The Lawrence Browne Affair

This review was copied from my romance novel review blog: romanticallyinclinedreviews.blogspot.com I’ve been playing a fun game this week called “Let’s See How Many Cat Sebastian Books I Can Read”. I’m winning. I re-read The Ruin of a Rake. Then started The Soldier’s Scoundrel. Finished that in less than a day and then immediately downloaded, started, and finished The Lawrence Browne Affair. I’m in love. I do believe that this might be the first romance novel I’ve ever read where the main character suffers from a very evident psychological disorder—in this case a strong anxiety disorder. It’s undiagnosed, given the time, and unfortunately everyone writes the strange Earl off as a mad recluse. Becoming a madman is exactly what Lawrence Browne is afraid of, it runs in the family after all. He spends all his time working on complicated inventions, is completely intolerant of other people, and relies on his loyal canine to get him through frequent bouts of anxiety. And yet, beneath all that terrifying and mysterious exterior is a man with ragged self-esteem and no confidence in himself. It was so terribly sad to watch Lawrence doubt himself time and time again. Enter Georgie. Georgie is a swindler through and through who has inserted himself in Lawrence’s life for two reasons. First, the job opening for a secretary gives him the perfect excuse to leave London and escape the gang that’s hunting him down. Second, the mad Earl is the perfect mark for yet another scheme of his.…

--What are the Issues-- Georgie is a con artist and a thief and that life has served him well up to this point -- until he gets soft over a mark. When he can't follow through on his con he gets into hot water with the local "gang" leader Mattie Brewster, and he must find a safe place to hide out. Georgie has never let personal connections or love be a part of his life outside his siblings and he doesn't know how he can live an honest life. Lawrence doesn't want a new secretary but there are concerns from family members that he's not fit to care for the estate or his son. Lawrence doesn't care either way, he just wants to work on his experiments and be left alone. He suffers from anxiety whenever away from home or when there are too many people or loud noises around. He believes he has the same madness his brother and father suffered from. --What I Liked and Didn’t Liked-- Writing, Pace, Voice -- Once again the writing was great on this one and I truly enjoy reading Cat Sebastian's writing. It's a great pace and I feel myself getting sucked into the story really well. There was a fair amount of stuff going on in this book but I felt that Sebastian balances it all well and keeps the story going without getting bogged down in any one story line. Plot and Series Elements -- I enjoyed this one but I liked the plot of the previous book, The Soldier's Scoundrel a little bit more. Maybe it's because Jack Turner was trying to live a more honest life while Georgie is perfectly…