2024-01-10
The search is on for the perfect love match in Georgian London in Goutet’s first historical novel in a new series.

Lady Dorothea Rowlandson takes her responsibility as the eldest daughter of the late Earl of Poole very seriously: namely, that she should be using the London season of 1805 to find a husband with social credentials and a fortune to set her family up in English society. Of course, Lady Dorothea didn’t count on meeting Miles Shaw at her first London ball—a handsome, engaging, and well-spoken young man who’s in financial trouble. She immediately considers him an unviable prospect, but Miles, bewitched by her, tells her that he intends to restore his crumbling estate in Lancashire without a dowry. With this, Dorothea lets her guard down, and the two become friends amid a whirl of social occasions as the season progresses. Goutet situates readers firmly in the time period, from descriptions of dancing at balls (“Candles were lit in both grand chandeliers above the dance floor, and their flickering lights reflected on the glasses of champagne”) to depictions of the social customs of visiting among high society; it all creates a pleasurable jaunt through London. The author also excitingly portrays the push and pull between her two main characters, with Miles as the one who wants to marry for love and Dorothea aiming to find a person with the most secure fortune. The depiction of male friendship between Miles and his cousin, Lord Robert “Rock” Throckmorton, is also intriguing, since the latter complicates matters by being very rich and eligible. Rock is as much a confidant to Miles as Dorothea’s sisters are to her, which gives readers an entertaining window into both main characters’ feelings.

A witty romp that’s sure to charm fans of Regency romance.