A Necessary Deception

 

A Necessary Deception

Laurie Alice Eakes

Revell Publishing 

Christian, Fiction, Romance, Historical

2011

Lydia Gale never dreamed that when she helped a French prisoner obtain parole she would be walking into such a tangled web. When she leaves the prison she never expects to see Christophe Arnaud show up in her drawing room nearly a month later in time for the London Season. With his arrival Lydia's world is turned upside down. In the midst of trying to corral her two younger sisters she is dealing with being blackmailed by an unknown predator that could possibly be Arnaud? 

Christophe is immediately captivated with Lydia and is alarmed at the danger she finds herself in. While he doesn't expect her to trust him he realizes he must do everything in his power to make sure she does trust him, for her own safety. He also can't deny the fact that he is falling in love with her. l

Mystery and intrigue abound in this novel. I found myself quickly drawn into the story-line. Lydia is well developed and a believable character. Christophe has an interesting background story that makes the reader want to know even more. I found Lydia's two younger sisters to be simply annoying which I suppose is probably true to real life. Spoiled and conceited I didn't particularly enjoy reading about them. 

In the midst of some major pluses I also found some minuses. There were parts of the story that were crying out for more development. Why is Lydia's mother such a recluse? There is a brother mentioned yet he never plays any role in the story at all. Why did Christophe settle in England? I also found myself desperately trying to catch up on a story that I had already read. There were details missing that I had to make up myself, not my favorite thing to do. The garden scenes with the blackmailer are confusing and at the end of the book I was still confused about some parts. 

Both Lydia and Christophe come to the end of themselves and turn to the Lord which is well written. The thread of faith throughout is beautiful. 

The stage is set well for the next books in the series and I plan on reading them. While the development could have been stronger I can not deny a strong plot line, likeable characters, solid history, and the fact that I kept reading late into the night.

My thanks to Revell Publishing for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.