reviewed by
Jennifer Kahng
Sarah Callaway, a plain young woman widowed not long after she married, is in a fix and there’s one particular dashing young man she’s determined to help her. It seems her dearest and only relative, her cousin Rachel, has disappeared and Sarah is positive she’s been abducted. She enlists the help of one Guy Devoran, a relative of the house of Blackdown and a man Rachel had met not long prior, to help her in her cause. He’s more than willing, being a proper gentleman, but he also has his own secrets, including that of the exact nature of his relationship with Rachel.
Thus, we enter a tale that is part romance novel but mostly mystery novel. It is clear Sarah and Guy have quite a good deal of chemistry together. It’s even written out explicitly in the text as a “spark” between them. But Sarah whole heartedly believes there’s no way Guy could ever find her attractive, much less love her. Guy knows their social positions, she’s just a school mistress after all, wouldn’t earn him any favors.
Yet, the pair finds themselves falling in love. She, of course, is immediately drawn to his handsome features, much like all the other women who meet him. He finds her intriguing and genuinely likes her intelligence, outspokenness, and independence in the very socially structured world of 1800s England.
But all is not well in this relationship of mutual lust and budding love. Rachel, it seems, may have been lying to Sarah for a very long time and to Guy for quite a while as well. What had she really been doing for many months before she wrote to Sarah of being chased by a persecutor? Why did she up and leave Guy without any word and make no other attempt to contact him or enlist his help directly?
In the end, everything is answered and there are happy endings all around, but it was a near thing. Rachel, having been brought up as a proper gentlewoman, is very selfish and self-centered. Sarah, not having the same upbringing and being so noble as to intimidate even Guy, often bears the brunt of Rachel’s indulgences and nearly suffers losing Guy in the end.
The mystery aspect of the story was very interesting and I especially liked the interactions of the characters. Guy’s relatives, Lords Ryderbourne and Jonathan, also have interesting stories, told in other Julia Ross novels but touched upon here. After all, this is Sarah and Guy’s story. I have to admit, I kind of wish there was a little more to the story involving what happened after the two finally marry. But, I’ll have to be satisfied with one whirlwind of a courtship.
