Three Weeks with Lady X

A love story, a comedy of errors and a fairy tale are all woven into the plot of Three Weeks with Lady X. The story is set in England in the 1700s and follows the story of Xenobia, a home organizer of sorts. Noblemen and women pay her good money to overhaul their estates. She fires and rehires staff, orders furniture and renovates rooms. She thinks she is being given another normal job when she is hired to clean up Thorn Dautry’s new country home. Thorn is hoping to marry Laetitia Rainsford, a dignified and noble woman. But Xenobia and Thorn fall in love and Thorn must prove that Xenobia isn’t just a second choice for him.

Three Weeks with Lady X sucked me in within the first few chapters. Xenobia and Thorn’s upbringing haunted them, bringing more challenges to their relationship than just the typical societal objections prevalent in so many novels set in pre-Victorian England. Xenobia’s “competition,” Laetitia, was also given her own story, which tied up nicely at the end. The characters were strong, multifaceted and engaging. The dialogue was witty, and most importantly, there was a winding road to a happy ending.