Rosie’s #BookReview Team #RBRT #HistFic The Lost Letter by @MimiMatthewsEsq #TuesdayBookBlog

Today’s team review is from Liz, she blogs here, https://lizannelloyd.wordpress.com/

Liz has been reading The Lost Letter by Mimi Matthews

The Lost Letter by Mimi Matthews #NewRelease

Here is a classic tale of love lost and ensuing misfortune.  Paralleling the situation in the tale of Beauty and the Beast, the heroine, Sylvia Stafford finds herself in a stately manor house where the Earl of Radcliffe, badly injured in the Indian rebellion, hides himself away from society so no-one can see his facial scars.

But Miss Stafford had originally met the Earl 3 years earlier in London, when he was Colonel Sebastian Conrad.  There had been flirtation, the exchange of kisses and he had taken a lock of her hair as a keepsake.  Since then, her circumstances had changed dramatically.  Her father, losing all his money at the gaming tables, committed suicide.  Penniless and alone, Sylvia had accepted a position as Governess with a family in Cheapside and Sebastian had not contacted her.

Sylvia Stafford is a determined, proud, young lady of 25.  She carries out her teaching duties enthusiastically and will not demean herself for the sake of money.  Sebastian now believes that she is a fortune hunter, despite the efforts of his sister, Lady Julia Harker, to bring the two together.

Mimi Matthews writing reflects her deep academic knowledge of Victorian social history, subtly making every action and speech believable.  Much of the story is told through conversations between the two protagonists and this engages the reader with their personalities and a wish for their happiness.  The essence of this thwarted romance was deceit and misunderstanding and they extricate themselves from this in a credible way.  I found myself rooting for Sylvia and enjoying every moment of this delightful novel.

Book Description

A Proud Beauty

Society beauty Sylvia Stafford is far too pragmatic to pine. When the tragic death of her gamester father leaves her destitute and alone, she finds work as a governess in a merchant’s household in Cheapside. Isolated from the fashionable acquaintance of her youth, she resigns herself to lonely spinsterhood…until a mysterious visitor convinces her to temporarily return to her former life—and her former love.

A Scarred Beast

Colonel Sebastian Conrad is no longer the dashing cavalry officer Sylvia once fell in love with. Badly scarred during the Sepoy Rebellion, he has withdrawn to his estate in rural Hertfordshire where he lives in near complete seclusion. Brooding and tormented, he cares nothing for the earldom he has inherited—and even less for the faithless beauty who rejected him three years before.

A Second Chance

A week together in the remote Victorian countryside is the last thing either of them ever wanted. But when fate intervenes to reunite them, will a beastly earl and an impoverished beauty finally find their happily ever after? Or are some fairy-tale endings simply not meant to be?

About the author

Mimi Matthews writes both historical non-fiction and traditional historical romances set in Victorian England. Her articles on nineteenth century history have been published on various academic and history sites, including the Victorian Web and the Journal of Victorian Culture, and are also syndicated weekly at Bust Magazine, New York. In her other life, Mimi is an attorney with both a Juris Doctor and a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature. She resides in California with her family, which includes an Andalusian dressage horse, two Shelties, and two Siamese cats.

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