Deception by Amanda Quick
Genres: Historical, Mystery, Regency, Romance
Intended Age Group: Adult
Publisher: Bantam
Edition: Paperback
ISBN: 0-553-56506-0
Rating: 3/5
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Description from the Book
Once Olympia Wingfield had been free to devote all her time to her true passion: the study of ancient legends and long-lost treasure. But now, with three hellion nephews to raise, the absentminded beauty has very little time for research. Which makes it seem all the more serendipitous when a handsome stranger strides into Olympia’s library unannounced and proceeds to set her world to rights…
Tall and dark, with long, windswept black hair, Jared Chillhurst is the embodiment of Olympia’s most exotic dreams…a daring pirate, masquerading in teacher’s garb, whose plundering kisses and traveler’s tales quickly win her heart. Yet all too soon innocent Olympia will discover that the enigmatic and wickedly sensual Mr. Chillhurst is no lowly tutor but a future earl with a wealth of secrets – the kind that will lead them both on a perilous quest for a hidden fortune and a love worth more than gold.
Personal & Info
I found this book in pre-owned condition very cheap. I buy and read pretty much any Krentz/Quick/Castle novels I can find. They have a consistent story formula, and for some reason I always find the stories and writing style to be my comfort reads. Whenever I don’t know what to read or what I’m in the mood for, I grab a book by this/these author(s) and it always helps.
This is an older novel from the early to mid 90’s, so it’s going to be more common to find used copies, but it looks like Amazon and Barnes & Noble have reprints for newer copies.
Characters
Artemis Wingfield is Olympia Wingfield’s uncle. He is an older man with preference for fine manners, like dressing up for dinner and proper etiquette.
Jared Ryder, Viscount Chillhurst, is the thirty-four year old male lead of the story. He has an eyepatch and prefers to dress more like a pirate than follow any fashion fads. His family owns the Flamecrest fleet, and his father is the Earl of Flamecrest. Jared is the oddball in his family, because all his relatives are eccentrically proud of their buccaneer heritage, but Jared himself has a preference for schedules and economics.
Olympia Wingfield is the twenty-five year old female lead. She was raised and educated by her two eccentric aunts, only one of which was a blood relative. Olympia has a fascination of foreign lands and their cultures. Due to her interests, she is a member of the Society for Travel and Exploration.
Magnus Ryder, the Earl of Flamecrest, is Jared’s father. He is more like a pirate than what you would expect of an Earl.
Thaddeus Ryder is Jared’s uncle and Magnus’ brother. He is also a pirate type.
Mrs. Bird is Olympia’s housekeeper. She worked for Olympia’s aunts before her, and she is a strongly opinionated woman.
Ethan and Hugh are Olympia’s eight year old twin nephews.
Robert is Olympia’s ten year old nephew. He is the most civilized of the three nephews that Olympia is raising.
Demetria Seaton is Jared’s beautiful ex-fiancee. She now goes by Lady Beaumont after marrying a wealthy man.
Felix Hartwell is Jared’s man of business. He takes care of all business related affairs for Jared in London, and Jared considers him to be a good friend and very much like himself.
Gifford Seaton is Demetria’s brother. He is emotional and tends to have a hot temper, but cares deeply for what little family he has.
Constance Kirkdale is a good friend of Demetria’s. She is described as Demetria’s opposite in every physical way, but still pretty.
There are a significant number of other characters with names in the book, but these ones make up the starting families and the people important to them. Whether or not the culprit for the mystery is someone else or one of these, I will not say one way or the other.
Story & Thoughts
The prologue sets up the entire premise. Artemis Wingfield hires Jared Ryder to escort goods, one of which is a diary significant to the story, to his niece in Upper Tudway in Dorset. Artemis has a loose tongue, because he spills a ton of information that no cautious person would ever bother sharing. He practically gives Olympia’s entire life story to a man he hardly knows. Not only that, but he provides enough information to make it known that she can’t seem to hold down a tutor for her nephews, which is just what Jared needs to be able to insert himself into her household later.
Despite the lack of caution, it does do a good job setting things up. Both leads get an introduction in a way that explains their personalities and interests. It also provides the motive for Jared to go meet Olympia in the first place, while setting up the story point about the diary in the process.
I actually really like Jared’s character concept and presentation. He is born and raised a buccaneer, but prefers to be a skilled businessman with a schedule and personal set of rules. It basically makes him a businessman with a unique set of skills, because he is trained in the pirate-like skillset, even though he prefers not to have to use any of them. On top of that, he knows when to make use of them, and when to take the benefit from people’s assumptions regarding his appearance.
The story takes the instant attraction angle. Jared and Olympia both fall for each other from the moment they meet, but neither says anything about it for a long time. The only thing that prolongs it is respect for propriety and reputation. If they both would just be open about it from the beginning, it would be an entirely different kind of book. Honestly, I find stories where lack of communication is the only thing holding it back to be a bit frustrating.
The subject of marriage comes up about halfway through the book. It’s an interesting twist the way it happens. But at the same time, if you don’t know how Olympia feels, it comes off as entrapment. I was not satisfied with how the characters navigated this part of the story.
This is probably a good time to say Olympia’s character bothers me a bit. Her interests are fine, and most of her personality is fine, but there are little things. She is absent minded, like to the point she neglects to say the things that matter at the actual time when they matter. This tends to cause unnecessary emotional turmoil. But, what bothers me more is relevant to her interests. She could be taken aback or surprised by something, but as soon as she hears it’s a foreign custom somewhere she immediately changes her mind about it and is gung-ho about doing or trying whatever it is. She doesn’t even require any proof. In my opinion, this makes her far too gullible.
All in all, I like the book well enough. It’s a good comfort read to get me back on track after a small hiatus. The story is good enough to be interesting, but not amazing. I figured out the culprit almost immediately, so the mystery part is not difficult. The best parts are the character interactions, despite how frustrating some of them might be due to lack of communication. I’ll likely hold onto this one.
Surprisingly, this book aged well. I think the terminology it uses for describing characters has come full circle in a way that makes it mostly correct according to modern standards.