As a gawky teenager, Lily D’Artiers Copeland was in love with Webb Dryden. Webb was handsome, dashing, and well-traveled (thanks to his work as a spy) and basically it for Lily. Unfortunately, Webb saw Lily as an irritant and acted cruelly towards her. The thing about gawky teenagers is that they grow up, and the best revenge is when they grow up to be beautiful and clever women. Webb Dryden is about to receive his comeuppance.

The story takes place in 1800, right after Napoleon has taken power in France. The situation is very precarious and the last thing the British need is for some potentially incriminating diaries from a deceased spy to fall into Napoleon’s hands. Since the D’Artiers still have family in France, this hits very close to home for them. The deceased spy did have a daughter who died en route to Martinique, but luckily for the British, no one knows the daughter is dead. Lord Dryden, Webb’s father and head of the foreign service, wants to send Webb and a substitute heiress in to find the diaries. One woman fits the bill – Lily. Lily is now a beautiful widow and is visiting London on business. Lily does not want to go to Paris, as she has her own agenda. Webb is immediately suspicious of her and of the lies she tells in order to avoid going to Paris, yet she intrigues him. And Lily is dismayed to realize that she still has unresolved feelings for Webb.

Despite all of Lily’s tricks, she eventually agrees to go to Paris with Webb, as long as he promises to have her back in England by January. Webb consents to her provision. Though they are spending more time together, Webb still has trouble seeing Lily as a grown up; he still imagines her as the gawky girl she once was. Even when confronted with her beauty, he still has trouble making the transition in his mind. In fact, Lily’s family seems to have the same problem. They treat her like a girl – not the woman she’s become. Lily shows them all that she has grown up and can handle things on her own. Yet, she is convinced that there is no future for her and Webb, especially when he finds out her secret. Webb is slow to come around, but when he does, there is nothing on earth that will stop him from being with Lily, even Lily herself. Will true love prevail?

I enjoyed the dialogue between Webb and Lily. Whatever Webb dished out to her, she took and gave back to him. I also enjoyed Lily as a heroine. She was smart, independent and feisty. She made her own decisions and followed her own instincts as a general rule; she didn’t let the fact that Webb was a more experienced spy get to her or change her mind. She stood by her decisions and quite often she was right. The novel also had a lively cast of secondary characters. Whether you loved them or hated them, they enriched the story.

I did have a few significant problems with the book though. I just couldn’t understand why everyone refused to see Lily as an adult woman instead of a troublesome girl. Because of this, I had a lot of trouble warming up to Webb, and I never warmed to Lily’s sister at all. Another problem was that Lily’s experiences as a child in Paris during the Terror were glossed over. Lily’s return to Paris seemed more bittersweet than anything else; she never seemed to be assailed with any memories. And while she felt sadness at what the city had become, she never seemed to mourn what she went through as a child. There were also some unresolved issues between Lily and her sister Sophia. Lily worried, more than once, about comparisons to her sister. These family issues weighed on Lily but they weren’t ever resolved.

Brazen Heiress has some things going for it, like well-written dialogue and a spunky heroine. But in general, the book just grazes the surface, and while it’s a pleasant read, it doesn’t quite gel.