A LADY OF HIGH REGARD follows Mia Stanley, the daughter of a wealthy Philadelphia family. Set in a time when social classes did not cross lines, Mia finds herself on a mission to help woman that are less fortunate than her, many who are seaman’s wives being abused in their husband’s absence . When she finds out these women are being forced to pay higher rents and bogus debits, she does some investigating. When Garrett, the boy next door and her lifelong friend sees her sneaking out of the house one night, he follows her, only to be horrified that she’s gone to the docks to get more information about the seaman’s wives. What starts out as brotherly protection, Garrett soon realizes his feelings for Mia have turned to love. He decides to do some of his own investigating into the corrupt behavior of one man, hoping Mia will obey her parents and leave the matter to someone more suitable. Mia, the consummate matchmaker, tries to get Garrett paired off so he will have less time to concern himself with her dangerous late night rendezvous. When it appears Garrett has found someone else, the idea of him no longer being around stings Mia’s feelings. She too, realizes she is in love with him, but feels it is too late to tell him the truth.
Even though I’m not a fan of period pieces, I enjoyed A LADY OF HIGH REGARD. The setting took a backseat to the story. I liked that TRACIE PETERSON set the tone of the book with the restrictions put on ladies at that time, but allowed tenacious Mia to be the moderate rebel, only wanting to right the wrongs of those less fortunate than herself. Of course, we had to wait until the end of the book to see if Garrett and Mia would reveal their true feelings for each other, but it was worth the wait.♥