MISS DRAMATIC is the ninth book in the Mischief in Mayfair series--wow! Historical romance author Grace Burrowes brings us another gentle romance set in the UK following the Napoleonic War. MISS DRAMATIC is the last novel in this Mischief in Mayfair series, and brings us back to Crosspatch Corners. Readers familiar with the series will recognize many faces, but each book can easily be read on its own merits such that new readers won't have any problems picking things right up here. Burrowes describes this as a "duke-free" series, which makes me chuckle, but I also find very refreshing for historical romance!
MISS DRAMATIC cleverly refers to two things in this short novel. Our heroine, Mrs. Rose Roberts, is a charming and stalwart widow. Her ne'er-do-well husband used to taunt her, asking, "Why must you always make a Drury Lane production out of nothing, little Miss Dramatic?" The (thankfully deceased) jerk thought that his infidelities and his nasty temper were 'nothing' and that his wife should just bear up under the tribulations that he served her. Ugh. The hero of our story, Gavin DeWitt, has returned from a several-year escape from the landed gentry, where he was sowing his wild oats as a Shakespearean actor. Gavin is an excellent actor but has resolved to put his passion for his profession away in order to take up the dreary reins of country life to satisfy his family's needs. It's easy to both like and respect both of these main characters!
Rose and Gavin have some shared history that left them on awkward footing, and they are now thrown together at another country house party. Each broke the other's heart, yet the many physical and emotional things that drew them together before have not abated. Gavin and Rose first resolve to put things behind them, but quickly discover that they want to take up where they left things off- in bed!
Burrowes always has some malicious blighter who screws up the course of true love in her tales, and in MISS DRAMATIC I was disappointed that evildoers do not seem to get their comeuppance. The love story is pleasing though, and our two lovers manage to figure out who is wishing them ill and foil the ill-natured plot. Burrowes' MISS DRAMATIC is a cozy historical romance with engaging characters and plenty of satisfying emotional depth.
Don’t be so dramatic! Gavin DeWitt has given up a career on the stage to take his place among the respectable gentry of Crosspatch Corners. His older sister has married quite well, and now it’s Gavin’s job to ensure he and his younger siblings make an excellent impression on polite society too. He’s handsome, witty, charming--and quietly dying of boredom--but nonetheless playing the role of country gentleman desperately well.
Will it be kisses… or curtains? Enter Mrs. Rose Roberts, a widow from Gavin’s theatrical past. She broke his heart when last they parted, but oddly enough, he broke her heart too. Can they piece together what really happened and forge a future together, despite the forces of mischief and mayhem plotting more fiercely than ever to keep them apart?