Summary: A Proper Charade by Esther Hatch
Does love have a chance if she doesn’t play by the
rules?
Lady
Patience Kendrick was born to a life of privilege, and with the London Season
looming, she finds herself facing unprecedented pressure to adhere to the rules
of society. Unfortunately, the free-spirited young woman is anything but
proper. Patience’s elder brother, a former military man, bemoans his sister’s
antics—but when he accuses her of incurable frivolity, it is simply more than
she can bear. Determined to prove her brother wrong, Patience undertakes a
drastic experiment: she will disguise herself as a maid and demonstrate her
ability to work as hard as anyone.
Taken on as
household staff by her brother’s former general, Patience soon learns that
willingness and ability are two very different things. While her plan sounded
promising in theory, the reality is that she is out of her depth—and the
irresistibly charming son of the house isn’t helping matters. Patience soon
finds herself embroiled in a charade far more complicated than she imagined.
With both her pride and her heart at stake, she is determined to prove her
brother wrong—even as her plans spiral delightfully out of control (from
Goodreads)
Book Review: A Proper Charade by Esther Hatch
To show her brother and herself she is able to work
and think of others, duke’s sister Lady Patience Kendrick takes employment as a
maid knowing she has no domestic skills. When her employer Anthony Woodsworth
asks her help in a charade to secure him a bride, Patience knows there will be
and enormous risk to her reputation.
A Proper Charade is book 2 in the Proper Scandals series by Esther Hatch published by Covenant Communications. The story is about Lady Patience Kendrick who tries to prove she can be useful and responsible. When Patience screws up the most basic maid’s duties, general’s son Anthony Woodsworth shows her the ropes. He asks her help in a scheme to hurry his courtship along. Patience enters social functions in disguise to avoid getting recognized as the duke’s sister, while Anthony is seriously puzzled by how well she blends in.
Main character Patience Kendrick is the headstrong and free-spirited lady who temporarily reinvents herself as a maid. I feel she is a well rounded and realistic character who has lived a very sheltered life, so I find it refreshing she wants to work for the first time in her life.
Supporting character Anthony Woodsworth is the very structured but kind and caring general’s son who gets totally flustered when Patience enters his life as a maid. Instead of firing her for being incompetent, he takes her into his confidence. He is my favorite as he has a flexible mindset not too limited by strict society demands of the time.
The plot stands out as different the way it describes Patience’s
need for change. Grief seems an underlying theme as her family is in mourning. I
felt the dialogue was very lighthearted, enjoyable and amusing, particularly when Patience
tries to learn how to do maid’s duties. This is one of the most entertaining stories
I
have read in a long time. It came alive for me by the beautiful writing
describing mistakes and misunderstandings in a vivid way. I read A Proper Charade as a standalone.
A well rounded story which worked perfectly on its own.
My favorite part was the amusing situation when Anthony tries to propose marriage to Patience while she hides behind a curtain, thinking she is the woman he has unsuccessfully courted for two years. Least favorite part was descriptions of Patience’s gloomy home life. Her stressed out brother keeps telling her she is naive and useless until she can’t take it anymore.
The romance part I felt was sweet and entertaining. Patience and Anthony got off to a rocky start but their «project» gave the opportunity to bond. The ending included some surprising twists which tied it all together into a satisfying ending.
Anyone who enjoys historical romance fiction and fans of Esther Hatch
will love this lighthearted and entertaining story. Similar authors to explore
might be Sarah M. Eden or Kristi Ann Hunter.
Conclusion: This is
the lighthearted and entertaining story about the duke’s sister who
temporarily reinvents herself as a maid to prove she can be useful when working
in the household of a general’s son. Only
she didn’t expect to care for her employer quite like she ends up doing.
Rating: 5 stars / 5
Main reasons: plot stands out, vivid writing and dialogue.
Get your copy here:
Book Details:
Publisher: Covenant Communications, Inc. (May 1, 2020)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1524412317
ISBN-13: 978-1524412319
About The Author
Esther Hatch grew up on a cherry orchard in rural Utah. After high school, she alternated living in Russia to teach children English and attending Brigham Young University in order to get a degree in archaeology. She began writing when one of her favorite authors invited her to join a critique group. The only catch was she had to be a writer. Not one to be left out of an opportunity to socialize and try something new; she started on her first novel that week. https://estherhatch.com/
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