The Gilded Lily (Westmorland)

'Filled with action and sparked with romance' -- BooklistBeauty is skin-deep. Love runs deeper.They tell one sister she's pretty. They tell the other she's plain.Shy Sadie Appleby is the plain one, and has never left her small village. But one night she is rudely awoken by her older and bolder sister, Ella, who has robbed her employer and is on the run. Together they head for a new life in London, hoping to lose themselves in the teeming city. Flirtatious Ella is soon seduced by the glitter and glamour of the city and sets her sights on flamboyant man-about-town, Jay Whitgift. Jay is a member of  Charles II's 'Merry Gang' and owner of 'The Gilded Lily', a beauty parlour for the wives of the London gentry.Ella begins to see Sadie is a millstone around her neck, and as she rises in society, she pushes Sadie down. Soon a deep rift has formed between the sisters.But nothing in the capital is what it seems, least of all Jay Whitgift. And when a desperate danger threatens, will blood prove thicker than water?Set in Restoration London, in the coldest winter of the 17th Century, when the Thames freezes and birds plummet frozen from the sky, The Gilded Lily is a novel about beauty and desire, and how sisterhood can be both a burden and a saving grace. Includes Discussion Points for Reading Groups at the back of the book."It's hard to say why you find a novel unputdownable, but I've just spent about 4 hours curled up with the second half, and there was no way I was not going to finish it today!""The story line, like a meandering river, was full of unexpected twists and turns which enchanted me and made it very hard to put down.""Brilliant. a cracking good read couldn't put it down, exciting from beginning to end the author really brought the characters to life.""I enjoyed this one particularly as it has a different and engaging storyline. It was another book I couldn't put down...read in a day and enjoyed the characters and storyline immensely."But nothing in the capital is what it seems, least of all Jay Whitgift. And when one sister rises in society and the other falls, a rift forms between Ella and Sadie. But when the hangman threatens, and those they trust the most fail, will blood be thicker than water?"It's hard to say why you find a novel unputdownable, but I've just spent about 4 hours curled up with the second half, and there was no way I was not going to finish it today!""The story line, like a meandering river, was full of unexpected twists and turns which enchanted me and made it very hard to put down.""Brilliant. a cracking good read couldn't put it down, exciting from beginning to end the author really brought the characters to life.""I enjoyed this one particularly as it has a different and engaging storyline. It was another book I couldn't put down...read in a day and enjoyed the characters and storline immensely."