Description: Miss Eleanor Sheffield is a talented evaluator of antiquities, trained to know the difference between a genuine artifact and a fraud. But with her father’s passing and her uncle’s decline into dementia, the family business is at risk. In the Victorian era, unmarried Eleanor cannot run Sheffield Brothers alone.
The death of a longtime client, Baron Lydney, offers an unexpected complication when Eleanor is appointed the temporary trustee of the baron’s legendary collection. She must choose whether to donate the priceless treasures to a museum or allow them to pass to the baron’s only living son, Harry—the man who broke Eleanor’s heart.
Eleanor distrusts the baron’s motives and her own ability to be unbiased regarding Harry’s future. Harry claims to still love her and Eleanor yearns to believe him, but his mysterious comments and actions fuel her doubts. When she learns an Italian beauty accompanied him on his return to England, her lingering hope for a future with Harry dims.
With the threat of debtor’s prison closing in, Eleanor knows that donating the baron’s collection would win her favor among potential clients, saving Sheffield Brothers. But the more time she spends with Harry, the more her faith in him grows. Might Harry be worthy of his inheritance, and her heart, after all? As pressures mount and time runs out, Eleanor must decide whom she can trust—who in her life is false or true, brass or gold—and what is meant to be treasured.
My Thoughts: It has been so long since I have read a Sandra Byrd novel! I had loved her Ladies in Waiting series, but had not paid enough attention to realize that she had written anything after... at least until I saw this. And I am so ready for the rest of The Victorian Ladies.
As an anthropologist, I always love it when it an author clearly puts a lot of research into their novels and I am able to learn something that I had not know before. And since I also like to shop antiques, this story hit a lot of points that were close to home for me. I am still floored by the information Eleanor gives about faux pearls of the time period (and really want a necklace made with them).
I also appreciate that the romance in the story is what I would call a low simmer. The characters are interested in each other, we know they are. But even though this is a consistent part of the narrative, it doesn't overtake all the other plot points or character relationships. Eleanor has a life outside of her romantic entanglement, one that she cultivates with just as much care.
I had a lot of fun reading this book and only wish that I already had some information about the next. It will be a for sure read.
I have provided an honest review after receiving a copy of the book from the publisher.
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