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Thursday 18 June 2009

The Finishing Touches


I have read and enjoyed Hester Browne's three Little Lady Agency stories and looked forward to her latest The Finishing Touches. Betsy Phillimore was left on the doorstep of a finishing school in Mayfair and adopted by Lord and Lady Phillimore - the owners of the school. Twenty Seven years later, having made a life for herself in Edinburgh, Betsy returns to London for a memorial service for her adopted mother Lady Frances.

Lord Phillimore asks if she will try and return the school to profitability under the mistaken impression she is a management consultant when in fact she is the manager of a shoe shop. Betsy rises to the challenge as she wants to find out who her mother and father were and whether they are still alive. The book is full of lovable and three dimensional characters and a fascinating background not to speak of two eligible men for Betsy to dream about.

This is great escapist reading and Amazon shouldn't have sent it to me because it is actually the American edition and is not really for sale in the UK. The Americanisms were a trifle annoying though they did not detract from my enjoyment of the story. I wonder whether this is going to be the start of another series of stories?

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