I didn't like this one as much as I did the other Carola Dunn regencies I just read. There were a lot of dropped threads, including the mysterious bailiff with hints that he was crooked but that was never fleshed out. And some other things happened way too conveniently such as money being found for the heroine's clothes and for her "dowry." I liked both of the chief characters but there didn't seem too much space for them and the book ended rather abruptly for my taste. ( )

After struggling to keep what's left of her father's estate afloat, Rowena Caxton learns it's all been for naught--one outstanding debt means she will have to sell everything and take refuge with an Aunt she has never met. On the way to Lady Grove's estate, she helps Major Chris Scott with his friend Bernard, a friend who is recovering from a war wound. Rowena's kindnesses, if not her face, make an impression on the pair, and when Scott inherits an estate near Lady Grove, Rowena and her cousin Anne have an opportunity to find love (but not if Anne's sister, the incomparable Millicent, has a say about it).

I have always found Carola Dunn's romances to be a cut above the rest, and this book is no exception. Rowena is likable, and the battles of wit between the three female characters is enjoyable, even if Major Scott isn't exactly the most dynamic of love interests. (In other words, read the book for the female characters.) ( )