Emma Wildes is relatively new to print publishing, but she’s already on my auto-buy list. Lessons from a Scarlet Lady, her second book for Signet, is as good as the first. It’s inventive and well-written, with fabulous love scenes and characters worth reading about. I enjoyed it from start to finish.

Brianna Northfield has been married to her husband Colton (the Duke of Rolthven) for a few months. They have a nice society marriage and a pleasant sex life, but Brianna wants more. Then she comes across a scandalous book written by a former courtesan: Lady Rothburg’s Advice. Lady Rothburg covers it all, from landing the man you love to spicing up your marriage and holding a husband’s interest. And it’s explicit. Extremely explicit. Brianna is determined to take her marriage to the next level; she wants to please Colton, but she wants him to truly love her as well.

When I first read the back of the book, I wondered how, exactly, Wildes was going to get a book out of that. Colton and Brianna are already married and relatively happy, and that’s usually where a book ends – not where it begins. The answer is that just like her last book, An Indecent Proposition, this book is two books in one. One of Brianna’s dearest friends, Rebecca, has long held a tendre for Colton’s rakish younger brother, Robert. But her passion seems completely hopeless. Robert is famously determined to remain a bachelor, and he probably doesn’t know she’s alive, anyway. If by some miracle she could catch his interest, there’s still an even greater obstacle: Rebecca’s father nurses a grudge against Robert for something that happened in the past, and he believes Robert to be the worst of blackguards. This is Rebecca’s second season, and her parents are pressuring her to choose a husband. She may have to resort to reading her friend’s scandalous book for pointers.

There are, of course, two more sides to this story. Colton is enthusiastic about his wife’s new…interests. But he’s also baffled about how to react to her, and he wonders where on earth she’s learning this stuff. He also has some work to do before he can truly let Brianna into his life. Colton’s father died unexpectedly, and since assuming the title Colton has become rigid in his routines and habits (he’s a nineteenth century control freak, if you will).

In some ways, Robert is even more interesting. He was also affected by his father’s death, but sought solace in the arms of women. Many, many women. When Rebecca is finally on his radar, he’s knows he’s attracted to her, yet he’s used to thinking of himself as a man who would never marry. When he begins to consider it, his would-be father-in-law’s enmity makes the match appear hopeless.

Before I started writing this review, I went back and read my review of Wildes’ last book. Oddly enough, I mentioned what a relief it was to read a European Historical that didn’t feature love lessons or “we’re not marrying!” clubs. This latest book includes both a confirmed bachelor (though he does not, thankfully, belong to some dumb club) and a sexual tutorial, and yet it still feels original. It’s the characterization that makes the difference. There are two common approaches to the confirmed bachelor. The first is to use it as shorthand (“Hey, I’ve got a built in conflict! This guy doesn’t want to marry, so what more do I need?”). The second is the psychotherapy method, where it sounds for all the world like the nineteenth century hero is sitting on a modern therapist’s couch. Wildes explains Robert’s feelings and motivations (and Colton’s for that matter), but doesn’t make them sound overly modern.

As for the courtesan’s advice, it works well too, partly because some of it is quite specific (and erotic). Colton’s reactions to Brianna’s exploits – and his follow-up conversations with Robert where he tries to make sense of it all – are some of the best parts of the book. Eventually it leads to a misunderstanding, which is happily resolved fairly quickly. I think so many years of reading romance novels with the Big Mis has led to some type of knee-jerk response, because as soon as I saw the misunderstanding coming, I thought, “Oh God, NO!” – but it wasn’t nearly as traumatic as I feared.

Also worth mentioning: The secondary characters. Robert and Colton have a brother who works for the government and is good at figuring out people’s secrets. He’s instrumental in helping both romances along. Rebecca’s parents also prove to be surprisingly interesting. There are no stock characters or cardboard cut-outs here.

All in all, Lessons from a Scarlet Lady is well-worth reading. Emma Wildes is a buried treasure who deserves a much wider audience.