Amelia Longworth has lived all her life in Macao, but her father is keen for her to have a proper London season. He sends her off on a ship to stay with her aunt. Amelia is traveling with her trusty Chinese companion Chen Mei to keep her safe. But travelling alone can be dangerous for a young woman, and Geoffrey, Lord Dancy, ends up saving her life three times. According to Chen Mei, this means that she now belongs to Geoffrey as his chattel... he isn’t keen on the idea, but now he seems to be in danger as well!

This is another delightful entry in the series about the Dancy family. A Fashionable Spy and Elizabeth’s Rake (books I and III, also published by Robert Hale and reviewed on this site) will tell you about the romantic exploits of Geoffrey’s sisters. Now it is his turn. As ever with this particular author, prepare to be instantly plunged into the world of the Regency in the style of Georgette Heyer. All the glamour of the season is in here with the added bonus of lurking assassins to foil. I love her descriptions of what there was to do in London back then, from watching a balloon ascension to watching circus acts and what people thought of it all. It is easy to tell that a great deal of research went into all this detail, and it certainly brings the story to life and gives it all a great sense of period and place. I haven’t got a time machine, but at least I can read books like these.