She was once the darling of the beau monde, Georgette Lady Beaumont’s reputation lies in tatters after the apparent suicide of Lord Brockenbury’s heir. Shunned by society she embraces a secretive lifestyle in which she endeavours to evade Adam Brockenbury, whom she loathes as much as he desires her. She is not alone in thinking his elder brother’s death as somewhat suspicious, and whilst on a clandestine visit to her dearest friends she encounters a stranger of note.
Her travelling companion, although of charming disposition and of considerable handsomeness, something about him errs dark and secretive but unmitigated mutual attraction exists that neither can deny. Unfortunately he’s a Brockenbury too, and as love, jealousy and hate take precedence, three murders are committed and Georgette quite believes she will be the murderer’s next victim, but who is the real murderer?
A portrait, a landscape, wind whispering through trees, a droplet of rain or snowflake on eyelashes: all can stir Francine's imagination and result in either a modern contemporary romance, or that of a steamy historical. Francine is not only an ex-mainstream published author and ex publisher, she's now a self published author. Years back she was a professional reviewer for a well-known magazine supplement, and still writes reviews for several romance review web sites.
Francine Howarth perfectly recreates the sights and sounds of the Regency world in this historical romance. The heroine Georgette, Lady Beaumont is a sympathetic and amiable woman who is easy to like; you soon find yourself wanting her to regain her place in society and outwit the rather dastardly Adam Brockenbury, who was the agent of her downfall. The story moves at a steady pace and is well written. With all the ingredients of a historical romance it also has the elements of a detective story as the main characters endeavour to identify the killer of Lord Brockenbury, Adam's father, and the reason for his death.
I really wanted to like this book. The plot wasn't bad, there weren't too many historical mistakes, but the language it was written in was just too strange for me. It seems to need a good edit/proofreading. The first chapter of the next book in the series is included at the end, and I have to say that seems a bit better, so I might still read it.