Good story, nice to have the background for other stories in the series.

Narrator generally does this series well, but the tone of voice chosen for the hero robbed this one of its potential level of charm. Given the setting in an elite girls school, with a perfectionistic headmistress, it was ironic that there was so much bad grammar within the writing - aside from the many misplaced prepositions, the author frequently created new versions of various nouns. For example, audaciousness (instead of audacity); solicitousness (rather than solicitude). I’ve noticed that a number of US- based writers do this, in addition to inserting modern American words and vernacular into the dialogue. The genre usually sets its story in 19th century England, where people might have a suitor, but not a ‘beau’, with whom they might walk along the footpath, because there aren’t any ‘sidewalks’ in London. The suitor might bring his lady some sweets, but he wouldn’t call it ‘candy’, and during their walk, he might seek to drive away insects rude enough to bother them, but neither would refer to the pests as ‘bugs’. Georgette Heyer remains a queen of this genre because she can make characters sound lively and interesting even though they use good grammar when speaking to one another.

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