A Lady Unrivaled by Roseanna White

Lady Ella, the younger sister of the Duke of Nottingham (from the previous book) is staying with Brook and Justin (from the first book).  While at their home she meets up with Justin's younger cousin, Lord Cayton, the once wayward, but now reformed widowed father of a little girl, Addy.  Ella is determined to rid her family from the threat of those who seek the Fire Eyes diamonds and enlists Cayton as a reluctant ally. As they work together, they start to realize their relationship might be developing into something deeper. Meanwhile, Kira Belova, a washed out ballerina and the mistress of one of the richest men is Paris, is sent by her lover to pose as a servant in the household of the evil Lord Rushworth to discover what has happened to the diamonds.

This is the final book in the "Ladies of the Manor" series and ties everything together quite nicely.  Whereas, in the two earlier books, the mystery of the Fire Eyes was almost a side plot, in this one it comes to the forefront so that White can bring it to resolution.  This book really has two main characters, Ella (and her relationship to Cayton) and Kira. While Ella remains her same, positive, reckless self, the real character development happens in Kira's story.  (spoiler alert!) She gradually comes to realize that her life "of sin" as a mistress, although it comes with wealth and comfort, can never bring her real happiness.

I have really enjoyed this series.  The way the characters rely in direction from God in many ways mirror's my own experience.  It is different from some other of the Christian fiction I have read before.  In the others, characters find inspiration from scripture verses that help them make important decisions, but in this series, the characters have come to recognize and respond to promptings from the Holy Spirit.  They don't always understand the follow the promptings perfectly, but they move forward in faith, and in the end they they can see how God was trying to guide them. I would imagine others would find it all a bit to goody-goody and preachy, but I really enjoyed it and look forward to more series by Ms White. (2016, 408 p.)