This is my second attempt of reading this book. Surprisingly it was quite good & I can't recall why I found it boring when I tried to read it when I was a teenager. Probably you'd need a certain level of "maturity" to appreciate the story. During teenage years, Mills & Boons / Harlequin was thought to be the best romance novels! Now if I tried reading them again, they're either "childish" / rather "shallow" in plot / content. :-)
I am 13 going on 30..... (singing to the tune of "I am 16" fr Sound of Music)... Anyways I'm digressing, so back to the topic.
This story was set in the times of Napoleon war, but set in London. It's about the lives of Charlotte & St. Clair, 1 a noblewoman whose step-father swindled away her inheritance & the other a bastard of a nobleman. To ensure she can keep a roof over her head & to provide for her sister, she realize tht she needs to enter a profession tht's unique (considering the limited options available for women in those days). She finally set up a business investigating the background of the men her "clients" plan to get married - to avoid them being straddled with a swindler / gambler / wife-beater etc. Life & business was quite good until 1 of her client was killed & she suspects it's one of the many suitors she investigated on & reported to her client. Possibly vengence for being rejected. With the in mind, she felt responsible to investigate & uncover the murderer.
At the same time, St Clair applied to her advertisement for her man-of-affairs to replace her current staff who's retiring. Of course it was just a front. He's actually quite a well to do chemist who's tasked by his maternal aunt to investigate on the death of his aunt's close friend. Guess what... tht friend is Charlotte's client who was murdered. St Clair's aunt believes tht her friend's murderer is Charlotte. St. Clair finally admitted to Charlotte his real identity when he's convinced she's not the murderer & they decided to co-operate to find out the real murderer.
Along the way, they managed to fall in love, but they didn't realize it. He proposed an affair since both don't buy in to the idea of marriage (due to their backgrounds - thus the name of the book) and finally they found tht they can't live without each other & got married after all.
But.... I'm jumping the gun. The marriage is after they've solve the "mystery" of the murder & even got Charlotte's sis & St Clair's step brother together too. Not going to reveal the murderer, don't want to spoil the fun - though it's predictable. Go read it!
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