Counterfeit Kisses

By Sandra Heath
       

        Stephen Holland loses everything when he gambles away his family’s most prized possession, a priceless tiara. The Duke of Exton was primarily at fault, but when Sir Gareth Carew takes the drunken Stephen back home to his sister, she assumes that it is all Gareth’s fault. Four years later and Susannah Holland is now the widowed Mrs. Leighton, resident in India but coming back to live in London. No longer a poor woman at her brother’s mercy, she now has money and a new style and confidence, as well as a resourceful Indian ayah and a naughty pet monkey. She is also determined to win back the tiara and has had a fake one made, which she means to substitute. All she needs is to get invited to the home of the Duke of Exton; but what she does not need is the company of Sir Gareth Carew…

I’ve said it many times but one of the few inheritors of the Georgette Heyer style of Regency romance is surely Sandra Heath. This delightfully humorous story is a good example of her style at its best, as not only is there plenty of background information about life in Regency high society but a good deal of comedy too. You get a whole lot more than just a love story although there is one of those in here as well of course, and at the end I felt as though I had enjoyed several books in one. Originally published back in 2000, at last UK readers have a chance to discover this enchanting author for themselves. More reprints please!