I have chosen to start my reading this year with a series of romance novels because I do not feel ready to read any heavily themed books yet. I believe this mood may last until the end of February as I have a number of romance novels on my TBR ready to be read. This author has been on my list for quite a while and I am happy I have finally gotten around to read her books.
“Deception” is the third book in the “Daughters of Mannerling” series, however, you do not have to read the first two books to enjoy or understand the story line. This is a typical historical romance story with a twist and a lot of humor.
The beverley sisters are notorious for their obsession with the Mannerling estate, their former home which their father lost to his bad financial habits before his death. The twins, Abigail and Rachel are of marriageable age and despite Harry Dever’s bad behavior towards their elder sister, they don’t mind if either of them could be married to him as he is their only chance to get back their home because his parents are the new owners of the Mannerling estate. Lord Burfield arrives on the scene and things suddenly change for all four Beverley girls as Miss Trumble, their mysterious governess is determined to help the girls regain their reputation.
All the characters were an interesting lot especially Abigail, the bolder and more adventurous of the twins and Miss Trumble, the governess . My least favorite characters were Harry Devers and Prudence Makepeace who were quite cunning and crafty.
With a lot of wit and a bit of suspense, this book is a wonderful escape to relax and enjoy. I highly recommend this book. On to my next book……
Rating: 4 Stars
Published: Published 2014 by Constable & Robinson
Pages: 214
Genre: Historical Fiction
Purchase @ www.amazon.com/deception
The Author: Marion Chesney was born on 1936 in Glasgow, Scotland, UK, and started her first job as a bookseller in charge of the fiction department in John Smith & Sons Ltd. While bookselling, by chance, she got an offer from the Scottish Daily Mail to review variety shows and quickly rose to be their theater critic. She left Smith’s to join Scottish Field magazine as a secretary in the advertising department, without any shorthand or typing, but quickly got the job of fashion editor instead. She then moved to the Scottish Daily Express where she reported mostly on crime. This was followed by a move to Fleet Street to the Daily Express where she became chief woman reporter. After marrying Harry Scott Gibbons and having a son, Charles, Marion went to the United States where Harry had been offered the job of editor of the Oyster Bay Guardian. When that didn’t work out, they went to Virginia and Marion worked as a waitress in a greasy spoon on the Jefferson Davies in Alexandria while Harry washed the dishes. Both then got jobs on Rupert Murdoch’s new tabloid, The Star, and moved to New York.
Anxious to spend more time at home with her small son, Marion, urged by her husband, she started to write historical romances in 1977. After she had written over 100 of them under her maiden name, Marion Chesney, and under the pseudonyms: Ann Fairfax, Jennie Tremaine, Helen Crampton, Charlotte Ward, and Sarah Chester, she getting fed up with 1714 to 1910, she began to write detectives stories in 1985 under the pseudonym of M. C. Beaton. On a trip from the States to Sutherland on holiday, a course at a fishing school inspired the first Constable Hamish Macbeth story. They returned to Britain and bought a croft house and croft in Sutherland where Harry reared a flock of black sheep. But Charles was at school, in London so when he finished and both tired of the long commute to the north of Scotland, they moved to the Cotswolds where Agatha Raisin was created.
