Unwrapping a Review of NO MISTRESS OF MINE, An American Heiress in London novel by Laura Lee Guhrke

I’ve been a fan of Laura Lee Guhrke for a while now but had not had the opportunity to read any of her An American Heiress in London series…until now. NO MISTRESS OF MINE by Laura Lee Guhrke doesn’t disappoint and if the rest of the series is as good, I’m going to have to backtrack to the first three. 

***print copy provided by publisher in exchange for an honest and unscripted review

Blurb for NO MISTRESS OF MINE:

USA Today bestselling author Laura Lee Guhrke is back with the latest in her dazzling An American Heiress in London series, in which a reformed rogue finds all his honorable resolutions tested by the only woman who ever broke his heart...

After spending his youth as one of the wildest rakes in the ton, Lord Denys Somerton has devoted the past six years to putting his past behind him. He is determined to fulfill his duties, find a suitable wife, and start a family, but that plan changes when Lola Valentine—the red-haired temptress from his past—returns to London, sparking the same irresistible desires that almost ruined his life once before.

Lola is a woman with no romantic illusions. She knew love would never be enough for a British lord and an American girl from the wrong side of the tracks. For Denys’s sake, she walked away from him and the glittering life he offered. But when an unexpected inheritance brings her back to London, Lola discovers the passion between them is as hot as ever. Can they vanquish it, or will it burn out of control again and destroy them both?

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Lord Denys Somerton fell in love with a woman who wasn’t exactly someone his family approved of, but he didn’t care. Lola Valentine was everything to him, so much so that he mortgaged his estate to finance the play, A Doll’s House, in which she starred to horrible critical disaster. To make matters worse, she ran off to Paris and when he followed to propose to her, she rebuffed him with the announcement that she was going home to America with someone who had made her a better offer. Devastated, Denys tried his best to put her and their time together behind him and move on.

Now six years later, Lola is back in London, newly partnered with Denys in the running of the Imperial Theatre where she hopes to try one more time to prove herself a success in acting. Denys’s reception is not one of pleasure and he does his best to keep her at a distance. Upon obtaining a role in a production of Othello, Lola is on her way to establishing her career and proving she does have talent but can’t bring herself to let Denys go, much less give up completely on him because she still loves him and never stopped. But now, he is on the verge of an engagement to a wealthy, and family approved, young woman that might possibly give Lola a real challenge in winning back the love of the only man for her.

Although, it is never actually stated what era this story is set, I can only surmise it is near the end of Victorian London. How? Well, the play Denys produced for Lola was A Doll’s House, presumably by Henrik Ibsen. This play wasn’t performed in its original form in Great Britain until around 1889, making the setting sometime after that with the addition of six years so I’m thinking middle to end of the last decade of the 19^th century. That delights the Dickens out of me!

As much as I love regency romance, I love visiting other eras of historical romance just as much so to visit a time when women truly were starting to come into their own, and meeting such a character as Lola who truly is her own woman, made this a worthy read right away. The next reason, it being a second chance romance…a second shot at love for both Denys and Lola…a second chance to renew their undying love for each other, both of whom are too hesitant to admit, and fight their feelings for most of the story. The third reason, the characters we meet are so full of life that they fill out the story extraordinarily well, and extend themselves to helping knock some sense into these two stubborn and independent people who are still very much in love with each other.

I mentioned that it was predictable…yes, it is, but I don’t care. NO MISTRESS OF MINE by Laura Lee Guhrke is not full of surprises but it is full of great banter, devious thinking, and two people unable to take their eyes off each other even when they want to kick themselves around the space when they can’t. That’s true love and you can’t ask for more from a romance than that. Add in the wonderful setting of Victorian London, the excitement of the theatre, beautiful countryside, and some great undoing on the part of family scheming to have their own way, and you have a read worthy of diving into and just enjoying. NO MISTRESS OF MINE, book 4 in the An American Heiress in London series by Laura Lee Guhrke has my full recommendation, so enjoy!

Happy Reading Everyone!

NO MISTRESS OF MINE, An American Heiress in London novel by Laura Lee Guhrke, Avon Romance, available in print and ebook formats at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Kobobooks.