Crown Jewels Regency #1
(Editor’s note: this is only available on Kindle Scribe & Audio).
The first in Lynn Morrison and Anne Radcliffe’s Crown Jewels series, The Missing Diamond is a regency delight. Starting at the beginning of the London season, the drama, at first, revolves around who will marry who. At first it seems obvious that the season’s most eligible bachelor, Roland, Lord Percy, will wed the season’s diamond, Lady Charity. Charity is determined to marry as well as she can and her best friend, Lady Grace, is happy to help her do so.
Grace is much more interested in avoiding marriage and hopefully, one day, seeing the world. As much as her mother schemes for Grace’s prospects, she is content to help Charity with her own. The fact that Charity is commanding all the attention in the room doesn’t hurt, either. As Roland and Charity edge toward a courtship, tragedy strikes.
At a ball at a noble family’s house, Charity disappears. Not only that, Grace witnesses the death of a maid who appeared intoxicated before she is spirited home by her anxious mother. Grace is frantic when she finds out that Charity has vanished and both she and Roland are summoned before the queen. It seems that Roland had made a bet that he would marry Charity before the end of the season. The queen feels that, if he isn’t involved, than he and Grace, who knows society better than Roland does, should prove it by tracking down Charity.
Both are desperate to find her for reasons of their own, and end up growing closer in the process. However, neither acknowledge it – as it is likely Roland marrying Charity is the only way to save her reputation no matter what happens. Both hero and heroine are interesting and likable, and they clearly have more layers to peel back as the series progresses.
Fans of regency romance will eat this up with a spoon. It also doesn’t have any of the spice of the Bridgerton books, making it a cozier read than that series. As someone who eagerly rewatches a Jane Austen adaptation whenever she can, this book was an excellent time. – Margaret Agnew