Review: Once Upon a Maiden Lane (Maiden Lane #12.5)

Once Upon a Maiden Lane (Maiden Lane #12.5)

by Elizabeth Hoyt 

Blurb:

Miss Mary Whitsun is far too intelligent to fall for the rakish charms of a handsome aristocrat. But when the gentleman in question approaches her in a bookshop, mistaking her for his fiancee, Lady Johanna Albright, the flirtatious encounter only raises more questions. Could Mary, a servant raised in a St Giles orphanage, actually be Lady Joanna's long-lost twin sister? If so, Mary has been betrothed since birth---to the rakishly handsome artistocrat himself . . .

Henry Collins, Viscount Blackwell, is far too intrigued by Mary to let her go so easily. He's drawn to her sharp mind, indomitable spirit, and the fiery way in which she dismisses him---ladies simply don't dismiss Lord Blackwell. But as Mary makes her first hesitant steps into society, she can't help but wonder if she truly has a place in Henry's world---or in his heart.

Themes: Historical, Novella

Rating: 3.75 stars

Heat Rating:  

Review:

 The series is getting closer and closer to the end and while I am sadder than I can say to see it ending, I am enjoying these little stories wrapping up the series for the supporting characters that have grown up on the pages of the books from the first to this fourteenth story.  Hoyt manages to always entertain no matter the seriousness of the subject or the craziness of whatever is happening to her characters.  Mary Whitsun was an orphan we first met when she was a young girl helping out at the orphanage run by the heroine in the very first novel in the series, and we have watched her grow up through each story.  She is now the nanny for that woman, minding her two children and is perfectly happy with her position in life, until Henry Collins comes into her life and throws everything into chaos.  Henry never thought to come across the long lost woman he was once affianced to in a bookstore, living life as a servant, but when he finds himself craving her and longing to make her his, he is even more surprised the lengths he will go to in order to make her his in truth.  As he leads Mary into Society he slowly works to make her fall in love with him, like he has already fallen for her, but when an awful truth is revealed, will that love be strong enough to endure and keep them together or will the obligations that Henry has always bowed to keep him separated from the woman that has come to mean life or death to him?  I loved seeing Mary find love, even if she had to go through some serious changes in order to find it.  While she certainly had to jump through a few changes to become “acceptable” to society in order to marry Henry, the changes I mean are more internal in that she finally had to come to understand that a man’s station isn’t what makes him worthy of her or not and once she did she made him prove his worth to her.  She maintained her true nature despite the frivolousness of the society she was being thrust into, and in the end found happiness not because of money but because of the love of her family, friends, and her man.  Henry has his moments of true idiocy, but his moments of enlightenment luckily outweighed those allowing him to smarten up in time to keep from losing Mary for all time.  Mary and Henry had a lot of challenges personally, socially, and emotionally, but working together they were able to overcome all odds and find happiness which is the most important part of any life and what makes a life truly well-lived.  There is only one book left in the series and while I am dying to know what happens next I find myself reluctant to close the final page on the series that has become one of my favorite historicals in a long time. Luckily, I know Elizabeth will have something up her sleeve and coming to us very soon, so while I say goodnight to Maiden Lane, I will never say goodbye to Elizabeth Hoyt or her amazing imagination.

*ebook provided by publisher (via netgalley) for the purpose of an honest and unbiased review.  No compensation was provided.