Lady Mary's Dangerous Encounter
Series: The Beresford Adventures #1
Author: Cheryl Bolen
Published August 10th 2021 by Dragonblade Publishing, Inc.

Goodreads Synopsis
Lady Mary’s traveling companion has disappeared and only one man believes she ever existed.

Welcome to book 1 in the adventurous new series from USA Today Bestselling author Cheryl Bolen!

Lord Stephen Stanhope, a duke’s diplomat son who’s traveling to the Congress of Vienna, agrees to protect his friend’s wayward sister on Stephen’s journey to Austria. Lady Mary Beresford has impetuously set off on her own for Vienna. Vexed with the headstrong woman he’s yet to meet, Stephen despairs of ever catching up with the maddening lady. They eventually meet at an inn in the Alps, where the guests’ progress has been impeded by two matters: a blizzard—and Lady Mary’s refusal to leave until she’s found an elderly fellow traveler who has disappeared.

Mary’s infuriated that everyone at the inn is in a conspiracy to deny the woman ever existed and to imply Mary invented her. Just when every person at the inn is against her, the handsome Lord Stephen arrives and becomes her champion.

Stephen doesn’t tell her he’s been sent by her brother, nor does he actually believe her preposterous story. Until there’s an attempt on her life...
Goodreads

Review
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher via NetGalley. This in no way impacted on my view.

For Lady Mary Beresford she want's more than the typical life for a debutante. She dreams of travelling, and imperiously sets off for Vienna, alone, to witness the Congress take place for herself. Realising what his sister has done, her brother, Henry, the Earl of Devere, asks his friend Stephen to find Mary, and protect her until she arrives in Vienna, and stays with her sister. But it's hard going to travel across the Alps, and when the group are snowed in together, mystery appears. For Mary is adamant she had been travelling with a companion, who's disappeared, and no one else believes her, apart from Stephen. As they search for the truth, the danger ramps up, and it's clear they may be risking it all, not least their hearts.

This book was one that was a little bit of an impulse request on NG, but one I found myself enjoying a lot. The main characters were a little tough to start off with, but once we were into the story properly, and understood what made them tick, I was fully invested. I was also pleasantly surprised by the mysterious aspect too. Sometimes books are wholly about the romance, and there's nothing wrong with that, but the plot line here really improved on it all. Stephen and Mary were a fantastic couple, and though there were some miscommunication issues at first, I loved how they ended up together, and solved the mystery of the missing governess. I'm looking forward to reading the other books in the series, and hope we see the couple again.

Dates Read:
November 26-27 2021

Rating
3 Stars