In His Lady in Hiding, Lady Elizabeth Davenport's father promises her in marriage to one of his old cronies, to pay off his debts. Feeling like she has no other recourse, Elizabeth runs away to America to be a housekeeper, even though she has no experience with the duties of a servant. Elizabeth meets Lord Anthony Barton while sailing to America and their friendship blossoms as he tries to help her prepare to be a servant. There are some really cute moments between them on the ship and some laugh out loud situations. When they get to America, things start to unravel quickly when Lord Barton realizes that Elizabeth is his new housekeeper. And when secrets are revealed, Anthony and Elizabeth's feelings for each other will be tested to the limits.
I really enjoyed the heroine, Lady Elizabeth. She got herself into a lot of scrapes throughout the book, but was really trying to do her best in the situation which was endearing. She does come across as quite young, with all her giggling and sometimes awkward moments. Since Lord Barton seems so much older, the romance between them was harder for me to root for at times, but I wanted Elizabeth to get her happy ending. Our hero, Lord Barton, was a man of his times, but the way he treated the heroine made him difficult to like. He could be tender and loving one moment, then unkind and rude to her the next. He also has a moment near the end of the book when he could have redeemed himself and how he's treated Lady Elizabeth, but instead takes the cowardly way out and is truly awful to her in her most vulnerable moment. It was hard to like him as a romantic interest after that, but there is a happy ending. The author does a wonderful job with a memorable secondary cast and her descriptions of the sailing conditions were very well done. There was also a bit of intrigue included when old villains resurface that will keep readers up to see how it all turns out!
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Here's the back copy:
Lady Elizabeth Davenport is desperate. Her hand in marriage has been offered to the highest bidder, a distressing proposition in and of itself but made all the more repulsive when she meets her father’s first choice for her hand: Lord Pinweather. When her parents refuse to hear her pleas, Liz is forced to take drastic measures—she will impersonate her maid and begin anew in America on her own terms.
Once on board the ship to America, another passenger, Lord Barton, almost immediately discovers her true status as a noble. After listening to Liz’s highly modified version of her life and her plans to begin again, Barton has compassion on her and teaches her how to abandon her noble mannerisms. Upon disembarking, however, Barton’s generous spirit quickly dampens when he discovers Liz has indeed found work—as his own head housekeeper. Suddenly, the tender feelings they hid from each other on the ship are inescapable, but their difference in station makes romance impossible. As misunderstandings abound and a shocking character from Liz’s past looms, she knows she can’t hide her true identity forever. But as her deception begins to unravel, will her charade cost her the man she loves?
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