Set in the 18th century, His Lady Mistress by Elizabeth Rolls begins with 15-year-old Verity Scott following her fathers casket to his grave. A former military colonel, Verity's father has committed suicide and she believes it is her fault. Upon her father's death, Verity is left with no one. It is while she is planting bluebells at her fathers gravesite that she first meets Max.
The Perfect Soldier Arrives
Max was a soldier under Verity's father and feels a very strong loyalty to the colonel. Max arrived to try to ensure a proper burial for the colonel, and when he runs into Verity he spend the evening feeding her and making sure she is safe until her aunt and uncle arrive the next morning to take her in.
Max disappears before Verity awakes the next morning, and she spends the next five years thinking of him daily. She reads her father's journal to get a glimpse into the life of the warm, loving and protective soldier. Verity assumes she will never see Max again, but hopes and prays anyway.
Life with Lord and Lady Faringdon leaves much to be desired. Verity is their Cinderella, taking care of her cousin Celia's needs, mending clothes and teaching in the nursery. The Faringdon's have even robbed Verity of her real name, calling her Selina. After several years, Verity succumbs to the Faringdon's and assumes that life will never be any better. She feels she has no escape since she has no money and nowhere to go, and Lady Faringdon will never give her a reference to find another job.
Max Returns
No escape, that is, until Earl Blakehurst visits the family. Verity spends much of her time getting ready for the distinguished guest and is kept in the shadows. She does manage to catch a glimpse of Earl Blakehurst, however, and discovers he is none other than her beloved Max!
Max does not recognize Verity, but feels a special bond with her anyway. He offers to make her his mistress to help her escape from the Faringdon's care and to protect and provide for her. It isn't until Max realizes her true identity that he becomes angry and feels he has to marry her out of loyalty to her father.
The next 200 or so pages are full of twists that make Verity and Max love and hate each other, all at the same time.
Miscommunication at it's Best
His Lady Mistress begins in a very dark and foreboding way with the so-called funeral of Verity's father. As the book continues, it brightens up quite a bit with the arrival of Max and Verity's rescue.
That doesn't mean the book gets more intriguing, however.
The characters Rolls provides in Max and Verity are stubborn, immature and underdeveloped. They start out as intriguing characters when they are forced to interact with others, but as soon as other characters fall off, Verity and Max are dull and shallow. They lack inspiration and lose the reader's interest quickly.
Verity and Max spend the entire book bickering because of a series of miscommunications. By the time they reach the third of fourth exchange, the reader can become infuriated with their lack of maturity. The book could have been much shorter had Rolls cut out a few of the exchanges. The reader gets the point very early on and struggles to get through the predictable fights.
Although there are definitely downsides to this book, it is a great piece for a few hours of escape reading and will appeal to anyone who wants to be rescued by their dream lover.
His Lady Mistress was published by Harlequin in 2005. ISBN: 978-0373293728
 |
