Review: Fun historical romance with treasure hunting
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 11 8, 2012
Daisy Drake enjoys her life living with her great aunt Isabella Haversham (Lady Wexford). She received a generous dowry along with her sisters from her uncle Gabriel who found a treasure of Spanish gold beneath their home, Dragon Cearn Castle in Cornwall.  The sudden wealth changed her family's life forever and although her uncle may only be a baron and a former pirate, he does have money.  All her sisters have married well or are currently engaged yet Daisy is not actively looking.While visiting the Society of Antiquaries, Daisy runs into Lucian Ignacio de Castenello Beaumont (Viscount Rutland) a man she remembers when they were children as his family spent a memorial week at Dragon Cearn years ago.  She even remembers how he got a small scar on his chin, since she was the one that gave it to him.  When Lucien's family stayed with Daisy's family, Lucian's father had an investment idea he wanted Gabriel to invest in.  Gabriel never wanted to invest in a shipping business that was a slaver and told him no, Lord Montford was so upset he stormed out of the castle with family in tow.  The stock price of the South Sea Company (Lord Montford's company) nosedived in a short amount of time, taking the entire market down with it.  A good deal of investing led many families who had money toward poverty.  Lord Montford was ruined and forever blamed the Drake family.Lucien is at the Society of Antiquaries looking for investors, he believes he knows of a treasure and since his family is broke, he does not have the funds to pursue the project.  Daisy sneaks in to listen to his proposal (since she is forever being denied a membership) and is intrigued by what he has to say and wants to invest, however he is angry that no one will listen and does not want to accept her money especially because of how is father feels about her family.Daisy still remembers Lucien fondly from years ago and is determined to help him financially so asks her great aunt Isabella if she can attend the masquerade party Isabella is giving in honor of her husband's birthday (Geoffrey).  Daisy is always looking for an adventure and wants to dress up passing herself off as Mademoiselle Blanche LaTour, a bird of paradise.  Lucien is immediately in lust with Blanche and accepts her proposal to fund his excavation. While he is meeting Blanche at night for evenings of pleasure, Daisy works with him during the day helping him catalog his findings and starts to undergo a little jealously about how Lucien feels for Blanche.While Lucien and Daisy sort out their feelings for each other, Lucien questions who Blanche really is and others start to believe his treasure hunt may really be true.  Lucien and Daisy find they may be in a dangerous situation and attempt to take precautions.  So is there really treasure to be found and who is after them while they trace the clues?I found I really enjoyed this story, there were several funny moments as Blanche and Daisy tried to keep Lucien from finding out they are one and the same person.  Also many suspenseful moments as Lucien and Daisy find the clues to the treasure and realize there are others now searching for them and they will do anything to get the treasure.  I liked the chemistry between both Lucien and Daisy as they are a believable couple and you can tell the passion they feel for each other.  And what a fun character Daisy's great aunt Isabella is, all in all a very enjoyable read.