Diamonds and Deceit

Diamonds and Deceit:  At Somerton Book 2
By Leila Rasheed
Disney-Hyperion, 2014
Reviewed from NetGalley
Audience: Gr 8 to 12
ISBN:  9781423171188
Publication Date: January 7, 2014

Picking up where we left off in Cinders and Sapphires, Ada and Rose have returned to London for the season, but Rose especially is having a difficult time adjusting to being aristocracy after being a maid her whole life.  She is despondent until she meets the mysterious Duke of Huntleigh, a royal bad-boy that loves art and spitting in the face of convention.  But Rose isn't the only woman with her eyes on the duke, as Charlotte is trying to snare him as well.  Charlotte is still chasing after Lord Fintan, who is still engaged to Ada, who is still in love with Ravi despite his complete absence from this book.  In other news, the lady maids, Charlotte and Stella, have an agenda of their own, Michael is mad about governess Priya, who is deflecting the advances of her employer, and Sebastian is madly in love with Oliver and trying to clear him of murder.  And there's a hot new best-seller called The Duke and the Dairymaid whose author will surprise you.  Fans of Cinders and Sapphires and other period dramas will delight in the latest At Somerton.

Did you follow all that?  I'm not sure that I did either.  Just like the last installment of At Somerton, Diamonds and Deceit employees several narrators, engages multiple characters, and leaves small but nagging plots completely open.  I have to admit that when I first came to the end, I wondered if At Somerton had wrapped up.  The ending isn't tidy, but it's not difficult for the reader to imagine a satisfying conclusion, but then, a metaphorical bomb is dropped and suddenly there is much more at stake.  I have a feeling that the next At Somerton may just be the most explosive yet.

Diamonds and Deceit makes for a great vacation read because it is plot driven, intense at times, but never overly serious.  It's like a classy version of The Real Housewives of Wherever.  Plus, when you read it on the Kindle, you can read by the pool or in the bathtub and not worry about the pages getting wet, just don't drop your Kindle in the water!

Happy Reading!