REVIEW: Secrets of a Scandalous Heiress by Theresa Romain

Secrets of a Scandalous Heiress (The Matchmaker Trilogy #3) by Theresa Romain: Ah, Bath. A place with a rigidly controlled society, but not as constrained as that of London. There a lady can take the waters, be a little more relaxed in comportment and dress, and pretend to be someone she isn’t… no, wait, that’s just Augusta Meredith, vastly wealthy heiress to a beauty product company.

Being in ‘trade,’ Augusta is tired of being on the fringes of the ton, where folks who have only recently risen into wealth linger. In Bath, accompanying a friend who has recently experienced a loss, Augusta has decided to reinvent herself. She is now Mrs. John Flowers, a young and wealthy widow, who is very popular at the assembly with her brightly coloured dresses and well-endowed bosom, and she is seeking a lover.

At a dance she meets Josiah Everett (called ‘Joss’). Joss is a clever man of questionable birth, second cousin to the Baron of Sutcliffe and grandson of an Indian woman. Joss works for the baron, as his man of business, and the baron is a strange, fractious man who is addicted to “somalata” a stimulating grass-like plant that Joss’ grandmother brought from India. Also on the fringes of good society, Joss and Augusta have met before, and he instantly recognizes her. August begs him not to reveal her secret, and he, in turn, tell her that he is investigating and mitigating a blackmail threat that Sutcliffe has received. Supposedly because he “bathes regularly and is not bad looking” she offers to take Joss as a lover, and he, though tempted, declines because of his pride and honor. In turn, he offers her an alternate bargain: a list of four men eligible to be her lover, in exchange for a list of men who can help him investigate the blackmail. Joss, on his part, cannot believe that he turned her down and is helping her find a lover, a woman who is willing to accept him as he is:

–Last night, he had dreamed of her awaiting him in a large bed, her bright hair long and unbound, her wicked mouth speaking delicious lewdness into his ear. They had stroked one another, taking pleasure, and it was all right because she wanted him just as he was, and there had never been any question of him wanting her, with her needle-sharp mind and siren’s body.

“Secrets of a Scandalous Heiress” is an interesting, if slightly difficult book. Both Augusta and Joss have so much internal baggage to work through as they carefully find their way into each others arms and hearts. Augusta has had a very bad experience with men, and believes herself unworthy of lasting happiness. Joss, due to his birth and his ethnic makeup, feels duty bound to support the baron, although he longs to break free, and he also feels as though he has no real place in society. His second cousin is a horrible person, flighty, self-centred, and careless of his family but treated somewhat sympathetically, but you can see why Joss deeply longs to be free of him. Joss and Augusta a troubled, damaged, but good, and as a reader I longed for them to reach harder and further for happiness.

This is a good read, although perhaps not one meant for a shallow day where you are just looking for something light and flirty. Literate and well written, this book requires some thought to get through it, but it is satisfying and rewarding at the end. Although it is part 3 of a series, I had no problems following the story, or indeed, even realizing that this book is part of a series.

Book Info:

Published January 6th 2015 by Sourcebooks Casablanca | (The Matchmaker Trilogy #3)

One good proposition deserves another…

Heiress Augusta Meredith can’t help herself—she stirs up gossip wherever she goes. A stranger to Bath society, she pretends to be a charming young widow, until sardonic, darkly handsome Joss Everett arrives from London and uncovers her charade.

Augusta persuades Joss to keep her secret in exchange for a secret of his own. Weaving their way through the treacherous pitfalls of a polite world only too eager to expose and condemn them, they begin to see that being true to themselves is not so bad…as long as they’re true to each other…