We are diving into the past to the nineteenth century with the Regency romance, The Dressmaker's Secret Earl by Susan Dunlap. It was published by Comfortable Prose Publishing on 25 Mar. 2025. A marriage of convenience to a scoundrel? Not if Augusta can help it.
The
impoverished daughter of a baronet, Augusta has no intention of being
bartered away like a prize horse. Instead, she flees to London,
determined to forge her own path as a modiste.
But fate has other
plans. On her very first day in the city, she crosses paths with a
brooding earl—one burdened with a clubfoot and a reputation nearly as
scandalous as the proposal she ran from. His captivating sister,
Mariana, is not only Augusta’s employer’s best client but harbors a
secret ambition of her own: to marry the one man society deems wholly
unsuitable.
Drawn into Mariana’s reckless schemes of masquerades,
cross-dressing, and Whig intrigue, Augusta soon finds herself entangled
in more than just scandal—she’s losing her heart to a man who embodies
everything she swore to escape.
But the earl has secrets of his own. Is he truly the rogue society believes him to be?
And when Augusta’s past comes calling, will her newfound independence—and her heart—survive?
My Thoughts
This is the first in Susan Dunlap's Double Dilemma series. Both storylines revolve around two spirited and determined young women who are conscious of the constraints for women in their time but who have ambitions beyond a superficial social life. Augusta has run away from an undesirable forced marriage and is determined to meak e her way as a dressmaker and designer. To do this, she has to conceal her high born status and take on the appearance of an ordinary working seamstress. Drawn to a certain Earl who keeps crossing her path, she is unaware that he too is concealing something from her.
Mariana, the Earl's sister, has interests which are different to those the Ton expects her, as a rich heiress, to have. She follows the political issues of the day and is keen to participate as far as she can. However, women are frowned on, so she has to take on a cunning disguise. She has also rejected all the eligible young men of her class, being drawn towards a political assistant to the Prime Minister, Spencer Percival.
I enjoyed this look at the place of women in Regency England and found both heroines to be entertaining and sincere characters. The fashions of the day and the social whirl of the Ton sit side by side with other social issues, especially around disability and poverty.
In short: a classy read
About the Author
Susanne Dunlap is the award-winning author of over a
dozen historical novels, as well as an Author Accelerator Certified Book Coach
in fiction, nonfiction, and memoir. Her love of history began in academia with
a PhD in music history from Yale. Her novel THE PORTRAITIST won first prize in
its category in the 2022 Eric Hoffer Book Awards, and was a finalist in the
CIBA Goethe Awards and the Foreword Indies Awards. THE ADORED ONE: A NOVEL OF
LILLIAN LORRAINE AND FLORENZ ZIEGFELD, won first place in its category in the
2023 CIBA Goethe Awards for Late Historical Fiction. Today, she lives, coaches,
and writes in beautiful Biddeford, Maine.
You can follow Susan here: Instagram | Facebook | LinkedIn | You tube
Book links: Amazon UK | Amazon US
Thanks to Susan Dunlap, Comfortable Prose Publishing and Rachel of Rachel's Random Resources for a copy of the book and a place on the tour.
Check out the rest of the tour!
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