Review - Skylark by Jo Beverley

Fans of Jo Beverley's Company of Rogues will thoroughly enjoy this latest addition to the series featuring Sir Stephen Ball and his widowed childhood friend Laura Gardeyne. Six years before the story opens, Stephen had asked Laura to marry him, but a misunderstanding resulted in her rejecting him. Now her husband is dead, her son is in danger and Stephen is as much in love with her as ever. He offers to help her and together they search for a blackmailer threatening to expose a family secret. Laura soon learns Stephen is a man of principle, one who is more worthy of her love than the man she married.

As always, Ms. Beverley spins an exciting tale, effortlessly transporting her reader to Regency England. The mystery adds to the romance rather than dominating it, while Stephen and Laura are appealing protagonists whose rekindled relationship develops naturally. Peopled with a delightfully quirky cast of secondary characters, Skylark zips along at a good pace that kept me turning the pages.

If you are searching for a book in which history and romance blend seamlessly, look no further than this enjoyable and engrossing novel of love and redemption.

© Teresa Eckford, 2004

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This review first appeared in the February 2005 issue of The Historical Novels Review