Lady Maggie's Secret Scandal

Starred review from March 5, 2012
The delicious fifth book in Burrowes’s Regency series (after Lady Sophie’s Christmas Wish) centers on the illegitimate eldest daughter of the duke of Moreland. When Maggie’s reticule goes missing with critical items inside, she hires investigator and family friend Benjamin Hazlit to recover it quickly and quietly. Hiding their working relationship behind a facade of courtship, the two share tea, confidences, and tingling kisses until Maggie realizes that her feelings for Benjamin mean she must fire him to protect him from a figure she’d hoped to leave in the past. Burrowes delivers red-hot chemistry with a masterful mix of playfulness and sensuality, and her themes of healing and familial strength give this page-turner unusual depth. Charming and original with superb characters ready to walk off the page, this is a splendid addition to any Regency fan’s bookshelf. Agent: Kevan Lyon, Marsal Lyon Literary Agency (author now represented by Steve Axelrod, Axelrod Literary Agency).

Starred review from April 15, 2012

Thirty, independent, and firmly on the shelf, Lady Magdalene Windham, the adopted illegitimate daughter of the Duke of Moreland, lives a quiet, sedate life. But Maggie is being plagued by her past, and when her reticule goes missing--and with it some letters she is desperate to have back--she goes to her family's discreet, incredibly observant private investigator, Benjamin Hazlit, the one man who can help her. Although he hides it, Ben quickly realizes that Maggie is not revealing the whole truth; getting her to trust him with her secrets--or her heart--is not going to be easy. VERDICT An intensely caring, honorable heroine determined to do the right thing; a protective hero who will do anything to keep his lady safe; and well-drawn secondary characters (many of whom will be familiar to the Windham series fans) drive the plot of this tantalizing, delectably sexy story that is one of the best yet from an author on the way to the top. Burrowes (The Virtuoso) lives in Maryland.

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