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OliviaWaite

Oliviate

Olivia Waite is a romance author, practicing feminist, and wide-ranging dilettante.

Charming, witty, and sweetly sharp.

True Pretenses (Lively St. Lemeston Book 2) - Rose Lerner

Disclaimer: I have the privilege of being friends with Ms. Lerner, which is even more a privilege on account of how much I enjoy her books.

 

I love Ash and Lydia, how on some level they understand one another and on other levels it takes work to make things, well, work. I love the side characters, and the rare glimpse at aspects of Regency religious life that weren't all vicars and sermons and C of E.

 

I love our h/h's two brothers, both of whom are struggling with identity in different ways. I love how those struggles impact the main romance. Conflicts feel real and stark, but are plausibly surmountable: they take sacrifice and selflessness, but not magical solutions.

 

And knowing Rose personally means that I know this charming book -- with a Jewish con artist hero and a marriage of convenience, for those of you who love that sort of historical catnip -- had the working title Secrets and Pies.

 

Highly recommended.