The Lady Travelers Guide to Deception with an Unlikely Earl by Victoria Alexander
Tracy’s rating: 4.5 of 5 stars
Series: The Lady Travelers Society, #3
Release Date: November 20, 2018
Sidney Gordon Honeywell is the author of the wildly successful series “Tales of a Lady Adventurer in Egypt”, a fictional depiction of her grandmother’s adventures. Sidney never claimed the stories were true or that she was the heroine – but somehow that is what everyone believes and her publisher believed it was best to continue the ruse. But now the Earl of Brenton has been sending letters to the Times denouncing her as a fraud. More unfortunately, Effie, Poppy & Gwen have been replying to the letters – as Sidney. The Earl has issued a challenge, go with his nephew to Egypt and prove she is who she claims to be.
Harold “Harry” Armstrong is the new and unexpected Earl of Brenton, but before that, he was an avid adventurer in Egypt – He doesn’t like Sidney’s stories – they are not accurate and are too flowery – he might be a little miffed that he has written a book that has been repeatedly rejected, but mostly he feels guilty, when he was last in Egypt, his friend and cohort Walter died and he is angry that Sidney is getting undeserved attention and Walter was forgotten. He issued the challenge, if he wins, she will be exposed and ruined, if he wins Cadwallenders’ Daily Messenger (Sidney’s publisher) will publish his book.
Sidney is upset and the ladies try to calm her – they will go with her to Egypt, as chaperones and Mr. Cadwellender has agreed to finance the trip and send a reporter with them to document the journey- it is a dream come true for Sidney to go to Egypt, but how will she keep up the deception? The ladies promise to “help”.
Harry already regrets his challenge but it is too late to back out and save face. He poses as Harry Armstrong, the nephew of the Earl and awaits the arrive of “Mrs. Gordon” who he is sure is an older woman – the ladies are introduced along with Daniel Corbin, the reporter and Harry is drawn to Sidney. He is sure she is a fraud, but she is a lovely, intelligent fraud. He tries to get to know her better and has competition from Corbin and interference from the ladies. But finally he gets her alone, he likes her and thinks that she might be the “one”. But now he has to find a way out of the hole he dug without ruining her or humiliating himself.
Sidney likes Harry as well, but she has to be on her guard, he has the power to destroy her, so while she is attracted to him, she tries to keep him at arm’s length – how is she going to be able to keep this up?
They arrive in Cairo and Harry is certain that she is a fraud, but he no longer wants to expose her – well at least not to the public. He is not quite sure what he wants from her, until someone from his past askes for a favor and Sidney helps him – then he knows, she is the one and only woman for him. Before he can tell her, she is swept away by her own adventure. When she returns, she makes a discovery and needs Harry’s help, which is his not overly happy about, but agrees to.
Their adventure will bring them more than one shocking discovery, betrayal and startling revelations, but will it bring them together or push them apart? This was an absolutely delightful read, it is well written (I cannot even imagine the research that went into this book!), fast paced, amusing and light without being fluffy, Harry and Sidney are both likeable leads, Poppy, Gwen & Effie are fantastic secondary characters, the story has warm love scenes, the requisite dead husband named Charles, a bit of intrigue, a bit of deception, lost treasure and finally a sweet and satisfying HEA ending. This is the third book in the series, but it can definitely be read as a stand alone title with no problem whatsoever! I absolutely loved this book and am happy to recommend!
*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC that was provided to me by NetGalley and the publisher*
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