This was book 1/13 in the Jacobite Chronicles. This was the introductory book and didn't really get started into anything depth-wise until the last quarter of the book. I liked this book well enough that I went ahead and purchased book 2 in the series. Love me some Pretender! This book reminded me of The Scarlet Pimpernel. 331 pages ( )

Oh, dear. I just finished Stella Riley's delightful six-book Georgian series, and now, having read the first book in this seven-book series, I can see I'm on a Georgian (or Jacobian depending on your preferences) book read for the foreseeable future. One difference, Ms. Riley's books are romances and here we have some great historical fiction- with a little romance thrown in.
Beth Cunningham has grown up in the country outside Manchester. Her father was a wealthy gentleman who married a beautiful Scottish woman for his second wife, though her status was below his. Now her half-brother Richard has returned finally from the army to take over the estate. Richard is a villain in the Captain Jack Randall style, cruel for the sake of being cruel. He needs money to buy a commission, and Beth's dowry is the only real money left in the estate. Richard comes up with a scheme to find Beth a husband who will also help him, much to Beth's distaste. She doesn't have much choice but to go along if she doesn't want her brother to dismiss the servants, her only friends.
Once in London Beth makes the acquaintance of Sir Anthony Peters, a foppish gentleman and gossip. She doesn't really like him, but he helps her on several occasions. Beth is a secret Catholic and Jacobite, which would make her an outcast (and maybe traitor) in this time period right before Culloden.
Beth is a feisty heroine, beautiful but courageous and sometimes naive. Sir Anthony is not what he seems, one of my favorite types of heroes. I have a fondness for patched Georgian gentlemen concerned about their snuff boxes and clothes going back to reading Georgette Heyer in my youth.
The writing is good, and the history is woven into the story in a believable manner. It's also well researched and accurate. The book is a bit like Galbadon's Outlander series without the time travel element which is a compliment because I love those books. Even knowing that Culloden is looming in one of the future books, I'm anxious to see what happens to Beth and Anthony next. ( )