The Lost Heiress by Roseanna M. White

Close your eyes and imagine.

Imagine that you've lived in France for as long as you remember. The daughter of an actress, but raised as a princess. (It's complicated.)

Now imagine that one day your oldest friend (who may be more than a friend, but that's for another time) delivers the news that you are not their daughter, but the daughter of an English lord.

Imagine that English lord has thought you were dead all these years from the same carriage accident that took your mother. Imagine you move back to live with him and relatives you never knew you had. Imagine the papers stalk you, dubbing you The Lost Heiress.

And can we throw in some rubies with a supposed curse over them? I think we can!

Welcome to the life of Brook Eden, a very interesting character in her own right. She's all girl, but with a fiery temper and a will to try anything and everything. Maybe that's what keeps her going through all the adjustments of the book.

Honestly, I would read this whole book just for Brook's father, Whitby. He may be the best father I've ever read in a book. He loves Brook to pieces, accepts her no matter what, and doesn't really care what society thinks of him. His and Brook's relationship was excellent.

This was actually the first novel Roseanna White ever wrote, when she was twelve years old. While a superb read, just like her other books, I will note that it has a slower pace than her other series (Shadows Over England and The Codebreakers), a pace that picks up like Brook's wild stallion by the end.

Due to the titles and whatnot of the time period (I mean, really, did everybody have three names or something?), it's important to keep your players straight. There's a helpful list of characters at the beginning that helped me accomplish just that.

One of the things I love about Roseanna White's books is that she never backs down from the truth about God in her stories, and The Lost Heiress  is no exception.

The first book of the Ladies of the Manor series may not quite live up to her later series. But it certainly has a fire all its own.