Feature book: Lady and the Scamp

Lady and the Scamp by Shana Galen

Series: The Royal Saboteurs #2
Subgenre: historical romance
Release date: 11 Oct 2022
Publisher: self-published
Format: ebook
Length: 379 pages
RRP: $1.44 (ebook)

Lady Emily Blythe-Coston, Countess of Averley is under suspicion. She was the one who made the suggestion to take a carriage ride after days of being cooped up inside the palace. Then a shot was fired at Queen Victoria. The Royal Saboteurs send in their man to find the person responsible.

Lady Averley is a widow and one who loved her husband. She is still in mourning. She is currently a Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Victoria. Willoughby Galloway has been at The Farm training as a spy. He is keen to put his skills into action and has certain standards to live up to as his parents are former spies, and very successful ones (their story can be found in Lady and the Spy series).

Willoughby Galloway is introduced as a friend of Prince Albert. Emily doesn’t believe it. And on their first meeting Emily is attracted to Will, and he to her, even though she is a suspect. As the days go on and the attraction intensifies, Will struggles with the idea that all of the signs point to Emily as being the insider.

Will does realise that Emily is not the insider when she becomes a target, albeit as someone who is in the way of the attempts on the queen. Naturally, Emily and Will give in to their attraction and still ensure the safety of the queen.

It can be difficult to give too much of the plot away when writing a review, so I have just given a very broad outline. What I really did like was that I could imagine Queen Victoria in this story and how she might have reacted to events. While the queen is a significant figure it does not detract from Emily and Will’s story.

This is the second story in the Royal Saboteur series and as each story is published, I enjoy the stories even more. I’m really looking forward to the next Royal Saboteurs story. People who are learning special skills and using them for the good of the nation. This series can be read as a standalone but there is a recurrence of characters as they work together to resolve the threat to the crown.

reviewed by Heather

A review copy of this book was provided by the author.