So True a Love (Proper Romance Regency)
So True a Love, set in London in 1803, brings Verity Travers, sister of Jack Travers from the author’s prior book, to center stage. She is the daughter of an actress and a long-dead father, or so she says. Jack taught Verity the skills of a thief-taker (a PI), though a mysterious event caused her to give up all clients. After a night at the theater with her dearest friend Elizabeth and her parents, they are robbed and injured. Elizabeth’s parents are titled, and she is engaged to Lord Blakely, an earl. Verity’s friendship with Elizabeth is her entry into the ton. After the robbery Elizabeth asks Verity to help her find her stolen reticule (handbag), which hides a secret letter that could destroy her. Enter a new Bow Street runner (detective), Mr. Denning. Denning is a delicious prospect. The sparring of Verity and Mr. Denning is crisp with underlying respect and growing attraction, but can they collaborate to save Elizabeth?
The story is told in first person and propelled by dialogue. The one element that feels off is the willingness of Verity to make a two-day trip alone with Mr. Denning, though it allows the romance element of the story to blossom. Verity realistically grapples with her own fears as she works to help Elizabeth. The tension driving the plot is the nature of the dire threat to Elizabeth’s future; can she keep her secret from destroying her family? The reader, like Verity, is in the dark. For those who relish Regency romances of the respectable sort, Joanna Barker delivers again.
