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Kitty Talbot is in dire straits. Her parents have both died, leaving her and her four younger sisters with a small cottage in need of repair, as well as a mountain of debts. Kitty knows the only solution is to find a wealthy husband, and fast, if she wants to save her family home and keep her sisters from having to find work.
An old friend of her mother’s lives in London and invites her and one of her sisters to stay with her so Kitty can attend the Season in the city. She has to learn very quickly how to appear to be a lady of gentility to fit in. Putting her cunning and smarts to work, Kitty zeroes in on any bachelor who has sufficient income to help her and her sisters.
Thanks to some luck, Kitty finds a more-than-worthy young man. But when his older brother, Lord Radcliffe, comes to town, he can see right through to her real intentions. And he won’t have his younger brother be taken in by a poor fortune-hunter. Kitty and Radcliffe come to an understanding about his brother, but that doesn’t stop them from continuing to spar as the Season wears on.
In a story like this, it’s understood that dislike will turn to like and bickering will yield to respect and understanding. How it plays out, the chemistry displayed, the bantering that ensues, are what makes it fun to read.
I did end up enjoying the book, though for about the first half I didn’t feel really engaged. Kitty didn’t feel like much of a character to root for; she came across merely as a flat placeholder, a woman whose only reason for being was to trick other people and be a gold-digger. We know she cares about her sisters, but not much else fills in her personality and makes her likable. It took quite a while for me to start to care about her — too long.
Of course, this Regency romance has many parallels with Pride and Prejudice, and too often it is clear how much it pales in comparison to the classic. Here, the heroine doesn’t hold a candle to Elizabeth Bennet; Radcliffe is flat next to Darcy. But, again, once the book finally hits its stride, it’s fun and the characters start feeling a bit more real and fleshed out.
It’s a respectable debut and a clean romance, which is always welcome, but I’ll look forward to seeing what Irwin writes next; it likely will be better.
Rated: Mild. There are about a dozen instances of mild language and about 15 to 20 uses of the name of Deity. The book includes mild references to some alcohol and drug abuse, and gambling addictions play a small part in some characters’ stories. Two characters have disreputable pasts being “courtesans.” One particular scene involves brief peril; a character holds a gun on another, while being threatened with goons.
