The Cloverton Charade

I have been waiting for this book since I first heard it was coming out, as Sarah Ladd is one of my favorite authors, of whom I have all.her books! This book was so worth the wait, as I absolutely loved this story! It is set in the Regency era in Yorkshire, England, in 1810. The story begins with Olivia Brannon, the daughter of a very successful art dealer, whose father passes away, but who has taught Olivia the business, but sadly, upon her father's death, the business goes to her uncle who sees Olivia as more of a hired hand instead of letting her be a part of ongoing, successful business she should've inherited herself. She is allowed to help with the collection business, along with her friend Russell, but they both work for her uncle, who does not like to share the business with anyone! Olivia is asked by the wife of one of her father's major collector clients, Mrs. Milton of Cloverton Hall to come and assess her husband's extensive collection, which she adores, because it is her one link to her beloved husband who has recently passed away. Since her husband has died, she needs to find out the collection's true monetary value quickly, so she goes to Olivia, whose father helped Mr. Milton purchase his collection. Olivia is thrilled that Mrs. Milton has come to her, but she is sworn to secrecy by Mrs. Milton, who invites Olivia, for appearance sake, to Cloverton Hall to secretly assess her husband's collection, which leads Olivia to get a glimpse into a life of luxury amongst the rich, but all isn't as it seems. Since Mrs. Milton's husband has just died, and their nephew, George Wainbridge, will inherit Cloverton Hall, which is financially in trouble, so George also has ideas of selling his uncle's collection, which he doesn't care about in the slightest, but sees it only as a means to keep his estate running, but his aunt is standing in his way. George also needs to get the collection assessed to find out the value, so he hires the son of the arch rival of Olivia's father, Lucas Avery, who Olivia used to count as a close friend until their fathers, both art collectors and partners, had a falling out. Olivia was taught to avoid the Averys at all costs, but finds herself thrown together with Lucas at Cloverton Hall, both who are asked to asses its famous collection, but for two family rivals! Lucas and Olivia must decide to either stay enemies, or work together, but get caught up in a family feud that will lead them down a mysterious road of robbery, forgery and betrayal, but I won't spoil it!!! This book engaged me from the first page, and was so well written, with amazing characters, and a plot that literally made me keep turning the pages because I was so engrossed! The ending led to a place that I least expected, and as I can't stand a book where I can figure out the plot, this book was awesome! It is right up there with the quality of books I have grown to love from this author! This regency era book is a very interesting and engaging art collection mystery that includes a hint of romance, and I loved it! So another 5 star book from Sarah Ladd, and I highly, highly recommend it!!!