Margo Maguire takes her readers on a journey through history with this latest book. She has such a way of making the Regency era come alive that we feel as though we are there witnessing the events unfold first hand. Forget about seducing the governess, prepare to be seduced yourself!
Mercy Franklin was abandoned as a three year old. She learns this devastating information when her “mother” lies on her deathbed. Mercy doesn’t know what to do with the information. Adding it to the lack of funds and need to find work, it all seems a little overwhelming. Fortunately, Mercy finds a job as a governess for an eight year old who is the niece of Lord Ashby. She picks herself up and moves to the wilds of England to take care of this little girl. What she finds there is both more and less than she expected.
Nash Farris has only recently inherited the title of Lord Ashby. He had two older brothers and so inheriting the family estate with sheep was never a thought. He did as all good third sons do and enlisted in the military. By some miracle, he survived the Napoleonic Wars and has returned home, scarred but alive. Now he must attempt to restore the family estate to its former grandeur with no money, take care of the loyal men who served with him, investigate the deaths of his brothers and find a governess for his niece. Mercy is not what Nash expected. He is drawn towards her from their first meeting when neither knows who the other is. Unfortunately, without money, he has very little hope of making the estate profitable.
The heat between Mercy and Nash is apparent from their first meeting. We can tell that the attraction is there and that it will soon develop into something more. Ms. Maguire does a nice job of keeping the characters within the context of the time. We don’t see Mercy giving into her feelings to quickly, but rather the struggle it is for her to deal with feelings she has never had. Believing that her birth mother was a wanton woman only leads to the conflict that Mercy feels. We also see Nash try to be noble. He knows that he has to marry a wealthy heiress in order to restore his land and that dallying with Mercy is wrong. Both of them fight their feelings until they are over taken by them.
My other favorite aspect of the story is the Duke of Windermere’s hiring of Captain Gavin Briggs to find his two missing granddaughters. Although the fact that he knows nothing about his granddaughter is his own fault, his need to find them adds an intriguing element to this tale. I am looking forward to seeing how it is all resolved in the subsequent novel.
