I’m on a Historical Romance kick for the first time in years, and I plan to take advantage of it for as long as it lasts. So I will be reviewing all the Historicals I read. I feel like I’m catching up on some highly praised stories and authors that I missed when they first were published. So you probably will be seeing some favorites.
A Lady’s Lesson in Scandal served as a reminder of how great the sub-genre is. I bought it after Mean Fat Old Bat reviewed it. She is an experienced reader who just recently discovered the genre, so her take on Romance is fresh and interesting.
Our heroine is Nell. She’s very poor, works at a factory under inhuman conditions and has an evil stepbrother who wants to whore her out. But she knows how to read and is very proud, so regardless of how desperate she is, she won’t compromise her honor. And she’s quite desperate; her mother is dying and needs a doctor, but there’s no money to pay for one. Her mother tells Nell to search for Lord Rushden, her real father. She’s surprised to hear the news, but ends up writing to him, begging for his help. But when her mother dies without any response from the Lord, Nell decides to kill him. What she doesn’t know is that Lord Rushden died months ago, and the new bearer of the title is a distant relative with a black reputation who’s just as desperate for money as she is.
