Years ago, American heiress Aurelia Newbold was injured in a riding accident, leaving her with a limp and a facial scar. Now she’s in London with her sister, hiding from Society while her twin enjoys the Season. One night, during a ball, she meets a handsome stranger in a deserted conservatory. When he gets her to dance a waltz with him, it’s enough to convince her that she could have more than the life she’s leading. After spending a year abroad improving her leg and her confidence, Aurelia returns with hopes of running into the man again. Only to be stunned to find him engaged to her sister.

I liked this story and the characters but I had a little difficulty getting past the fact that the woman James picked to marry is Aurelia’s sister. Yes, he was attracted to Amy when he first saw her, even before meeting Aurelia, but it just seemed weird. And there was no mention of whether they discussed Aurelia before she returned to find them engaged. It was odd to me that he would have hid the fact that he had met her before. I understand why Aurelia would have wanted to not mention it, but I’m not sure why he would have. It wasn’t like she didn’t attend the same parties as her sister and it would have been normal for a meeting to take place.

Once I got into it, though, the story was enjoyable. The characters were interesting and by giving readers James & Aurelia’s perspective (and to a lesser extent Amy’s), Sherwood was able to provide plenty of details on their feelings and their struggles. I especially liked that Amy was an appealing character, someone that both James and Aurelia care about, so that the conflict was more pronounced. It would have been easy to make her vain or selfish, but by making her a genuinely nice person it means that readers don’t want to see her hurt. It also makes James’s breaking the engagement troublesome because he doesn’t want to cause Amy pain and it would be difficult for Aurelia to step in if her sister was upset by it.

There is also a mystery over the death of James’s cousin. Although it seemed to go a little long, it was interesting and the resolution was satisfying. It gave a little extra punch to the already troubled romance.

Overall, Waltz With a Stranger was a satisfying historical read – full of angst, love and suspense.