Review: The Language of Love

The Language of Love by Minerva Spencer
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Annis Bowman has been conned by a man and lost all her and her grandmother's money. She has been forced to live with her uncle and his unpleasant family in London as a sort of unpaid companion/dogsbody, she desperately needs to marry for money to save her grandmother's house.

Henry Singleton was sent to India when only a teenager, banished by his uncle for a crime he did not commit. In India he has amassed a vast fortune, and has now inherited the title of Earl of Rotherhithe following the deaths of his uncle and cousin. However, Henry despises London society and dreads the toad-eating attentions of the haut monde who will only want him for his money. So he decides to swap places with one of his employees, pretending to be the Earl of Rotherhithe's personal secretary he will accompany the fake Earl to all the society events incognito. This knocked off at least half a star, probably a full star off my review, not the plot device but the buffoon that Henry chose to swap places with, surely Henry could have found someone better? Maybe an actor?

Annis' friend (they were fellow schoolteachers together along with the other heroes/heroines in the series) helps people navigate society, she teaches Henry and the fake Earl how to behave and introduces them to society. Annis and Henry meet at her house and are immediately smitten with each other, but Annis knows she must marry a wealthy man and her uncle has already identified a wealthy banker, much older than Annis, as a suitable match.

When Annis and Henry are caught in a compromising position and forced to marry it seems like serendipity, but each of them is labouring under illusions about the other which could derail their marriage before it has begun.

This has everything you could want from an historical romance. Cruel relatives, blackmail, theft, forgery, secret identities, misunderstandings, secret passageways, detectives, faithful retainers, etc.

Read on my Kindle Unlimited subscription.

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