Book Review: A Gilded Lady

Alright fellow readers, I just finished reading book two in Elizabeth Camden’s Hope and Glory series (Actually, I had a sewing project so I was listening to the audio – and the narrator was awesome). If I haven’t said it before, I’ll say it now – this lady always includes the most fascinating history in her novels! I love how she uses real events to drive the plot. Anyways, on with the review!

Caroline Delacroix is at the pinnacle of Washington high society in her role as secretary to the first lady of the United States. But beneath the facade of her beauty, glamorous wardrobe, and dazzling personality, she’s hiding a terrible secret. If she cannot untangle a web of foreign espionage, her brother will face execution for treason.

Nathaniel Trask is the newly appointed head of the president’s Secret Service team. He is immediately suspicious of Caroline despite his overwhelming attraction to her quick wit and undeniable charm. Desperate to keep the president protected, Nathaniel must battle to keep his focus fully on his job as the threat to the president rises.

Amid the glamorous pageantry of Gilded Age Washington, DC, Caroline and Nathaniel will face adventure, danger, and heartbreak in a race against time that will span the continent and the depth of human emotion.

Guys – I majored in history and Camden’s books always teach me something I didn’t know about history – like life at the Whitehouse under the McKinley administration. What you probably won’t get from the back cover is something that’s revealed within the first few chapters and really sets the stage for A Gilded Lady.

We learned in the previous book, The Spice King, that Luke Delacroix has been arrested for treason and his only hope is a presidential pardon, so it’s a good thing his sister works in the White House – as long as his arrest doesn’t get her fired. And the new head of security is on a witch hunt for security threats. Headlines across the globe tell of political leaders who have faced assassination and Nathaniel worries the president of the United States could be a target.

All these details come together to create a historically fascinating romance with quick wit, incredible detail and quirky characters that breathe life into the late gilded age/early progressive era. I think you’ll even be surprised when historical events come to pass – it feels like a plot twist, but you can literally look it up in a history textbook!

I did expect/hope the end would be a slightly different – but it was satisfying and perhaps needs to be that way for the third book in the series. And the novel did feel a bit long as I waited to see how things would wrap up. But I have no regrets. A Gilded Lady was a great story.

I am so looking forward to the final book in the series. I learned a lot about Luke through Caroline and I’m curious to know just what’s he’ll do next.