Guest Review: Mistress by Mistake by Susan Gee Heino

Dutiful and dashing Lord Dashford decided to ward off the marriage-minded ladies of the ton by convincing the world he’s throwing away his fortune on gambling and courtesans. But what to do when his mother throws a swooning heiress at him?

One full moon and an empty Madeira bottle later, Evaline wakes to find herself in Dashford’s bed. Now rumors and passions are sure to run wild—unless Dashford and Evaline realize that what happened in the moonlight was no mistake.

Ms Heino has given Regency romance fans a delightful novel that could stand with the best of them! In the great tradition of Regency historical fiction, the characters in this novel are distinct, people of their time, speaking and acting in an authentic fashion, exhibiting the cultural and behavioral norms of people caught in that strict social genre.

Lord Dashford is typical of the aristocratic English male who knows that marriage and producing an heir for his title is necessary and incumbent upon him, but he resists to the bitter end. He even goes so far as to hire disreputable persons in London who will stoke the rumor mill with stories of his profligate spending at gaming halls and brothels. His reputation suffers greatly as a result, but the women of the ton keep their distance, which is just fine by him. That is, until he encounters our heroine wandering in his mother’s rose garden, clad in her nightgown only, and clutching an empty wine bottle, completely drunk, celebrating her 25th birthday all by herself, in order to keep her grasping and greedy Aunt Bella in the dark regarding the fact that she has come into her inheritance now rather than five months hence. Thinking she is a servant pretending to be an innocent maiden, our virile Lord Dashford takes advantage of the moonlight and the lack of skirts and petticoats, as well as the totally willing compliance of Evaline. She, however, keeps him from completing his planned assault on her virtue by falling asleep at an untimely point in the proceedings.

This book is beautifully written. The reader can almost hear the pleasurable sighs coming through the heroine’s lips as she is caught in the web of the young lord’s lovemaking. You can feel the greed and manipulation oozing from the pores of Evaline’s Aunt Bella, a woman who has stolen Evaline’s allowance for years to feed her husband’s addiction to gambling, and who has kept Evaline clothed in old and mended gowns and undies since becoming her guardian. You can experience the disillusionment of Lord Dashford’s best friend, a man who had been betrayed by his fiancé and whose heart has never mended. You can sympathize with the Dowager Lady Dashford who fears that her home and future have been compromised beyond repair by her foolish son, and who wants more than anything to see him settled and reformed. Enter the “fiancé” of Lord Dashford, a girl who has been affianced to him from childhood and who seems as uninterested in marriage as her intended, whose greedy father is seeking a treasure to repair his own empty pockets.

In the finest Regency fictional tradition, this story unfolds in the context of a country house party, complete with all the comings and goings, miscommunications and behavioral shocks, scandal and palpitating hearts we historical fans have come to love. Evaline’s own chagrin over finding herself in Lord Dashford’s bed with a massive hangover and no memory of their night together is in an of itself the stuff of which romance and a good deal of humor is made. There are some truly hilarious moments in this book, some which had me laughing for long periods. I love characters that know the social rules but find creative ways to flaunt them. That is all here, too.

This was a really fun book to read – it kept my interest and as one who has loved Regency settings for many years, I felt this was a worthy novel within that genre. I think it is well-worth the time and effort to read. I hope many fans come to enjoy it as much as I.

I give this book a 5 out of 5 rating.

You can read more from Judith at Dr J’s Book Place