3.0 out of 5 stars
Not One of Gayle Buck's Best, July 19, 2011
In the opening chapters we are told that Lucinda is coming to town for the Season, determined to have a good time exactly one year after the death of her late unlamented husband. He was openly unfaithful and treated her like one of the beautiful ornaments in his collection, and when he was bored he dismissed her, within seven months of their marriage, to a small country estate. She proclaims to all and sundry that she is determined to never marry again, and who could blame her after such a disastrous first marriage? She is aided in her plans by her late husband's heir, the new Lord Mays, who gives her the use of the Mays townhouse and is obviously from the beginning the only male character who has a chance of winning her. Living with her in town are Miss Blythe, a companion, and a bit later on, her sister-in-law, Agnes, one of the more cowed, helpless and uninteresting female characters I've ever come across.
Overall, this book was a disappointment. The focus of the story was exclusively on relationships, which would be fine if the plot wasn't so uneven. One problem was that there were no serious contenders for Lucinda's heart. Lord Mays is presented in the light of a friend, and there was no real courtship until almost the very end. Lucinda's cousin, a gambler and sponge, is supposedly the villain but he is too easily disposed of. Lord Pembroke is a charming man who looks more like the typical Regency Romance hero than Mays, being tall and handsome, but then we don't see him again until the book is two-thirds over, and then only briefly. He's a throwaway character. Miss Blythe has a romantic connection of her own that is not mentioned until the very end. In case you're wondering, the love scenes were squeaky clean. I'm giving this three stars because I did like Lucinda; even though she's presented as almost too perfect--fearsomely beautiful, rich, smart, a loyal friend--she has a brittle, bitter quality especially in the beginning, from her first marriage, that you see her grow out of over the course of the book. Unless you're determined to read all of Ms. Buck's books, I recommend skipping this one.
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