Mistress of My Fate (Confessions of Henrietta Lightfoot)
Historian Rubenhold exploits her in-depth knowledge of eighteenth-century British society to page-turning advantage in the first installment of a trilogy detailing the often titillating adventures of Henrietta Lightfoot. Although parentless, Henrietta is raised alongside her aristocratic cousins, the social lines that divide them clearly drawn. When Henrietta unexpectedly eclipses her cousin Catherine in the eyes of dashing Lord Allenham, and her true parentage is revealed, she must marry against her will or be cast aside completely. Fleeing into the illicit arms of the handsome lord, who harbors secrets of his own, she begins to unravel the mystery of her own past. When her lover disappears, she is forced, as an unconnected woman of her time and place, to rely on both her guile and her feminine charms to survive in the seamy underbelly of respectable society while she continues to search for her missing paramour. Devilry, debauchery, and desire reign supreme in volume one of this colorful Regency romp. --Margaret Flanagan