Tragedy strikes. Ambersley is almost destroyed by fire, the duke and duchess are killed, and their little daughter Amber Johanna Vaughan is lost and traumatized. She is found by the gardener, Tom. He and his wife, Martha, decide to take her in and disguise her as a boy named Johnny to protect her until her real family comes. With no memory of her past, Johnny has an idyllic childhood among the flowers. Derek Vaughan inherits the dukedom when his father dies, but he believes his claim is dubious at best. His past is filled with the scandal of his mother's actions. He plans to hold the title until his younger half-brother, Curtis, comes of age in order to protect Ambersley from his stepmother's spendthrift ways. With the help of Ambersley's loyal retainers, Derek restores the Hall to it's former glory. When farce almost leads to tragedy, Johnny is revealed to be Johanna and the time comes for her to take up her role as a lady and heiress.
AMBERSLEY by AMY ATWELL is the first book in her new series, LORDS OF LONDON. The book is divided into two parts, Johnny and Johanna. There is no time gap between the two, just a discovery that leads to the transition of Johnny from a boyish youth to a lady. I chose to read AMBERSLEY because it's a historical romance, which is my favorite genre, but AMBERSLEY is much more than that. If it was a typical historical romance, Johnny's tragedy would be a prologue and chapter one would immediately jump to her blossoming into a young woman who's beauty is thinly disguised by her boyish garb, in other words smoking hot. The new Duke of Ambersley would quickly discover her charade and they would either be in love or at odds with each other by the end of the chapter.
AMBERSLEY combines modern romance and the nostalgic style of Jane Austin. I could see AMBERSLEY being at home in the fiction category just as much as it is in romance. Amy Atwell has created two great leads. Johnny is lovable, Derek is endearing, and I enjoy watching them grow together. Secondary characters, particularly the staff at Ambersley, are well developed. Atwell writes about Ambersley Hall with such affection that I'm almost in love with it too. The spirit of Ambersley touches everyone with an open heart.
An heiress in disguise. A duke who doubts his legitimacy.
Will secrets destroy their love?
Traumatized by a blaze that killed her parents, young
Johanna remembers nothing of her privileged past and remains
ignorant of the dangers that surround her. She grows up
among the servants, where she develops a sense of purpose
that helps her survive the betrayal that unmasks her true
identity. Once she is forced to take her proper place in
Regency society as the highly sought heiress to the
Ambersley fortune, she must defy the relatives who would
make her a pawn in their struggle for power.
When Derek Vaughan inherits the dukedom, his dubious
parentage makes it a sacrilege to accept. But touched by the
ravaged estate and its destitute staff, he braves a society
that once shunned him while he rebuilds Ambersley and guards
it from his stepmother's bankrupting clutches. He intends to
grant the title to his half-brother when the boy comes of
age, but Derek's plans go awry from the moment the
gardener's apprenticeβonce his trusted young friendβis
revealed to be not only an heiress of beauty and spirit, but
the one woman who may finally capture his heart.
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