Books › A Double Deception
A Double Deception
224 pages
A crisp marriage of convenience wrapped in the shadowy tension of a Gothic mystery.
What it feels like
Reading this classic Regency feels like stepping into a brightly lit drawing room where the shadows in the corners are just a little too deep. It blends the crisp, dialogue-driven elegance of a traditional romance with the simmering, paranoid tension of a Gothic mystery. The narrative moves at a brisk, engaging clip, anchored by a mature, pragmatic heroine who refuses to be easily frightened, even as the atmosphere grows increasingly fraught with suspicion and danger. The prose is straightforward and refined, focusing heavily on the psychological push-and-pull between two guarded people learning to trust. It is a perfect comfort read for those who delight in marriages of convenience, sensible heroines, and a creeping sense of dread that is ultimately banished by hard-won, swoon-worthy devotion.
- Mood
- shadowy
- tense
- elegant
- cautiously hopeful
- Tone
- pragmatic
- suspenseful
- romantic
- wry
- Pace
- brisk
- Themes
- marriage of convenience · overcoming past trauma · the burden of suspicion · found family
- The writing
- Elegant and dialogue-driven, balancing the crisp manners of the Regency era with the simmering tension of a Gothic mystery.
- The arc
- A journey from guarded pragmatism and lingering suspicion to vulnerable trust and hard-won romantic devotion.
- Who it's for
- Readers who love classic, sensible Regency heroines thrust into shadowy, suspenseful marriages of convenience.
Content notes
- past domestic abuse
- attempted murder
- gaslighting
About the book
Laura Dalwood was blessedly widowed from her first marriage and had no intention of marrying again. But she stepped in as surrogate mother to the son of Mark Cheney, Earl of Dartmouth, and was urged by her godmother to simplify matters by marrying him. Rumors abound that Mark killed his first wife, and Laura begins to have accidents... Regency Romance by Joan Wolf; originally published by Signet
Description from Open Library.
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