This unusual romance story features a young woman in a London antiques and art dealership. Olivia Brannon is the daughter of an art expert but not wealthy enough to own such pieces. Attending a posh house party will be A CLOVERTON CHARADE. Olivia is invited as a guest by Mrs. Milton, the widow of the owner of a grand Yorkshire manor, Cloverton Hall.
I had such a good time at the party. Not only is Olivia secretly here to evaluate an art collection, but Lucas Avery, from a rival antiques business, is invited by George Wainbridge, the nephew of the late owner and now the inheritor. George quietly intends to dispose of his deceased uncle's art collection, despite family opposition, and use the funds to sustain the great house. He asks Lucas for an honest evaluation. The two business rivals hardly meet in London but recognise each other at the house party.
This could almost be a Jane Austen story if it didn’t involve possible art theft from Cloverton Hall. Olivia and her younger sister fit a Cinderella role, at their busy uncle’s home and antiques dealership. Their house was sold when their parents died. Now, with donated dresses and a lack of skills befitting a debutante, Olivia has to fit in amongst the accomplished young ladies who, with chaperones at hand, are hoping to make suitable matches among the gentlemen guests. While the story contains little action, we see the life of upper-class women and the small amount of control they have over their future. Olivia is at a social remove, and this makes her more comfortable talking with the maids, and they with her. We also see how fast a rumour spreads of a family encountering straitened financial circumstances, and the effect this has on marriage prospects. At this time, and in the coming decades, great houses cost more to keep up than landowners’ incomes, but nobody yet wants to admit the fact.
Sarah E. Ladd sumptuously describes the occasions, with the outsiders marveling at the wealthy lifestyle, yet more knowledgeable by far about Chinese vases than the householders. When the prospect of art theft rears its head, the reader almost doesn’t want to believe it. But that makes for a more exciting storyline. Nobody is sure what is happening - and Olivia will have to join forces with Lucas Avery if they are to discover the truth. A CLOVERTON CHARADE is the third in a series called The Houses Of Yorkshire, and I already know I would love to read them all.
A long-held family feud reignites when two rival antiquities brokers arrive at the same house party in Regency England.
Olivia Brannon knows her goals are unconventional. As a young woman in Regency England, her best bet--according to society--is to marry well and secure a steady future for herself. But Olivia has never been interested in convention. She'd prefer to follow in her deceased father's footsteps and journey to foreign lands in search of rare and valuable antiquities.
Eager to make a name for herself in the antiquities world, Olivia jumps at an invitation to join a wealthy widow at the famed Cloverton Hall to evaluate her private antiquities collection. Secrecy of the task is vital, and in order to conceal her efforts Olivia must pretend to be a house party guest to avoid suspicion and to explain her presence.
Lucas Avery, whose father was a rival of Olivia's father, has also arrived at the Cloverton Hall house party, hired by the new master of Cloverton Hall--the widow's nephew--to appraise the renowned Cloverton Hall collection. When Lucas discovers Olivia masquerading as a party guest while covertly conducting her own assessment, he's keen to renew the family rivalry. But as their paths frequently cross, he's unprepared for the effect the refreshingly honest--and beautiful--Olivia has on him.
Yet all is not as it seems. Both Olivia and Lucas are shocked by the astonishing discovery of counterfeit pieces, and when the unexpected occurs, everyone is a suspect . . . and Olivia and Lucas both must choose whom they will trust.
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