THE HANDBOOK TO HANDLING HIS LORDSHIP – Suzanne Enoch
The Scandalous Brides, Book 4
St. Martin's Paperbacks
ISBN-13:  978-0-312-53454-7
April 2013
Historical Romance

London, England – Early 1800's

Nathaniel Stokes, following his cousin's death in an accident, found himself Lord Westfall over a year ago.  Going from an important spy for Wellington to a Lord in London is quite boring for him after being used to putting his life on the line day and night.  Now to give himself a hobby, he finds things for people.  He learned the hard way that he needs to charge a nominal fee or else his clients feel he might hold something over them.  Yet he still uses a disguise, clear glasses that make him look bookish and boring, and a rock in his shoe gives him a limp; he still doesn't want to let anybody know the real Nate.  One day he is asked by the Marquis of Ebberling to find the governess who stole a diamond necklace and killed his wife.  He is getting remarried and wants to be sure this governess isn't still around and may do the same thing to his new wife.  When the Marquis offers three thousand pounds to recover the governess or the diamond necklace, and another five thousand pounds if Nate delivers the governess to him, Nate knows something is up.  Nobody would offer so much money without some other ulterior motive.  Miss Rachel Newbury, the governess, will be a great puzzle; after three years she could have gone to the Continent or even America.  Then his younger brother Laurence gets sent home from Oxford after they found a woman in his room and wants to help Nate with his little puzzle.  One night they go out to The Tantalus Club for dinner, and when Laurence mentions he's looking for a woman who stole something, Nate thinks he sees something happen in Miss Emily Portsman's face as she's pouring their wine.  Very interesting!

Emily Portsman has worked at the Tantalus Club since it opened just about three years ago.  The Tantalus Club is unique because it only hires women, usually with no place else to go, and is part restaurant and part gaming establishment.  When Emily hears the man ask Lord Westfall about someone there stealing a necklace, she tries not to show by any expression that he's caught her off guard.  For the past three years Emily has lived entirely at The Tantalus Club, not venturing outside in case she was seen.  She is used to being cautious, so before jumping the gun in terror, she decides to ask Lord Westfall up to her room and see if she can get Nate to tell her just what is going on.  Unfortunately, as an ex-spy, Nate is just as cautious as she is, and is looking for her to make a mistake and say something wrong too.  Emily spends more time with Nate, trying to find out just what he knows, and whether the Marquis of Ebberling is in town and might possibly come in the Tantalus Club.  But using her allure on Nate soon backfires, and slowly her feelings for him grow; she finally finds someone she feels safe with.

Nate hated becoming Lord Westfall, and it's only his little jobs finding things that give him something to do, in addition to the fact that he is still living as if he was somebody else, and not himself.  It seems he has spent his whole life being someone else, and it seems fitting that Emily is also living a lie, and closed off in the club besides.  Told from their points of view, they each spend time trying to find out just what the other knows, and Nate is determined to find out whether Ebberling's story of Emily murdering his wife is believable.  Their relationship grows quickly, but behind everything, Emily knows there is no way a lord can marry her, a commoner.  The answer to this problem may just strain Emily's idea of what Nate deserves in his life.

The Tantalus Club is filled with Emily's friends, their new husbands, and her boss.  Diane started the Club, and is now Lady Haybury; Sophia also used to work at the Club, and is now the Duchess of Greaves; and Camille, also a former employee, has recently married Keating Blackwood.  Of course, there is the villainous Marquis of Ebberling.  Jack Rycott is a mysterious friend of Nate's, and clearly a man you want on your side.  There is also the secretive Jenny, second in command to Diane, with a past she shares with no one.

THE HANDBOOK TO HANDLING HIS LORDSHIP is the fourth book in The Scandalous Brides series , following A BEGINNER'S GUIDE TO RAKES (October 2011); TAMING AN IMPOSSIBLE ROGUE (March 2012) and RULES TO CATCH A DEVILISH DUKE (September 2012).  Each is a standalone story, but all of the characters are fascinating and appealing.  Emily and Nate must go through a lot before they decide what they need in their lives and what they are willing to give up in order to get it.  You'll love Nate and Emily and all the old friends at the Tantalus Club, and look forward as I do to the next chapter of the Club's story.

Carolyn Crisher