Lady Maggie’s Secret Scandal (The Duke’s Daughters, #2) (Windham #5) by Grace Burrowes

Historical Romance

I love this series, read the first four and interviewed Grace Burrowes so when I saw Lady Maggie's Secret Scandal on NetGalley I immediately put in a request.  The book is scheduled for release on May 1, 2012. 

Let’s start with what Goodreads has to say:

Maggie Windham, oldest of the Windham sisters and a by-blow from His Grace’s pre-marital wild oats, finds herself in desperate needs of an investigator to help her retrieve a missing reticule. Benjamin Hazlit knows the Windham family secrets, and can be trusted to keep them to himself, so Maggie turns to Benjamin, though it means ignoring his too-broad shoulders, his too-knowing smile… and his too-skilled kisses.

As Benjamin starts the search for Maggie’s missing purse, he realizes two things: First, whatever was in that purse, its loss has Maggie not just rattled, but terrified. Second, Benjamin will go to any lengths to see Maggie’s peace of mind restored, even if it means he must keep himself in very close proximity to the shy, secretive lady who says she wants nothing to do with him,

Characters:  In each of the books we learn a little more about the Windham family.  Maggie Windham was just mentioned in the previous books.  In Lady Maggie’s Secret Scandal we learn a lot more about her and see just a little about her 3 younger sisters.  Maggie is a very strong woman who has spent her life protecting her family.  Like her sister Sophie she has put her life on hold.  We saw Benjamin Hazlet in the previous books and he is more fully fleshed out this time.  The two together make an explosive couple.

Plot:  This is familiar.  Maggie knows a secret that she thinks will destroy her family.   She turns to someone she can trust to help her when someone threatens to use the secret.  Grace Burrows puts fresh spin on this plot device and it makes for enjoyable reading.

Writing:  The book is very well written and everything flows to a very satisfactory conclusion.

Tension:  There is internal tension between the two main characters, Maggie has more internal tension because of the secret and there is the external tension generated by all the action required to solve Maggie’s problem.

I enjoyed reading about Maggie and Benjamin.  This was a book I read almost non-stop.  I started it on afternoon and finished it the next morning.  The only thing I did not like about the book is the cover.  You can decide how if you feel the same.  You can read Lady Maggie's Secret Scandal as a stand alone but I recommend the entire series. 

Source Books Casablanca published Lady Maggie’s Secret Scandal by Grace Burrowes in 2012.