My mother read this book before me, and said it wasn’t her favorite. Not that she didn’t like it, but that it just wasn’t what she was expecting. So I wasn’t quite sure what to expect going into it.
Set in Regency era England, Amelia and her cousin Serena have been sent from their South Carolina home to England, to help Amelia’s brother set up a new business venture there. Their family specializes in fine cloth – they grows dyes and would like to get into cashmere goats and silkworms, which will grow more easily in England.
I think I see what my mother didn’t quite love about this book. It feels a lot like the the author did a whole bunch of research on Regency England and was dying to do an infodump. On the one hand, I love some good historical research, and the detail on how a well off trades family lived was pretty cool. On the other hand, the blurb promised me action in Devon, and that part of the book was way at the end and over too quickly.
The author also threw in a few well worn Pride and Prejudice tropes, and even though she twisted them a bit, they were way too predictable. So while I did enjoy this book, I do have to agree, it wasn’t my favorite in this series.