A Delicate Deception

Author: Cat Sebastian
Series: Regency Imposters, book 3
Publisher: Avon Impulse (December 10, 2019)
Kindle edition, 384 pages
Romance, Adult Romance, Historical Romance, Regency Romance
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Summary
When Amelia Allenby escaped a stifling London ballroom for the quiet solitude of the Derbyshire countryside, the very last thing she wanted was an extremely large, if—she grudgingly admits—passably attractive man disturbing her daily walks. Lecturing the surveyor about property rights doesn’t work and, somehow, he has soon charmed his way into lemon cakes, long walks, and dangerously heady kisses.

The very last place Sydney wished to be was in the shadow of the ruins of Pelham Hall, the inherited property that stole everything from him. But as he awaits his old friend, the Duke of Hereford, he finds himself increasingly captivated by the maddeningly lovely and exceptionally odd Amelia. He quickly finds that keeping his ownership of Pelham Hall a secret is as impossible as keeping himself from falling in love with her.

But when the Duke of Hereford arrives, Sydney’s ruse is revealed and what started out as a delicate deception has become a love too powerful to ignore. Will they let a lifetime of hurt come between them or can these two lost souls find love and peace in each other?

Review
Ohhh, Amelia and Sydney… They’re so grumpy and stand-offish – I love it. Also, Lex may well be my favorite character in this book, and I need him to be the star of his own book, stat.

Cat Sebastian does a great job of bringing to life characters with a range of sexualities and genders. I appreciate the resolution for this bi couple and the challenging of what a m/f pairing’s happily every after “should” look like. I also applaud the handling of Amelia’s (what I think is an) anxiety disorder. And now that I’m thinking about it, this book has some pretty great rep that is woven in so seamlessly as just part of who these characters are. You know how some books try to just shoe-horn in “diverse” characters who are more just flat caricatures? That’s not this book. You’ve got a bisexual Quaker MC, a bisexual (or pan maybe?) MC with an anxiety disorder, a gay bling best friend, an ace best friend, a non-binary former MC cameo… And really this book is about found families and building a community of people who love you for exactly who you are as much as it’s about a romance between Amelia and Sydney.

This is the third book in the Regency Imposters series, but it can be read as a stand alone. Keaton is a side character from the first book, Unmasked by the Marquess, and reprises his role as a side character in this book. A few other characters from Unmasked also make a brief appearance in this one.

An ARC of this book was provided by the publisher via Edelweiss+ for review. All opinions are unbiased and my own.