One the day of Charles and Diana's wedding, a baby girl is left on the steps of the Phillamore Academy, an exclusive finishing school in London. Adopted by Lord and Lady Phillamore, the foundling, named Betsy, lives for the day when she, too, can become a Phillamore girl. Her world is turned upside down when her adoptive parents advise against her attending the academy because she is not the sort of girl who would fit in there. Instead they suggest that she hone her mathematical skills at university. She sadly accepts the fact that she is not seen as good enough for high society. She excels at school but, unfortunately, her career hits a snag and she becomes a shoe store manager while leading her family to believe that she is a successful management consultant. When Betsy returns home for Lady Frances Phillimore's memorial service she is dismayed to see that the academy is in disrepair and that the classes being taught are hopelessly outdated. At Lord Phillimore's request she agrees to hire on as a consultant to find ways to improve the school and, hopefully, at the same time find her birth mother. With the help of her dilettante best friend, Liv, and Liv's brother, on whom Betsy has an unrequited crush, Betsy plans a series of new trial classes and an Open Day to attract new students, all the while fighting against the horrible headmistress and the gold-digging widow with her sights set on Lord Phillimore as her next husband.
Like Hester Browne's other novels, The Finishing Touches is hilarious, heartwarming, and a significant cut above many of the single-girl novels that are popular today. Her heroines have both a heart and a brain and quickly endear themselves to the reader. I can't wait for the next one!
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