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To Love a Lady (Dollar Princess #1) by Gabrielle Meyer

 

Summary (from the publisher): She was never meant to be a lady. But love has a way of rewriting the rules. For fans of My Fair Lady.

New York City, 1883. Keira O’Day has spent her life scraping by in the tenements, haunted by the mystery of her parents’ abandonment. When wealthy widow and social climber, Maude Hill, offers her a daring proposition—to be adopted, polished, and presented as a society bride for an English lord—Keira sees an opportunity she can’t pass up.

Maude’s nephew, Alexander Paxton-Hill, is skeptical from the start. Tasked with teaching Keira the art of charm and flirtation, he soon finds himself captivated by her honesty and warmth as she challenges everything he thought he knew about love—and about himself.

After navigating the glittering, treacherous world of New York society, Keira arrives in England and catches the eye of the elusive Duke of Severton. She’s poised to win everything until a lavish ball, a long-buried secret, and one reckless act of love threaten to unravel it all. Now Keira must the role she’s been prepared to play—or the woman she’s become.

Review: A huge thank you to author Gabrielle Meyer for an advance copy in exchange for a review!

"Two months ago, if he'd passed me on the street, he wouldn't have looked twice. Today, he'd come to call." (116).

Set in New York City of 1883, this book follows Keira O'Day who has been raised by her aunt and uncle after being abandoned by her parents as a baby. Raised in poverty, her life is altered drastically when she is spotted on the streets by a wealthy widow who offers to adopt her and present her as a society bride for an English lord, in a desperate bid to lend social prestige to her hotel business. To escape her impoverished life, Keira goes along with this plan and catches the eye of the Duke of Severton, but is heartbroken that keeping her end of the bargain means sacrificing her love for another man and a path that would bring her a much happier life. 

This was beautifully done historical fiction that reimagines the My Fair Lady story as a Gilded Age New York City story. Gabrielle Meyer's choice to set the book in Gilded Age New York was an inspired choice! In this book, Keira becomes one of the many American heiresses that were married off to impoverished British aristocracy. The plot seamlessly intertwined with real life historical events taking place during that time period as wealthy New Yorkers competed for social prestige and were willing to do just about anything for entry into the most exclusive social circles. I have a great love for Gilded Age history and the author's knowledge of that time period was evident by how well researched this book was. I so impressed by the meticulous attention to historical detail that gave this book realism and enhanced Keira's love story. For instance, Keira attends her own coming out ball, that mirrors the extravagance of wealthy parties during the Gilded Age: "For party favors, Aunt Maude has chosen gold cigarette cases for the men and diamond necklaces for the women. The food, the champagne, the party favors, flowers, invitations, musicians, and extra staff had cost over fifty thousand dollars" (132). 

This story has such a beautiful message of being true to yourself and also finding those who see the real you, regardless of circumstances. Alec meets Keira when she's an impoverished young woman selling silk flowers on the street, yet he is unfailingly kind and supportive of her from day one. I especially liked that he is very reluctant to call her Clara, her newly adopted named. Alec sees and cares for the true Keira and not the polished society image of her.

At the same time, I greatly appreciated the author's portrayal of the Duke of Severton. It would have been very easy to paint him as the villain of the story, solely trying to steal Keira away for her adopted wealth. While he admittedly isn't super friendly and has some alarming ghost stories circling about his adoptive home, he is always honest and upfront with Keira. I thought he was a fascinating figure with an interesting back story and am looking forward to hopefully learning more about him in the next book. 

I don't want to give away any spoilers, but this book has quite the twist concerning Keira's past! I loved learning in the author's note how this twist was grounded in historical facts. I think Keira has such an emotional hole having never experienced parental love and it was nice to see her getting some closure by the end of this book. 

Reading this made me desperate to rewatch My Fair Lady! I think this series, which will all be retellings of famous movie musicals, is such a fun and creative choice. I'm excited to rewatch them all and read the retelling as they all come out. 

Stars: 5

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