Her Secret Fantasy: A Novel

This is not exactly one of her best works, but good all the same. I gave it only 3 stars because of the way the story dragged. There were a lot of sub-stories, but I liked the way all loose ends were tied. Derek was sent to London to request for army funds and just when he thought he could have it in a trice, he had another thing coming. Lily Balfour was looking for someone "rich and stupid" to...more

This is not exactly one of her best works, but good all the same. I gave it only 3 stars because of the way the story dragged. There were a lot of sub-stories, but I liked the way all loose ends were tied. Derek was sent to London to request for army funds and just when he thought he could have it in a trice, he had another thing coming. Lily Balfour was looking for someone "rich and stupid" to save her and her family's depleted fortune, and Derek wasn't exactly the solution. As with all her novels, politics abound in this book. There's corruption everywhere, family ties, and I was really intrigued how they would end up together. I know they would but the question was where. India or England? The characters didn't really touch me to the core, both of them have their own ghosts - Derek and his battles in India, and Lily's dwindling self in the Balfour manor. She's too proud for my own taste, sticking to the dilapidated manor due to sentimental reasons, where she could've just thought about the people who relied on her and acted on the best solution. I really didn't like the part where Lily stood up to her mother but they really didn't patch things up. I was expecting a more confrontational dialogue but I think the author didn't want to prolong the story further. The love scenes were few but what they lack for quantity, they made up for quality. If you're looking for something touching, riveting, and entertaining, this book doesn't deliver.   hide