LOVE UNDER MISTAKEN IDENTITY.
The ton calls her Sweet Maria and, even in her fourth Season, eligibles continue to offer her marriage. They do not know Lady Maria despises the hypocritical ways of Polite Society and is trying to sail away to America!
Though the granddaughter of a duke, Lady Maria is a Child of Scandal because her mother was an American commoner. She blames the duke and the duchess for her parents’ death. Had they not disowned them, they would not have died of a virulent fever in America, leaving her an orphan at the age of five.
She has not forgotten the coldness she had met with as a child, and how there were those who examined her features for tainted blood, and disparaged her mother to her face.
She agrees to an arranged match to ward off her persistent suitors, treating the engagement as a sham one to be ended at her convenience.
Then, most unexpectedly, she finds love with a commoner. Only he isn’t a commoner but the Earl of Daventon.
Gareth, Earl of Daventon is no stranger to Scandal. Rumour has it that his father had banished his mother for adulterous behavior. He remembers his mother as a sweet, gentle woman and knows the late earl yearned until his last breath to have her back.
Love is a quagmire and I shall not be caught in it, he decides. But love finds him. The object of his ardour is a mysterious young woman who dresses like a shop girl and behaves like a lady.
Lord Daventon remedies the situation by accepting an arranged match, his betrothed being Lady Maria whom he hasn’t met.
All of which leads to a delightful tangle of affairs.
From the classic cover to the light word count, this debut Regency from Jessica Spencer reminds me a lot of traditional Reg Roms from the 90s. Its very sweet, with a lot of the flavor of the Regency, familiar plot formula, and the HEA romance readers love.
For a shorter book, there is some great character backstory/development although I found the heroine to teeter on the Mary Sue edge. She is sought after, beautiful, wealthy, and has talent and “personality.” This, in itself, isn’t necessarily uncommon in the historical romance world. What I did find uncommon was when heroine are this amazing, to the point that it makes you question the authenticity. Mostly, for me, this was a problem with the historical veracity of some of the central themes and motivations. However, I think what I found a bit eyebrow raising about the heroine would really appeal to younger readers who are new to the genre, especially older teens and early twenty somethings. In other words, the less baggage you have with the genre the less sensitive you are to the nuances…
By the same token, not all the historical details are nailed, so genre devotees will have a hard time pushing past anachronisms. The main flags were mostly with some of the names of characters, some of the speech patterns, and again character motivations.
The bulk of the plot is reliant on the misunderstanding theme; circumstances have it that both H/h think the other is working class and therefore ineligible. The entertaining piece is how this gets resolved, and in the process, the characters heal some of their past wounds. In this, Spencer has struck a great balance between character depth and development and keeping the story at an enjoyable pace.
There are some great supporting characters that really resonated with me, and help buoy the story.
Overall, an enjoyable clean Regency that will strike a chord with younger, newer genre readers.
*This book is expected to be published on June 1, 2017
3.75 out of 6 Sweet Regency with good character development
| Content Rating/Heat Index | |
|---|---|
| Mature Content |   |
| Not much | |
| Intimacy | |
| Kisses only | |
| Violence | |
| Not really | |
| Overall | |
|---|---|
| Good for most readers. Recommended for teens. | |
*A review copy was provided by the author. No other compensation was provided.
