to bring her back into society’s fold. 

There’s a whole lot of escapades and skullduggery occurring throughout the tale. Who is the enemy and who’s not is complicated, smugglers included.

Bold in its outlook, Cressida’s story moved me from anguish to anger and back. Cressida is a woman used, powerless to stop the forces arraigned against her, even as she courageously, or outrageously fights on. 

The side issue of the fate of the women in the baggage train, the camp followers, was brutal, yet they forged amongst themselves a spirit care and support, living in the moment. That was memorable.

I enjoyed the complexity of the novel and the gutsiness of the unfailing Cressida and her mysterious maid, Ines. A solid, breath holding read!

A Aria & Aries ARC via NetGalley.                                              

Many thanks to the author and publisher.