Review - - The Lady Knows Best

The Lady Knows Best

by Susanna Craig

Goode's Guide to Misconduct - Book 1

Publisher: Zebra Books

Release Date: April 25, 2023

Reviewed by PJ

 

Serving as the advice columnist, ‘Miss Busy B.’, for an often-subversive ladies’ magazine is the perfect outlet for Daphne Burke’s outspoken nature. But when she advises a young lady of the ton, to break off her engagement to a notorious rake, the consequences take Daphne beyond the page and into her real life.

Miles, Viscount Deveraux, sometimes known as “that devil Deveraux”needs a respectable bride by the end of the Season, and he’s bet a fortune that he can get one. Now, his fiancée has not only changed her mind—but done it publicly, in a letter to London’s most infamous magazine. With the stakes high and time short, it seems reasonable to him that the columnist responsible should come to his rescue and marry him instead.
 
Fortunately for Miles, Daphne is eager to escape the pressures of the London marriage mart. She agrees to a courtship. But at the end of two weeks, she intends to turn him down in a big, splashy, scandal that will ruin her reputation and set her free. There’s just one shocking wrinkle: Who knew being ruined by a rake could be so much fun?

PJ's Thoughts:

I've been a fan of Susanna Craig since reading her debut novel, To Kiss a Thief, back in 2016. Impeccably researched, Craig's books immerse me in historical settings and events that frame character-driven stories that keep me turning pages until well past the time I should be asleep. From London to Dublin to rural and coastal English villages, and even a Caribbean island, she creates atmospheric pictures with her words that are many times just as critical to the story as her characters. 

In The Lady Knows Best, Craig has brought together one of my favorite plot devices: a strong-minded heroine (with more worth than she believes) and a charming rake (with more depth than anyone believes), brought together in a courtship of convenience. Daphne and Miles both have their reasons for entering their devilish bargain, though it's clear from the start that love is not of interest to either of them. Of course, we all know that will change but it's how the changes come about that kept me turning pages. 

I adored these two. They are both much more than what they allow society to see and, in Daphne's case, what she allows herself to see. I was cheering her on as she finally began to realize her worth. She had so much to offer but was the last person to recognize that. I loved how Miles encouraged and supported her, how he saw beyond her mask to the full person within. And speaking of masks, Miles was so much more than society - and Daphne - first thought. He captured my heart as surely as he captured Daphne's. It was fun to watch these two slowly reveal themselves to one another, gaining respect, understanding, and love along the way. The epilogue, especially, cemented for me how well Miles understood, respected, and loved Daphne for all she was and how much Daphne had come to enjoy his rakish ways, now devoted solely to her. I see much laughter and joy in their future. I hope we see them again. I haven't had nearly enough of them. 

Secondary characters were delightful additions to this story, especially Miles' grandmother and his best friend, Alistair (Earl of Ryland). I do hope we'll be seeing more of him in a future book. As a fan of Craig's Rogues and Rebels series, it was a fun surprise to discover that the heroine of The Lady Knows Best is none other than Daphne Burke, the younger sister of the Irish Burke siblings who starred in the Rogues and Rebels books. It isn't necessary to have read those books to enjoy this one but following Daphne's journey to love - and catching up with her siblings and their partners - is a special treat for those of us who first met her as a little girl. 

Sneak Peak Excerpt and Giveaway - - The Lady Knows Best

 

Susanna Craig is back with a new series and I couldn't be more excited. She kicked things off in December with a prequel novella, Nice Earls Do (read my review) that has had me eagerly anticipating the first full length book in the series. Then, when reading about that first book, The Lady Knows Best, I discovered it features Daphne Burke, a favorite secondary character from her Rogues and Rebels series. I love when authors circle back to give now grown up characters from an earlier series their own stories! 

Susanna has been gracious enough to share an exclusive excerpt from the upcoming The Lady Knows Best with us today along with a great giveaway. Read to the end of the post for more details. 

 

The Lady Knows Best

by Susanna Craig

Goode's Guide to Misconduct - Book 1

Publisher: Zebra Books

Release Date: April 25, 2023

Serving as the advice columnist, ‘Miss Busy B.’, for an often-subversive ladies’ magazine is the perfect outlet for Daphne Burke’s outspoken nature. But when she advises a young lady of the ton, to break off her engagement to a notorious rake, the consequences take Daphne beyond the page and into her real life.

 Miles, Viscount Deveraux, sometimes known as “that devil Deveraux” needs a respectable bride by the end of the Season, and he’s bet a fortune that he can get one. Now, his fiancée has not only changed her mind—but done it publicly, in a letter to London’s most infamous magazine. With the stakes high and time short, it seems reasonable to him that the columnist responsible should come to his rescue and marry him instead.
 
Fortunately for Miles, Daphne is eager to escape the pressures of the London marriage mart. She agrees to a courtship. But at the end of two weeks, she intends to turn him down in a big, splashy, scandal that will ruin her reputation and set her free. There’s just one shocking wrinkle: Who knew being ruined by a rake could be so much fun?

Exclusive excerpt from The Lady Knows Best by Susanna Craig, 

for The Romance Dish:

 

Daphne Burke’s first act as “Miss Busy B.,” the advice columnist for Mrs. Goode’s Magazine for Misses, is to encourage a young lady to call off her engagement to notorious rake Miles, Viscount Deveraux. But when Miles—who has a great deal of money riding on a wager that he will marry by the end of the Season—discovers Miss Busy B.’s true identity, he blackmails Daphne into finding him a new bride. Daphne offers to marry him herself, but only after a two-week courtship, during which time she intends to discover enough about “that devil, Deveraux” to ruin him in the eyes of society and then jilt him. But is Miles really the man she believed him to be?

