Something About Her by Jeannie Ruesch

Rosemead Manor, Gloucestershire, England

Sunday, 12 February 1815

Anything but this veil of nothingness.

“Was he traveling alone?”  She knew the answer, or at least she suspected it.

“He had a woman with him.”

Pain sliced through the numbness. Of course he did.
Sheets of rain poured down outside and pelted the window with fat droplets.  She stared at a rivulet of water as it slid down the glass.  It seemed fitting somehow that the skies would rage today.

“When did he die?” 

“Six months ago, in a carriage accident. She…the woman, I mean, survived.”

Blythe’s husband was dead, but his mistress was alive.  Was that supposed to be comforting?

~~~~~Something About Her by Jeannie Ruesch

MY REVIEW:

Blythe Willoughby Ashton is deserted by her husband, Thomas Ashton, as soon they got married. He had professed love to her while wooing her. A year later, she finds herself a widow with no money. Her husband had stolen that too from Blythe. When her brother, mother and sisters want her to go with them to London, she refuses.

Michael Ashton, the Duke of Ravensdale, has always been in the midst of one scandal or the other. This time, he finds himself in a soup. A woman in London, claims he had compromised her and then he finds out his cousin, now presumed dead, has taken large amounts of his money. He discovers that Thomas was married and now he must find his cousin's wife to find Thomas's whereabouts, who he believes is still alive.

 Michael is a widower with a seven year old daughter Bethie. She is a difficult child and her governess has left because of her antics. At the last moment, he is unable to find a replacement and arrives at Rosemead Manor, Gloucestershire, with her and as usual she runs away to hide somewhere. While trying to find her, he encounters Blythe and thinks of her as a servant!

Sparks fly but neither is prepared to give in. Both have pasts, secrets and are scarred. Just when you think, now the story eases, there is twist. A totally unpredictable novel. This is a romance novel, we know right from the beginning that it will have a happy ending. Yet, the story line is so good, that we cannot predict what is going to happen next. I liked the secondary characters too. And Bethie is so endearing.