Never Seduce a Scoundrel
The novel opens at an English Regency ball, where two young ladies are bored with the same faces and a lack of novel diversion. A highwayman called The Scottish Scourge pursues one, but I believe that’s another story, since here the Scourge is only a tangent. Amelia, our heroine, is a graduate of Mrs. Harris’ School for Young Ladies and as such, this is her book in the author’s new series “The School for Heiresses.” Amelia is soon granted adventures in plenty as she encounters a surly American major investigating an embezzler. He suspects Amelia’s stepmother, and he really doesn’t like the English, especially the military, with excellent reasons. The setting is just following the War of 1812, and the author utilizes some incidents of that conflict to enrich the story. The Major and Amelia are well matched, even after they tie the knot at Gretna Green. In fact, the scene where Amelia convinces her husband that he really doesn’t want an obedient wife is quite remarkable. Light, but it gets more absorbing as you get further into the book.
