Description
"Kate, the entire Bladesworth family, Gerald the playwright, and even the Bow Street Runner, are utterly charming and lovable. This made the book a pleasure to read ... an enjoyable Regency romance." --Rike Horstmann, All About Romance4 Stars: Henry Tewksbury-Hampton, Fifth Marquess of Grayson (Hal) is turning into a dull dog, no longer attractive, with thinning hair, a thickening waist and no desire to leave the house. He returned years earlier from the Napoleonic Wars and settled down into this easy way of life. His solicitor advises him to wed and beget children so he has a reason to pull himself together and get back to being the man that he once was. Hal laughs all this off and decides to go into the country, but on the journey, he is accosted, injured and left bleeding after his bumbling attackers all but run away. Kate Billings lived a traveling life with her father - a Pastor - who was more interested in art than the Bible. After his death she is penniless and has to take up a job as a governess in the town of Wakefield. As a result of all of her worries and mindless wandering she ends up in the town of Wickfield, and instead of being met by the servant her employer was sending, was picked up instead by an actor who thinks she is the actress he is supposed to meet. The novel is a romantic comedy; there's a lot of slapstick and not really much detail around the plays that the characters are performing in. There's hitting with candlesticks, fainting and overreactions. Given the number of times Hal gets hit you'd think he'd be out for more than a few minutes and possibly suffering a concussion, but it's amusing to see this in a romantic setting. Hal can be pushy which may be a little off-putting and it sometimes makes the reader wonder exactly what Kate sees in him! But given her upbringing and life with an unreliable man who could never stay in one place and who ultimately left her with nothing, it's easy to see why she would be attracted to a man like Hal who is the complete opposite. The romance between Kate and Hal is an interesting one - their entire relationship actually starts on a lie and it continues that way, which, fortunately, is more humorous than n --?"Carla Kelly's Regency Romances are always superb and a timeless delight."--Romantic Times"one of the most respected Regency writers." --Library Journal A well-known veteran of the romance writing field, Carla Kelly is the author of twenty-six novels and three non-fiction works, as well as numerous short stories and articles for various publications. She is the recipient of two RITA Awards from Romance Writers of America for Best Regency of the Year; two Spur Awards from Western Writers of America; a Whitney Award for Best Romance Fiction, 2011; and a Lifetime Achievement Award from Romantic Times. Carla s interest in historical fiction is a byproduct of her lifelong interest in history. She has a BA in Latin American History from Brigham Young University and an MA in Indian Wars History from University of Louisiana-Monroe. She s held a variety of jobs, including public relations work for major hospitals and hospices, feature writer and columnist for a North Dakota daily newspaper, and ranger in the National Park Service (her favorite job) at Fort Laramie National Historic Site and Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site. She has worked for the North Dakota Historical Society as a contract researcher. Interest in the Napoleonic Wars at sea led to a recent series of novels about the British Channel Fleet during that conflict. Of late, Carla has written two novels set in southeast Wyoming in 1910 that focus on her Mormon background and her interest in ranching. You can find Carla on the Web at: CarlaKellyAuthor.com.
Features & Highlights
- Cynical, lazy Lord Grayson is coerced into delivering a message to lovely Katherine Billings, whose late father frittered away a fortune on artwork. All his purchases were forgeries, save one, which—if sold—would offer Kate a modest living. Meanwhile, Kate has bowed to necessity and set off for Wakefield to become a governess. Gently reared, she has no plans to become a scandalous actress, but Things Happen. Injured by a highwayman hired by his greedy nephew, Lord Grayson staggers to a barn where a play is in progress. There he sees Kate, playing a small role. Through a mishap, she has ended up in Wickfield, not Wakefield, and is performing with the Bladesworth Traveling Company, an acting troupe. What’s a lazy and cynical marquis to do? Lord Grayson—using his everyday name of Hal Hampton—joins the troupe, partly to protect himself from his nephew, but mostly to get to know Kate better. They both fall under the spell of the impecunious but talented Bladesworths. A charming French émigré, a single-minded Bow Street Runner, and love round out a summer where the repertory includes deception, faux marriage, the law, and enough unsavory characters to suit any would-be Shakespeare. After all, the play’s the thing.
