These two books were great as a set. I thought it was amazing how Julia Quinn was able to intertwine the two stories without having too much overlap. It was a clever use of perspectives. I never thought about how and when perspective shifts are used in writing romance novels. She used the

I could imagine the writer planning out the two stories and whose perspective she would be telling the story from when. For instance, in "The Lost Duke of Wyndam" she tells the story mostly from inside the carriage as they journey to Ireland, while in "Mr. Cavendish, I Presume" she is mostly outside the carriage, with the men. It's also clever what's going on inside the house versus outside the house. For instance, when Mr. Cavendish leaves, a lot goes on at the house as well.

It was also neat that one didn't get to know Amelia very well in the first book. I read the books out of order though (2nd one first), which meant I knew Grace a bit better when reading book one.

All in all I thought it was a great exercise for the writer. I think Julia went a little over the top with her insertion of "feminist thought" in the second novel (Mr. Cavendish, I Presume). I know she tries, but a romance novel really isn't the right format. Her exercise in perspective with these two novels was much better and more satisfying. ( )