Deborah Hale

This was very much an impulse buy for me. I was browsing my local used bookstore and saw it on the shelf next to a book I had wishlisted. So without further ado I picked it up to buy as well. I'm very happy I did as I think this was a well written 'Beauty and the Beast' romance.

Poor Angela--literally, she is the poor relation staying with her Aunt and Uncle. In an effort to be useful and not turned out she is at their beck and call, making few demands of her own and resigning herself to her lot in life. Lucius however turns that all upside down. She gave up all her dreams of finding a man to love her--didn't she?

I thought both leads were vastly entertaining. Despite their argumentative natures--the only thing they both agreed upon at first was that they loved the Earl, Lucius' grandfather and Angela's friend--it was fun to watch Lucius grumble and growl. Or Angela get into a tizzy. Their interactions were heated, tense and passionate. I was a little uneasy about their plan to dupe the Earl, especially after he expressed such joy over their finally seeing sense (he was playing matchmaker), but the Earl acknowledged that he knew they weren't madly in love. So I felt better for it.

We don't see very much of Angela's Uncle and Aunt, not until much closer to the end and I'm glad they were only briefly shown. Extremely aggravating and annoying, greedy and tactless...the list of their sins is numerous. The poor Reverend is perhaps dealt with the worse. He really did seem like such a nice fellow, but maybe that is what was his downfall. Lucius made it seem like such a good plan, that it was all for Angela's good, that I guess the Reverend just blinded himself to the obvious disinterest and distaste Angela felt (not for him, she liked him as a friend, but for what the plan was).

A fun quick read I recommend to anyone who likes Regency romances.… (mehr)