The Lost Letter: A Victorian Romance by Mimi Matthews
Published September 2017, Perfectly Proper Press, 204 pages
"A Proud Beauty - Society beauty Sylvia Stafford is far too pragmatic to pine. When the tragic death of her gamester father leaves her destitute and alone, she finds work as a governess in a merchant’s household in Cheapside. Isolated from the fashionable acquaintance of her youth, she resigns herself to lonely spinsterhood…until a mysterious visitor convinces her to temporarily return to her former life—and her former love.
A Scarred Beast - Colonel Sebastian Conrad is no longer the dashing cavalry officer Sylvia once fell in love with. Badly scarred during the Sepoy Rebellion, he has withdrawn to his estate in rural Hertfordshire where he lives in near complete seclusion. Brooding and tormented, he cares nothing for the earldom he has inherited—and even less for the faithless beauty who rejected him three years before.
A Second Chance - A week together in the remote Victorian countryside is the last thing either of them ever wanted. But when fate intervenes to reunite them, will a beastly earl and an impoverished beauty finally find their happily ever after? Or are some fairy-tale endings simply not meant to be?"Because I am a sucker for historical fiction, romance, and the Victorian period, I read this book in one sitting, clutching my tea in one hand and my kindle in the other. The characters Sylvia, Sebastian, Julia, and Milson are complex, flawed, entertaining, yet wonderfully unpredictable.
The plot is a lovely mixture of what felt like to me Jane Austen (Pride and Prejudice and just a tiny touch of Emma, but in the 1860's) and Beauty and the Beast. It was witty and emotional. While the novel as a whole was energetic and fast-paced, my one critique is the first chapter seemed a bit crammed. I would have loved for Mimi Matthews to have spent a few more pages slowing things down a bit because I could not get enough of her writing. There was such imagery and attention to detail, I instantly felt transported.
I definitely recommend this novel and I look forward to reading more from the author. (I read this ARC for free through NetGalley in exchange for my honest feedback)
