The Forgery Furore (The Ladies of Almack’s, Book 1)

HISTORICAL: Widow Annabel Chalfont, otherwise known as Lady Fellbridge to highbrow society, is one of six Lady Patronesses of Almack’s. All have special supernatural abilities that help them to fight crime and solve mysteries around England. When the newest mystery lands in their lap, it has Annabel written all over it, in the form of her signature on Almack’s vouchers that are being sold all over town to people who wouldn’t normally be allowed in. With Annabel’s unnatural ability to shadow-shift, she struggles to uncover who has been forging vouchers using her signature all while keeping her reputation intact. With society knowing of her late husband’s past debts, it makes it all too easy to point the finger at Annabel as the culprit. But who and why would someone want to forge the vouchers in the first place?

A quick and entertaining read with a most unusual storyline! Annabel is a quick-witted character with a side of spunk. Enjoyable overall, readers will be disappointed that the story isn’t quite fleshed out with more detail about Annabel, her boys, her magic, or the Lady Patronesses. A gift of a lifetime in the form of magical abilities carried by the Lady Patronesses and the story barely scrapes the surface of what some can do. Connecting to the characters is difficult as one barely has time to hear of them before moving on. The magic of each character is fascinating and truly makes for a fun read trying to figure out just who the mystery forger is. A light-hearted read sure to make one pick up the second book in the series!

Marie Sanderson