Genre: Fiction, Regency RomancePublication Date: August 2008
Author Website: www.monicafairview.co.uk
One Word Review: Swoon-worthy
First Line (almost, it takes place in the first chapter): “Choose your own husband: or marry a rake.”
Synopsis: A lady in possession of an independent fortune has no need for a husband. Miss Julia Swifton, secure in that belief, has made no attempt to search for one, even after three seasons in London. That is until her grandmother, an advocate of women's rights, rises from her deathbed and threatened, of all things, to marry her to a notorious rake, Lord Thorwynn.Shocked into action, Julia launches into a search for an intelligent, scholarly husband who will suit her. On her way she has to rescue a fallen 'angel,' save a rake from being forced into marriage, defeat an unscrupulous gamesmaster who needs to seduce her for money, and avert a friend's disastrous runaway marriage.Fortunately, she does not have to do it alone. Even if her companion, Lord Thorwynn, is the last person she would ever want to marry... --Goodreads
Kathy’s Review: I want to thank my friend Deb for recommending this one, I really enjoyed it. Also, I just wanted to mention that the only copy my library had was large print, and I couldn't decide if the book was flying by because of the story or because the print was so big?
Anyway, I thought it was better than what the synopsis portrayed. I expected the threat of engagement/marriage to play a bigger part in the story, but it was kind of left by the wayside early on. Which wasn’t really a bad thing; the story was fun and had a few twists and turns along the way. Julia was a fun character, smart and outgoing. She was also trying to figure out who she was and what she really wants out of life. Lionel (Lord Thorwynn) was also a lot of fun to read. He was charming, brooding and also trying to figure out what to do with the rest of his life. In reality, I don’t think a “rake” would be able to change his ways so easily, but in this setting it was very believable. The dialog and interaction between Julia and Lionel was a lot of fun, they had good chemistry together. I liked that the story switched between the two narratives so you could really see what they thought of each other. I image by “romance” standards this would be considered pretty mild, and overall I think it was pretty clean, but there were a couple racy innuendos. A fun regency romance that reminded me a bit of Georgette Heyer.