 

In this scene, a few days into their courtship, Miles meets Daphne for a private conversation at a garden party.

 

*************

When a long silent moment passed, he asked, “Are you afraid that if we converse, you might discover something likeable about me? That you might find me amiable, amusing, attractive?”

Her lips twitched. “Not in the slightest.”

“Then I wonder why you insisted upon a courtship at all. If it distresses you, we could just go ahead and get married without it.” He slid closer and lightly covered her hand with his. “I can have a special license in hand first thing tomorrow.”

She jerked free of his touch. If it were not made of stone, the bench would have swayed with the force of her movement. “You needn’t keep reminding me of your power over me, my lord.”

Miles disguised his own uncertainty by gripping the edge of the bench.

“I suppose that’s why you sent me those quills—to mock me, as you did with that song.”

“Mock you?” he echoed, genuinely astonished. “Is it not a custom of proper courtship for a gentleman to send a token of his esteem?”

“Gentlemen send flowers.” The governess-y tone was back, a sort of exaggerated patience, as if she were delivering a lesson in etiquette to an unruly boy. “Bellis gets them by the cartload. Daisies, usually.”

If he hadn’t been watching, he would have missed the slight wobble of her chin as she spoke those words.

He didn’t think she begrudged her sister those gifts. Not exactly, anyway. But with every bouquet of flowers, every

reminder of her talented and famous elder siblings, she swallowed a pang of something like jealousy. Often enough

that it had become little more than a reflexive tickle in her throat.

And he had unwittingly made that irritation worse.

“I’m quite aware gentlemen send flowers.” He forced a lightness into his tone. “And setting aside any debate over whether that dubious distinction applies to me, I did in fact speak with the clerk at the florist’s shop, who explained to me the botanical meaning of your lovely name.” It was a source of some amusement in certain circles that all the Burke siblings were named after plants. “But a few branches from a shrub laden with poisonous berries didn’t seem quite the thing.”

That made her snicker. Reluctantly, to be sure. Just the tiniest hint of a laugh.

Nevertheless, his chest swelled with pride; he always enjoyed pleasing women. “I thought quills would be at least as apt as Bellis’s daisies. Something befitting the woman you really are. Sharp, yes, but soft too. Strong, but delicate.”

Like most women, in one way or another, he supposed.

But they’d seemed to him a particularly perfect gift for Daphne.

“I pictured you writing your column with them,” he finished simply.

She would start out with a straight spine and a spotless page. But as she went on, warming toward her subject, her quill would fly. Gradually, as if pouring a bit of herself into her words, she would bend her head closer to the paper.

He’d imagined pressing his lips to the soft skin that peeked between the collar of her dress and the few stray wisps of hair that tickled the back of her neck.

After a moment, she asked in a whisper, “Does that mean you intend to permit me to keep writing?”

The question was so unexpected, it took him a moment to comprehend. “Once we’re married, you mean?”

Her chin dipped, almost imperceptibly.

“I will not permit it, my dear,” he said. At that, her head spun and her gaze snapped to his. “I will insist upon it. I for one am eager to read your retraction.”

“My retraction?”

“Oh, yes.” He lifted his brows suggestively. “It should be easy enough to pen. Once you’ve discovered just how enjoyable it can be, being married to a rake.”

Was it his imagination, or was the spark in her eyes brighter now? Warmer?

Could it be that she enjoyed being teased?

Oh, but that was promising indeed.

“I assume you refer to that old saw about reformed rakes.” She tilted her head toward him and favored him with a look he was fast coming to consider her “Miss Busy B. expression”—part disapproving governess, part insufferable know-all, part inquisitive young lady who couldn’t quite make herself look away, though she knew she ought. “Tell me, my lord. Do you have any intention of reforming?”

He stretched out his legs and leaned back as much as the bench would allow. In a more comfortable chair, his posture would have been described as a sprawl—a blatant invitation for her gaze to travel his body, head to toe. “Which of my vices would you have me give up? My bootmaker? My tailor? Surely, you do not want a shabby bridegroom, ma’am.”

Again, the quirk of lips that were determined not to betray a smile.

“Or perhaps you object to my French cologne?”

“Your French brandy, rather,” she retorted. “Your gambling. Your . . .” Her voice dropped to a whisper, barely audible above the chatter rising from the garden below. “. . . flirtations.”

A little frippery of a hat sat perched high upon her head. Beneath it, her hair was more simply arranged today, the sort of coiffure that could be mussed by a man’s careless fingers without anyone being the wiser. And her gown was pale, diaphanous muslin, embroidered with a green vine and the occasional pink rosebud. Perfect for a garden party. On this warm day, its skirts clung to her limbs most provocatively.

He raked his gaze over her, tipping his head to the side.

“Must I stop flirting with you?

Have you read any of Susanna Craig's books?

Do you enjoy when authors return to a beloved series to feature a now adult character? Are there any stories in particular that you're still waiting for? 

One randomly chosen person who comments before 11:00 PM, February 24 will receive a signed, print advance copy of The Lady Knows Best from Susanna (two months before publication!).

U.S. only

Must be 18