The Viscount Who Vexed Me (A Royal Match, 3)
Hattie Woodchurch is nobody. In the eyes of polite society, that is. And her family is a disaster. Thus she is delighted to find a position as ‘scribe’ to Mateo Vincente, Duke of Santiava, who has recently inherited his English grandfather’s estate as Viscount Abbott and needs someone to deal with his correspondence. As they get to know each other better, their relationship steadily progresses, but despite their powerful attraction, can they span the vast gulf between their social stations?
This is the Cinderella story recast in the Victorian era. As a romance it has weaknesses: exaggerated characters proliferate, and the plot drifts towards farce at times. The resolution is optimistic. As satire, however, it is rather good, enabling the author to aim her barbs at social snobbery, parental abuse, and a whole range of personal human vices, most notably selfishness and avarice, irresponsibility and unkindness. Although the tension between the romance and satire is rather uncomfortable, this is an interestingly sardonic assessment of Victorian society, and it leads one to wonder whether, for all but the fortunate few, happiness can be found only by escaping its confines for an unreal world woven by the imagination.
