Review: A fun short story
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 01 7, 2013
I love this author, and will pick up a book just because her name is on the cover!This was a fun read. Characters are complex for a short story. The issues between Eleanor, her mother and her stepsister are perhaps too easily resolved. I like the idea of Eleanor having a crush on the masked hero all those years and then getting him in the end.This story is a companion of sorts to the "House of Brady" series, the first book of which is Loving Lady Marcia and the second is The Earl is Mine (Greg). The seventies teen in me just can't help but love the concept of a Regency Brady Bunch and the author is both sly and shameless at incorporating things from the old show into the books.  What a hoot!This short story is about friends of the Sherwoods or of the House of Brady. The Earl of Tumbridge is part of a secret society that ferrets out traitors to the crown, those who sell vital information to the French. The founder of this society, Lord Kersey, was killed by Lord Pritchard, a traitor, and Lady Kersey married the man, putting their daughter's life in danger should she ask questions about Lord Kersey's death. Lord Kersey also left behind a talisman with a code imprinted on it, telling where he had hidden the evidence incriminating Lord Pritchard.  The Sherwood children found this talisman before the secret society could locate it and before the traitor could get his hands on it. Lord Pritchard tried to steal the talisman from the Sherwoods who were traveling with his own daughter and future stepdaughter using highway robbers, but the Earl of Tumbridge prevented it. In the fight, the masked Lord Tumbridge had his shirt ripped, revealing a tattoo on his shoulder.Years later, Lady Eleanor, the daughter of the secret society's founder and stepdaughter of the traitor, chances to see Lord Tumbridge's tattoo and dreams of the talisman. She asks her old friends of the House of Brady if they remember the robbery incident and if they have the talisman after all these years. They have kept it hidden because they thought it was unlucky and gladly give it to Lady Eleanor. Lord Tumbridge happens to mention it to the ladies of the House of Brady also and learns that Eleanor has it.*******************SPOILER ALERT*******************SPOILER ALERT**************After Eleanor mentions the incident to her stepsister, she is threatened by a knife-wielding assailant in her bed, demanding the talisman.  She feels the only one she can trust is Lord Tumbridge and brings the talisman and the story to him.After bringing down the traitor, Lord Tumbridge professes his love, which is returned, and they live happily ever after.*************END SPOILER ALERT********************END SPOILER ALERT**************Heat factor mild.