The Dowager's Daughter (Zebra Regency Romance)

Rating:
Summary: Smugglers, Spies...Love at First Sight?
Review: Althea Markham is more or less your average debutante...rich, titled, well-mannered, and pretty enough. But her mother, Celeste, is not your average dowager...strikingly beautiful, free-spirited, and utterly scandalous. When Celeste strikes up a dalliance with a well-known rogue, who has ruined more than one young lady, Althea decides that it is time to leave the glitter of London for their country home. Her mother agrees without protest and Althea soon discovers why... her mother is using their isolation to secretly meet with a strange man in the dead of night! Althea begins to spy upon the pair who, instead of being lovers, appear to be engaged in smuggling. Althea confronts her mother and finds to her horror that it is much more dangerous than that. Celeste is secretly aiding a Frenchman who is determined to undermine Napolean's rule. Celeste's contact is a spy named John...someone Althea has briefly met before, but has never forgotten. But John has more secrets than Althea could ever guess, including that he has fallen in love with her at first sight. John's true identity could make it possible for them to wed...or drive Althea away forever. And that is only a small slice of an engaging regency romance where not all is as it seems...

Even though the plot was very original, what I liked best about this book was the cast of characters. Althea is an engaging heroine that it is easy to relate to. She has lived a lot in her mother's shadow. She is unsure of herself and very afraid that the only reason men are interested in her is her money. John is a lot like Althea. He has lived in his older brother's shadow and perhaps that helps him see the true beauty of Althea more easily than most do. He has met Celeste, but he still only has eyes for Althea which makes him a very likeable hero. Celeste is such a lovable character. She is like that certain someone most of us have in our lives...the one who is outgoing, smart, funny, and good looking, but they are so charming you just can't be jealous of them. Just a great book all around...check it out.