A Lady’s Secret by Jo Beverley. Paperback Original. 2008.
I’m not always a fan of Jo Beverley’s (although I adored Hazard and St. Raven.) I really haven’t liked a lot of the Malloren novels– even though I can’t quite put my finger on why. Maybe it’s the time period– Enlightenment England can be a less-than-romantic place, sometimes. Maybe it’s the characters themselves, or the pacing, which sometimes feels slow to me. Even so, when a Jo Beverley book comes out, I always read it because when I read a Beverley book that I like, it makes me want to reread everything she’s written to see if maybe I just missed the good parts in the books I disliked.
Anyway, A Lady’s Secret, despite being a Malloren book, and despite being set in 1764, really worked for me on all levels. I loved Robin Fitzvitry, who is just itching to be distracted by anything that seems remotely entertaining, even if that something is a foul-mouthed nun. I loved that there was a real road trip adventure plot. I love the idea that both characters are lying about their identities– it’s so much more fun to read a novel where neither party is reduced to playing a clueless martyr. I’m a sucker for mistaken identity plots, but I’m turned off by novels where the hero/heroine continues to keep the truth from his/her lover long after doing so has become unreasonable, even borderline mental torture. On this same note, I was also happy to see that Beverley didn’t use the quick resolution of the outside threat to saddle her readers with a silly, tacked-on internal conflict, as often happens. These characters know what they want- each other- and they don’t let the little things (insanely jealous aristocrats, long-lost families, questionable bloodlines) get in their way.
I did have a couple little quibbles with the novel, mainly involving the Malloren connections. I know that because they are all the heroes and heroines of other novels, they can’t have more than a whiff of badness about them, but the whole family’s instant acceptance of Petra as Rothgar’s natural daughter does strike me as a bit unbelievable. Wouldn’t at least one of them be a little shocked or resentful or snobbish, given the time period? I wouldn’t have minded just a touch more tension and conflict with this plotline. Also, the expositional dialogue between the Mallorens and Petra is sometimes annoyingly too intimate. I know that these moments- at dinner tables and such- are plot devices to remind readers of the series of each character’s story. Still, I find myself muttering, “Why are you telling a near stranger about your pet names for each other or the nasty twists and turns of your courtship?” Or interrupting her to proclaim your family motto- in unison. It jars with the historical accuracy that seems prevalent throughout the rest of the book.
Overall, though, a very fun, very good romp.
Grade: B+
