This RITA® Reader Challenge 2016 review was written by Heather T. This story was nominated for the RITA® in the Best First Book, Inspirational Romance category.

Here is Heather T.'s review:

This book was nominated in two categories – Best First Book and Inspirational. I’ll admit that I signed up to review it in Best First Book before I realized it was an Inspirational. As I am not religious, and as I have had some unfortunate experiences with Inspirationals that were heavy-handed in force-feeding religion at every turn, I had my doubts. However, I decided that getting out of my comfort zone would be a good thing and soldiered on. I’m glad I did.

This was a charming book that kept me reading. It had interesting characters and situations, with religion as an appropriate and unobtrusive backdrop to the time and the characters. If this is a first book for this author, I have high hopes for her future endeavors. The only reason I am not giving it an A is that the writing showed some first-time clumsiness. There were some awkward phrasings, incomplete sentences, and jumpy transitions. Certain characters were introduced as if we already knew them, making me wonder if perhaps some scenes had been removed but the rough patches hadn’t been smoothed in. The writing improved considerably as the book went on, and if there were such gaffes in the middle, I was so absorbed in the story that I didn’t notice them.

Lady Miranda Hawthorne is a spirited child who chafes at her mother’s constant admonishments that invariably start with “a lady never . . . .” As a way of blowing off steam in a way that will be considered ladylike, she writes her deepest feelings in letters to her brother’s school friend, the Duke of Marshington. She never sends these letters; instead it is the unrestrained putting of the words to paper to someone she doesn’t know that relieves her stress. Jump to years later and Lady Miranda has had four seasons and is still not wed. She’s had offers, but she’s turned them all down because it turns out that none of the men were interested in her, but were only interested in the connection to her powerful and rich brother. Her prettier younger sister is about to make her debut, and Miranda is reconciling herself to spinsterhood. Miranda has continued to write her letters to the Duke of Marshington, and has a small trunk full of the letters in a trunk under her bed.

Enter Marley, her brother’s new valet. Miranda is intrigued by Marley until he accidentally posts one of her “letters” to the Duke of Marshington. Miranda is horrified, but she hopes and assumes that the Duke will never receive the letter because he mysteriously disappeared nine years previously. To her deep embarrassment, he responds, and the two begin a clandestine correspondence, aided and abetted by Marley. I loved that this book is truly set in its time: the thought that a lady would correspond with a gentleman to whom she is not related and to whom she has not even been introduced – shocking, shocking, I tell you! At the same time, she forms a real friendship with Marley and is troubled to find herself thinking of him as possibly a real person, not just a servant.

There are thrills and chills. There is a spy story and all kinds of skullduggery. There is humor and engaging flirtation as the hero and heroine get to know one another and gently begin to fall in love. The supporting characters are fleshed out enough to be supportive, but not so much as to be distracting. Lady Miranda has two brothers of whom she is fond and who are protective of her without being controlling. Miranda knows her own mind and is strong and smart, even if she is constrained by society’s expectations. The family ribs each other with familial affection. There is a younger sister who is a pretty flirt, though sometimes self-centered and annoying, and a doting mama. In contrast, the hero’s family are all openly hateful, but his household is unconventional and amusing and we like him all the more for it. I found myself quite taken with it all.

Of course –

But if you didn’t know that the first time the character is introduced, you don’t understand how stories work. One of the interesting things that the book does is contrast Miranda’s relationship with Marley, the valet, with her relationship with the Duke of Marshington, a man she’s never met. One evening Miranda drinks a cup of tea in the library with Marley.

Her brother (who knows the ahem secret) is upset that Miranda was alone in a room with a man until it is pointed out that she wasn’t alone in a room with a man, she was alone in a room with a servant, which is perfectly acceptable. What an interesting notion that if he had been a gentleman, being alone with him would have been scandalous, but since he is only a servant, it is fine.

As for the “Inspirational” label, it was nothing overt and the religion fit in to the story perfectly. When troubled, Miranda prays, but not in an over-the-top maudlin way; instead it is a matter of fact reaching out for guidance. When Miranda is upset, a friend reads to her from The Bible, as would have been completely ordinary and expected at the time, and Miranda is comforted – just as when I suffered a loss I read poetry and was comforted. The following passage is a good example of how the book treats religion. In this scene, Miranda is worried that the hero has thrown her over:

She was doomed to settle for lonely spinsterhood.

Which was what she’d already told God she was prepared to accept.

Apparently, she’d lied.

With a nervous glance at the storm raging outside, she took a few steps away from the window. There was no reason to tempt God to strike her with lightning. His aim was sure to be better than Mother’s.

It is all very matter of fact and sweetly funny. The whole book is that way, and I sincerely hope this author writes more and improves on an already promising beginning. With interesting characters, story and gentle humor like this, her books are sure to please.