Barely a Lady

This was a great read with plenty of action from start to end. I could not put this down. Highly recommend.

This is the best romance I've read in months, if not years. Great plot, characters, and dialogue instead of what passes for romance these days, which usually consists of two characters falling into bed in the first one or two chapters followed by pages of clinical descriptions of various sex acts. I'm so happy to have found an author who has the imagination and skill to weave a clever and thoughtful plot about interesting and articulate characters. I've already put a note in my calendar for August 2011 when the second book in the series comes out.

I could make a list of ten things in this book that readers might say have been overdone (spies, check, the author's afterword says "blame it on Richard Sharpe"; amnesia, check; Waterloo, check; the big mis, check; etc.). However, Dreyer has built characters and a plot that held me to a solid read in which my interest never flagged from when it came in the mail yesterday evening until I went to bed waaaayyy too late. That's what a good author can do for the reader. Not everyone will like it. Not one single person in the book is perfect (although one of the secondary characters comes close). Certainly the hero and heroine are not perfect, although the heroine is much-put-upon.

Olivia lost her standing in polite society following her divorce from the Duke of Gracechurch. The scandal left Grace with few options. Currently she is a stay out of the Ton's way companion with a young son. She accompanies her employer Mrs. Bottomly and her three daughters to Brussels where much of the Ton has temporarily relocated from London as the war heats up in nearby Waterloo. Once the battle ends, Olivia tries to help the wounded when she finds her former husband Jack, lying unconscious wearing the enemy's uniform. Stunned that Jack would betray their country, she nurses him, but he has limited amnesia; unaware of what he or Olivia has done for the last five years; in fact he believes they remain married. She pretends to be his wife in order to learn if her ex is a traitor. As they fall back in love, someone lurks in the shadows ready to destroy both of them. Barely a Lady is a thrilling Regency romance with an intriguing beginning as the Ton has relocated to be near the battlefield, but the galas continue even with blood flowing. In fairness some of the nobles die during the battle, others like Jack are injured and some of the ladies volunteer to help. The story line is fast-paced from the moment Olivia finds Jack and never slows down. Although amnesia is a frequently used matchmaking mechanism, Eileen Dreyer keeps her plot fresh with the underlying question of whether he is a traitor. Harriet Klausner

BARELY A LADY by Eileen Dreyer is a thrilling Regency Historical romance set in Belgium and Brussels in 1815.It is book one in the Drake's Rakes series. It is well written with depth and detail. It has betrayal, redemption, forgiveness, secrets, intrigue, treason,sweet sensuality, mistrust, friendship and romance.The hero is handsome, charming, has amnesia, and is found on the wrong side of the battlefield possibly making him a traitor. The heroine is heart broken, strong, determined to prove her ex-husband is not a traitor,not lose her heart to him again, and keep the biggest secret of all. Together with the help of friends they found the truth and the love they lost so many years ago due to betrayal and mistrust.This is a fast paced, page turning story. It will keep you on the edge of your chair to learn the true answers and all the people involved. Some of the people the hero trusted he learns are not what he thought.Some of his family would go to great lengths to keep him away from his ex wife. The heroine, finds true friends during this trial and learns to trust her heart again. The secondary characters are charming and should have their own book. They help pull the story together. This is wonderful story of true love, trust, family and friendship. This is a keeper and a must read. This book was received for review and details can be found at My Book Addiction and More and Forever an imprint of Grand Central Publishing.