Search - And Only to Deceive (Lady Emily Ashton, Bk 1)

This story started out so promisingly--a young widow becomes increasingly obsessed with her dead husband, whom she never loved or really knew. The background and the era are well described, and the main character seems like an Austen heroine, with unsuspected depths. But the story seemed to founder halfway through, bogged down with two dull men vying for the widow's trust as she tries to solve the mystery of her husband's death. I wanted to like the book, but it really lost me partway through, and I ended up flipping to the end just to see how it all came out. Too bad.

A Victorian England period mystery/romance. I would rate it 3 1/2 stars. It keeps your interest, although the plot bogs down in places. If you have an interest in the Greek and Roman classics it will hold your interest more than if you don't. It involves mostly the English aristocracy (although the French, German and Americans were involved as well) and their looting and pilfering of classic Greek archaeological sites, which was certainly the case during this period.

This is book one in the Lady Emily Ashton Series. If you like books with strong female leads then this is a great series. Its got a little of everything, murder, mystery, romance, and action, all rolled up into high society during the Victorian period. I really in enjoyed this novel great read.

This book features a poignant, unique, storyline - about a women who falls in love with her husband only after his death - and it evolves into a very satisfying tale! The author, Tasha Alexander, has a delightful ear for dialogue and you can hear the coquettish flirting or the dry sarcasm as friends tease each other, throughout the book. You grow to like the main heroine Emily Ashton very much as she makes discovery after discovery about her little-known late husband - most of them good, some mysteriously uncharacteristic of him -- and she puts it together like a Nancy Drew of the Victorian Age. The plot is only slightly transparent at places, but by the end you're cheering Emily Ashton on! I LOVED it and I'm looking forward to the rest of Alexander's novels!

This is a somewhat dry attempt at historical fiction, it does not have the level of intrigue and thrills that a Philippa Gregory novel, but it was short and had a limited story line that kep tyou somewhat interested.