Bees in the Butterfly Garden

Title: BEES IN THE BUTTERFLY GARDEN
Author: Maureen Lang
Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc
June 2012
ISBN: 978-1-4143-6446-9
Genre: Historical romance

Meg Davenport has never wanted for anything—except her father’s love. She was raised in an exclusive boarding school among Fifth Avenue’s finest and trained to be the perfect society wife. When Meg was younger she used to try to run away, trying to get to the father she wanted to know, but she gave up when she was fourteen. When Meg learns that her father has died, she vows not to return for the funeral—after all, he was never there in life, why should she be there in death? But things change, and she attends.

Meg has always believed that her father was a wealthy businessman—and he was, but not in the way Meg thought. Instead, she learns that he was one of the Gilded Age’s most talented thieves.

Ian Maguire doesn’t want Meg to follow in her father’s footsteps. But Meg is determined and her connections to the wealthiest families could help Ian pull off his biggest heist…or it could cost them everything.

BEES IN THE BUTTERFLY GARDEN is the first book I’ve ever read where the bad guys were actually the hero and heroine. Ms. Lang has been a talented author of World War novels which I’ve loved, and so I greatly looked forward to BEES IN THE BUTTERFLY GARDEN. The book is aptly named.

Meg is a very talented young lady, gifted in horticulture and she knows how to play the part of a lady. Ian has been trained to be a master thief, professions both do with ease. Ms. Lang has brought both of these characters to life, making the reader care for them. She is gifted with description. One can see the butterflies flitting around Meg in her butterfly garden at school, and the other surroundings. Even the handwriting is described so the reader can “see” Meg’s name on an envelope, surrounded by a black border.

I especially loved the tidbits at the beginning of each chapter, describing how proper young ladies were raised back in those days.

BEES IN THE BUTTERFLY GARDEN isn't a fast read, but good for those times when you want a slower paced story. $12.99. 416 pages.