Heiress Gone Wild

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY 15 JUL. 2019

The fourth and final Dear Lady Truelove historical (after 2019's Governess Gone Rogue), set in the last years of the 19th century, sacrifices the heroine's dreams for the hero's ambitions, which is unlikely to please 21st-century readers. Jonathan Deverill takes over guardianship of his late business partner's daughter and learns, to his surprise, that she isn't a child but a grown woman, Marjorie McGann. Stubborn and driven in her own right, Marjorie defies Jonathan's insistence that she stay at the New York boarding school where she is employed and instead follows him to London, hoping to find the perfect husband. Though Marjorie's temper frequently flares, obstinate Jonathan develops a sense of protection for her that warms to affection. Jonathan, however, is overly focused on his ambition, to the detriment of the romance. Marjorie must choose between Jonathan's manipulation and the confines of her dead-end teaching job, a dilemma that may be historically realistic but makes for unsatisfying fiction. Readers who associate historical romance with escapist wish fulfillment will find this effort disappointing.