And only to deceive by Tasha Alexander

I was introduced to Tasha Alexander by my younger sister last Christmas season at a 3 for 1 sale at Barnes and Nobles.  Having found three books she wanted and stuck in the annoying position of not being able to find a (free) fourth book, she grabbed Tasha Alexander's A Fatal Waltz for me thinking I would like it.  She was right.

Having read and enjoyed that one so much, I purchased And only to deceive (brand new!).  The organization is slightly off, since I haven't mentioned these are books in a series.  And only to deceive is the debut novel of both Alexander as a writer, and her character Lady Emily Ashton.  A Fatal Waltz is a few books farther along in the series.

Lady Emily Ashton just married a man desperately in love with her for the sole reason of getting rid of her overbearing mother.  Her feelings for him were non-existant, but he ended up bestowing on her a massive fortune which she inherited soon after her wedding after her new husband was killed in the African bush while on safari.

Throughout the book, Emily, or Kallista as her husband had taken to calling her, deals with the social norms of mourning, her frustrating mother who can't wait to see her married off again, and begins the laborious process of learning ancient Greek.  As she settles into her late husband's, Philip, households, she makes an effort to get to know the man she married.  She finds a similar love of all things Greek, the British Museum, traveling, and academia.  As a wealthy lady of her time, most of her peers find her newfound interests appalling.

But that's not even the good stuff.  The good stuff is the intrigue.  The forgeries, the doubting of her husband's character, two wedding proposals, and even the possibility that Philip might never have died...

Lady Emily Ashton is pretty awesome.  She's witty, brave, and willing to fight the constrictive social norms of her day, but not obnoxiously so.  She's loyal and funny and ballsy.  I like her.

And only to deceive is a typical debut novel; the series gets better as it progresses.  I like the way Alexander writes.  The diction flows without being stuffy.  It's exactly how I imagine a wealthy, young woman of the late 19th century would speak.  This book didn't flow as well as the later book, but again I think that's because its a debut novel and Alexander hadn't yet found her rhythm.  A Fatal Waltz is book 3, with A Poisoned Season being sandwiched between the two.  I have yet to read that one.

My personal downside was that I had read a later book, and found myself in the awkward position of knowing the conclusions of many of the subplots based on events in the later book.  Still an immensely enjoyable read though!