Lady Faith Mordain’s fiancé is castigated in Guy Delamar’s Harbinger newspaper as a thief. She believes the social climbing editor must be wrong–though Lord Thomas apparently did take flight with the company’s funds. The race to retrieve the funds or the peer’s reputation is on–with Faith’s chaperoning aunt pulling some odd and unsettling strings.
Lady Faith, a prim and proper (but not beautiful or wealthy) young deb (also a virgin, if that is your thing), is engaged to the handsome, charismatic Lord Vane. But when a paper’s gossip column reports his company has swindled investors and he has flown for France, she marches down to the newspaper to confront the owner.
And sparks fly.
There is a fair amount of not so friendly banter between Lady Faith and wealthy, “swarthy” Guy Delamar, publishing titan. They both say some pretty outrageously nasty stuff to each other. Some which teetered on the “uh-oh, abusive alert” category. But these two H/H are opinionated, stubborn and a bit hot headed.
A lot of the conflict revolves around him being working class and her being gentry. He is pretty anti-aristocracy, and his paper really tries to publish “the truth” about things like the Corn Laws. But he also publishes a popular gossip column that gets him invites to all the tonnish parties. I think some of the subtle critique is actually really interesting and challenges Lady Faith to really reevaluate her world perspective.
Lady Faith has a nice character arc, even if its not oversold by Smith. I think maybe Delamar’s is even more subtle? I would’ve liked his mea culpa to be a bit stronger, but its still there in the final act. I think some readers will be completely turned off by him, as he does smack the heroine once (although he thinks she is conspiring at that point). It left a bit of a sour taste in my mouth in an otherwise good enemies to lovers story.
Farcical elements, lots of supporting characters, and a bit of mystery help to keep this novel clicking along at a quick pace. There are some “misunderstandings” included in the conflict, but they weren’t the sole source of action.
A bit of violence is part of the storyline, as well as several prostitutes and a madam who make an appearance, so this may not be everyone’s cup of tea. I didn’t find the violence graphic or over the top, and it was mostly directed at the villains although there is one murder that unfolds via gunshot.
This was a thoroughly enjoyable, traditional Regency romance from fairly consistent and definitely prolific Joan Smith. I had hoped it would be a bit funnier, but it was definitely entertaining and some readers will enjoy the humor that Smith tends to write with. I would definitely reread if I was looking for something easy to digest within a few hours. This is also a great addition to any Smith fan’s collection.
5 out of 6 Regency on the road tale of an errant fiancé and a gossip column
| Content Rating/Heat Index | |
|---|---|
| Mature Content |   |
| Prostitutes, theft, gambling, criminal element | |
| Intimacy | |
| Kisses only | |
| Violence | |
| Assault, murder but not graphic | |
| Overall | |
|---|---|
| Appropriate for most readers, if not sensitive to some mature subject matter or violence. | |
