The Trouble with True Love
The second in the Dear Lady Truelove series set in Victorian England turns to Clara Deverill, younger sister of the heroine in the first book (The Truth About Love and Dukes). While she is on her honeymoon, Irene entrusts her newspaper publishing business to Clara, but Clara, who is shy and lacking in self-confidence, finds the task overwhelming. As if a bullying, sexist editor is not bad enough, she lacks the necessary experience to write the advice column her sister penned under the pseudonym Lady Truelove. Enter Rex, Viscount Galbraith, a rake with the experience she lacks, and when circumstances throw them together, the relationship grows more than professional. Rex does not wish for marriage, nor can Clara trust a man with his reputation, but their powerful physical attraction sweeps aside common sense.
Wider social concerns do intrude, most notably the challenges facing professional women in a sexist society and the burdens that self-centered parents place upon their children, but the focus remains firmly upon the two protagonists, the development of their relationship, and the transformation it brings about in their characters. Though they take an annoying amount of time to acknowledge their true feelings for each other, their reluctance is understandable and journey interesting. Recommended.
