November 15, 2010
Mariah Aubrey, banished from her family after a social scandal, moves into her aunt's gatehouse in this rich Regency romance. When the aunt dies, Mariah is left at the financial mercy of her aunt's spendthrift, amoral stepson; she becomes an anonymous authoress of novels to make ends meet. Meanwhile the estate is let to naval captain Matthew Bryant, fresh home from the Napoleonic wars. While Klassen (The Silent Governess) keeps many plot-plates spinning simultaneously, the action is easy to follow and surprises pop as the story ends. A crush of minor characters means that a few are less successfully differentiated. The author has done her historical homework. Complexity of plot and characterization make this a cut above standard-issue historical romance.