Observations while reading: The author seems to be feeling more at ease with an English setting in this book than she did in the previous one. The narrative, at any rate, certainly feels more British than that of And Only to Deceive.

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I enjoyed this second book in the series more than I enjoyed the first. I devoured all that I could of it in an evening and found myself up again before 6 this morning to finish off the last 70 pages. That's me being sucked in a lot more than with AOtD.

I felt that the author was really coming into her element here, seeming to be much more at ease with both her characters and the society she's writing about. There were fewer Americanisms littering the narrative this time around as well.

Whereas the relationship between Colin Hargreaves and Lady Emily Ashton didn't really make much sense to me in the first book, it became much more fleshed out in this sequel and was allowed to bloom. Although no Nicholas Brisbane, I definitely like Mr Hargreaves.

Looking forward to reading the next book now.