A mysterious artifact zaps Isabelle Rochon to pre-Victorian England, but before she understands the card case’s significance a thief steals it. Now she must find the artifact, navigate the pitfalls of a stiffly polite London, keep her time-traveling origins a secret, and resist her growing attraction to Lord Montagu, the Vicious Viscount so hot, he curls her toes.
To Lord Montagu nothing makes more sense than keeping his distance from the strange but lovely Colonial. However, when his scheme for revenge reaches a stalemate, he convinces Isabelle to masquerade as his fiancée. What he did not bargain on is being drawn to her intellectually as well as physically.
Lord Montagu’s now constant presence overthrows her equilibrium and her common sense. Isabelle thought all she wanted was to return home, but as passion flares between them, she must decide when her true home—as well as her heart—lies.
Normally, I am not a fan of time travel romance. And since this one was also post-Regency, it was definitely skirting the edges of what I will review on the site. However, I am always on the look out for funny Reg Roms, and the pitch tickled my funny bone.
Happily, the time travel was dealt with tastefully and intelligently, so that although as a reader you are asked to suspend your disbelief (while the laws of physics, etc are suspended) its not distracting to the romance. Instead, I found myself stopping to think of myself being thrust in the heroine’s shoes…which definitely had me laughing.
There are lots of these moments, as well as some excellent chemistry, tension and hot action (read: not clean). Traditional Reg Rom elements, like the masquerading fiancé are present alongside more broad plot devices like a super villain. Quarles isn’t inventing anything new with Must Love Breeches, but she is presenting a fresh and fun take on the historical romance which both fans of the genre and lovers of contemporary romance will enjoy.
The hero is very Darcy like–snappy and suspicious of a 21st century type of gal–but also lovable for his commitment and devotion to family and all things gentlemanly. That he is a looker and flush to boot helps, too. I think what makes most women a little hot under the collar for a Reg rake is the delicate, delicious mixture between naughty and nice. I mean, who doesn’t like a well-groomed guy who knows how to behave in a ballroom as well as the bedroom?
The heroine, on the other hand, is a bit of a disaster in the romance department but a smart, sassy American (yep, get ready for the Colonial jokes) who is torn between her life in the future and her love in the past. She has a lot of the spunk and spitfire we love in our Regency heroines, but her main comedy of errors is remembering 1). not to speak with contractions and 2). not to slap the Vicious Viscount’s booty.
Overall, a fun one that introducing a talented new voice. I definitely look forward to reading Quarles in the future.
5 out of 6 Fast paced, funny with modern heroine and her would-be Darcy
| Content Rating/Heat Index | |
|---|---|
| Mature Content |   |
| A couple of f-bombs, sex, and assorted | |
| Intimacy | |
| Hot action. Vanilla, but still descriptive | |
| Violence | |
| A little subtext | |
| Overall | |
|---|---|
| Hot tamales! Vanilla, but still a spicy fiesta. | |
