Lara Esterhaus is the beautiful, enigmatic, only daughter of her father, Travis Esterhaus and Ava Salter, and as such was an indulged child – not spoiled in the conventional sense but allowed to dictate her own education. Because of this, when her parents mysteriously die in a carriage accident, following closely upon the death of her uncle’s entire family, she finds herself in a bit of a quandary. As the sole heir to the family lands and businesses, she stands to inherit a great fortune, but only if she can wed before time runs out. To make matters worse, she is taller than the average man, and, to add to her flaws, she is sadly lacking in the womanly charms and attributes so necessary to snare a suitable match, her time taken up with business. Thus far in her 18 years of life, she has failed to entice a man to her side, apart from her faithful servants and friends, Joshua and Sasha.
Add to the mix that a group of dastardly fiends have conspired to ensure she does not inherit, and in fact,
refuse to allow her to even see her father’s accounts. She is blissfully unaware of the extent of her impending fortune, and yet, has a determination to ensure that she, and her faithful servants and friends, won’t be evicted from her home. She devises a plan – she will advertise for a business partner to wed.
Two disinherited English Lords answer the call, initially to try to obtain the money they will need to buy back their family estates, but they soon prove their worth when one of them saves Miss Lara from meeting the same fate as her parents. The story unfolds rapidly as we discover just how desperate those dastardly fiends are to illegally obtain Lara’s inheritance, and how equally desperate Lara is to hold onto it.
The story is a fast-faced foray into life at the end of 18th Century America and has all the makings of a successful story including believable characters revealing their truths as we read along, murder, mayhem, and intrigue. The characters are well-rounded and believable – even the relatively minor ones. Barbara brings you to the time and place and holds you captive while she weaves her story around you – you are there, experiencing it along with Lara, Philip, Andrew, Joshua and Sasha and a host of other minor heroes, rooting for them to wipe the sneers off the faces of Middleton, Garamond, and Bingham, and the host of unsavoury characters they employ to do their dirty work.
The cover is simple but effective, more than adequately illustrating the mystery and intrigue. Likewise, the blurb is an accurate teaser to the story that draws the reader in.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and award 5 stars.
