Silk and Scorn Review

Silk and Scorn                                     

Author: Cassandra Dean

Publisher: Decadent Publishing        

American release date: February 16, 2014

Format/Genre/Length: EBook/Regency Romance/60pages

Publisher/Industry Age Rating: NR

Overall Personal Rating: ★★★★

In a time when arranged marriages are the norm, two young people, Sarah Wetherall and Arthur Davenport, are forced into a distasteful correspondence not of their choosing. Trading quips and barbs, they suffer with being forced to write one another until Sarah finds relief through marriage to another man, and their correspondence blessedly comes to an end.

But Fate has more in store for these two...

Fast forward eleven years. Sarah’s husband is now deceased, and his family is disputing the widow’s rights to his estate. The solicitor she turns to in her time of need is none other than Arthur Davenport. It’s just business, surely, on both their parts, and sheer necessity, as Arthur helps her defend her late husband’s will.  Or is it?

Silk and Scorn is a Regency novella, and it is actually second in a series, but I had no problem in reading it as a standalone. Brought together by necessity, and with the memory of their shared dislike of one another uppermost in their minds, it’s hard for Sarah and Arthur not to snipe at one another. But as this is a romance, the inevitable happens...

Watching them shed their bad first impressions and actually get to know each other is what this story is about. They learn each other’s strengths and weaknesses, and come to appreciate the actual person each has become, not the child that was.

My only complaint is its length. I think this could have been the beginning to a very lovely novel, and I would have enjoyed seeing more of them. As it is, it’s a short, sweet read, one I do recommend. Having read this one, I’d like to see more of what this author can do.