Joy Reed: An Inconvenient Engagement

When charming Miss Rebecca Wentworth decides to make her meandering intended jealous, she finds herself caught in a compromising position with the rakish Earl of Stanford, leading him to propose marriage, and together they contend with the gossip, while he must gain her trust and prove his love.

So, the synopsis for the book is a little misleading. The facts are generally correct, but the plot and unfolding romance are a lot more complex.

The heroine, Rebecca Wentworth, is a Diamond. She has looks, elegances, countenance and impeccable lineage…although a very small dowry. During her first Season she falls head over ears for an equally young and handsome gentleman to whom she gets engaged to. The only problem is lately he hasn’t been acting like much of a fiance.

So Rebecca decides to flirt with the most handsome man in the ballroom, who happens to be the notorious rake the Wicked Earl.

The Wicked Earl decides to play along, at first for his own reasons of sparking jealousy in a would-be paramour, and then because he finds himself endeared by the young Miss.

I wasn’t expecting much, because I picked this one up in hard copy for a quarter at a library sale, but found it easy to read. The end was a bit prolonged and a couple of sex scenes were crammed into the last twenty or so pages, which I thought was odd, but other than that the writing was solid and comfortable with the genre/era.

Rebecca was a little too perfect for my tastes, but I do think it was believable she had the power to reform a rake…if for no other reasons than her occasional teasing humor and innocent beauty, which no doubt would’ve been appealing to a hardened rake.

Although, come to think of it, the hero was a bit more of a good guy who had been masquerading as a rake for years. Sure, he gambled a lot of money, neglected his duties, and consorted with a variety of women, but Reed didn’t paint him as a lech or creeper. Or as someone addicted to the lifestyle, or punishing himself for his past.

I think what I am trying to get at is the characters are a bit two dimensional. However, they are likeable and standard for Reg Rom, so its easy to stick with the book in spite of a lack of character depth.

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5 Stars 3.5 out of 6 Enjoyable, light read of a rake and the girl who reforms him.