A Fatal Waltz

A Fatal Waltz (2008) Tasha Alexander

The third Lady Emily book finds Emily engaged to Colin Hargreaves, however, his work has caused their wedding to be put off, and now Lord Fortescue is doing everything he can to break their engagement for he doesn’t like Emily, and believes Colin’s work is too important for him to be distracted by one such as Emily.

Great guy.

Lots and lots of adultery here, especially in Vienna, where apparently it was quite common. Which, in a way, makes sense. If the majority of the upper class were forced into marriages arranged for prestige or fortune or power, why not take love–or at least romance–where it can be found.

But it is somewhat shocking, even to the modern reader, how common these affairs were, and how well-known they were.

“I don’t know a single person in Vienna who is not having an affair. If you don’t have a paramour by the end of the evening, you’ll have no one to blame but yourself.”

And again, poor Jeremy.

“So are we to spend the rest of the morning in church?”

“It will be good for your soul, Jeremy.” We sat quietly for approximately three minutes.

“I’m bored,” he said.

“Your attention span is astonishing.

Readers–unlike Emily–will be unsurprised to learn of Jeremy’s feelings, but at least it all seemed rather real and true.

It’s fascinating to read this from a modern perspective and see not just how few rights women had, but how much power the rich and titles had–that they could make public threats and no one would do a thing.
Rating: 7/10

Published by HarperCollins

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