When Wynn Selworth implores Prometheus, a supposed male literary essayist who is actually Phillippa Lisle, to help him, Phillippa poses as Prometheus’ liaison since she is determined never to reveal her secret, and together they embark on a madcap adventure of love.
The hero is an aspiring politico, who although a successful secret gothic novelist, sucks at writing speeches. Enamoured of the work of political essayist Prometheus, he decides to seek him out and ask for some help writing his maiden speech.
Surprise! (and its revealed right away, so not a spoiler) Prometheus is our heroine, a smart and passionate Pippa who has continued her father’s legacy by writing radical political essays.
What follows is less Sylvester and more A Lady of Letters, but is nonetheless entertaining and very much about writers. I was hoping it would be as funny as Sylvester, and so was a little disappointed that it was more serious…but I love that it featured some sweet details that tend to fall by the wayside in mass market. In particular, I am fascinated by chimney sweeps, and so this addition was interesting. I also love the hero was a gothic novel humorist. I wish we could’ve read excerpts of his books!
It was also nice to have a Regency feature elements of Town and ton, but also enrich those scenes with clever backstories. The political angle added that extra layer of interest for me, and kept the writing fresh.
The romance portion of the book is not as strong as other Dunns and some will find the ending unsatisfyingly abrupt. I thought it was a little unbelievable that hero kept putting off getting engaged, but there was enough romance with the supporting characters to happily distract and entertain.
3.75 out of 6 A quick and entertaining read, the romance is a little weak
| Content Rating/Heat Index | |
|---|---|
| Mature Content |   |
| Limited adult themes | |
| Intimacy | |
| Some kissing | |
| Violence | |
| Not much | |
| Overall | |
|---|---|
| Clean with limited mature content great for most ages. | |
