Guest Review: Barely A Lady by Eileen Dreyer

Olivia Grace has secrets that could destroy her. One of the greatest of these is the Earl of Gracechurch, who married and divorced her five years earlier. Abandoned and disgraced, Grace has survived those years at the edge of respectability. Then she stumbles over Jack on the battlefield of Waterloo, and he becomes an even more dangerous secret. For not only is he unconscious, he is clad in an enemy uniform.

But worse, when Jack finally wakes in Olivia’s care, he can’t remember how he came to be on a battlefield in Belgium. In fact, he can remember nothing of the last five years. He thinks he and Olivia are still blissfully together. To keep him from being hanged for a traitor, Olivia must pretend she and Jack are still married.

To unearth the real traitors, Olivia and Jack must unravel the truth hidden within his faulty memory. To save themselves and the friends who have given them sanctuary, they must stand against their enemies, even as they both keep their secrets.

In the end, can they risk everything to help Jack recover his lost memories, even though the truth may destroy them both?

Yes, Jack is found on the battlefield of Waterloo and in a French uniform no less. Olivia is stunned when he awakens and Jack thinks that the year is 1810 when it’s truly 1815. After consulting a doctor Olivia and her friends – about the only ones she’s had in the past 5 years – discover that they can kill Jack if give him info that he can’t remember. Olivia, though it pains her greatly plays the part of Jack’s wife, but Jack knows that something’s not right as Olivia not only looks different, but acts differently as well. He thinks that Olivia is acting differently because he cheated on her with a lady named Mimi that he’s dreaming about.

Olivia is trying to hold things together. Five years ago she had been accused of gambling excessively and then is accused of having an affair with her cousin. She is unceremoniously thrown out of Jack’s house and divorced. Jack is exiled after he challenges Olivia’s cousin to a duel and the cousin is killed. The problem is, Olivia did none of that – she was set up by Jack’s family, mostly his cousin Gervaise. She is destitute and pregnant (of course Jack believes that the baby is her cousins). After running from Gervaise – who wants her for his own – she is tired and lonely. She loves Jack despite the horrible way he treated her. She never imagined she would see him again but now that they are so close how can she deny her feelings?

I really liked this story. I thought the fact that we’re given bits and pieces of both Jack’s story as well as Olivia’s story quite intriguing. The bits kept me wanting more and kept me reading along quite happily. I must admit that I was a little disappointed that some issues that were brought up were delved farther into: the flask with Mimi’s picture in it and the time that Jack had spent with Mimi. It was mentioned that Mimi had gotten Jack to “forgive” Olivia for all she’d done but that was about it. I would have liked more information in those areas.

Now did I hate Jack just a little bit for treating Olivia the way he did all those years ago. Oh yes, but as it states in the book he was a different – definitely more coddled – person then and he had grown and matured in the years that he had been gone.

Despite my niggles with the book I really did like it quite well. From what I understand this is Dreyer’s first historical. I will be reading more from her and definitely more in this series when they release.

Rating: 4 out of 5

This book is available from Forever. You can buy it here.

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