Lady Rebecca enjoyed a flirtation with Lord Nathaniel when they were young and giddy in the countryside. Their seniors put a stop to that, and a decade later, life is very different. THE TRUTH SERUM takes up where the first lively story in My Lady's Potions left us. A concoction called a love potion has helped the comparative nobody Kynthea Petrelli gain the affections of Ras, Duke of Harle. Currently staying with them as they prepare for marriage is Nathaniel, or Nate.
Lady Rebecca is something of an embarrassment to her family, as she has spent five Seasons in town, and at the age of twenty-seven, is almost on the shelf. London still has men willing to ask for her hand, but she strongly suspects they only want her small portion of land in Cornwall. Men are in short supply as the war with Napoleon is drawing them away, and Rebecca thinks a truth serum may help her sort out genuine offers.
Nate is a Sir Percy Blakeney type of character, pretending dissolution while working for the Foreign Office. He had an alias in the earlier story, Mr. Pickleherring, as he penned gossip columns for an income. He’s given up the gossip (those were amusing) but is still writing. He’s also recovering from injuries and determined to root out a nest of smugglers.
The villain of the story is Fletcher, Rebecca’s controlling brother, who wants a political career. He demands she go along with his choices, and the gross Baron Courbis, who willingly drinks the truth serum, is his chosen suitor. Women had very little agency, even if they had money, until they were respectably married or widowed. We see how a male relative was expected to administer their affairs and make their decisions. Although the family occupies a Mayfair townhouse, there is little love lost between the siblings.
I found some of the tale felt too modern; certainly, scanty attention was paid to Rebecca’s reputation, but quite likely this is due to her age, when all the friends from her coming-out Season are married off and in country houses. Nate still loves her but isn’t meeting Fletcher’s approval, so the obstacles to the young people’s happiness keep piling higher. THE TRUTH SERUM has quite an extraordinary effect, which you will have to see for yourselves. Humour and outrageousness whirl through the story, softening the dour tones of Fletcher. Katherine Lyons provides another adult historical romance, full of characters, heaving bosoms, and shed cravats.
Lady Rebecca has spent ten years trying to forget the boy who stole her heart—and destroyed her family. Now Lord Nathaniel is back, still recklessly charming and absolutely forbidden. A man who cares for nothing but his own pleasure.
Or so it seems. Beneath Nate’s carefully crafted façade are secrets that could tip the war against Napoleon. Nate is a spy, and he desperately needs Rebecca's help. But can she trust a feckless rake in defiance of their family feud and her brother’s mysterious plans?
When a marriage contract could bind her to a traitor, Rebecca turns to the most dangerous weapon of all—a mysterious truth serum that reveals not just lies, but the most inconvenient desires of the heart. And when the serum goes awry, half-dressed barons and ballroom scandals are the least of Rebecca’s problems.
In a world where trust leads to betrayal, can two childhood sweethearts overcome a decade of deception to save regency England—and each other?
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