Customer Reviews

The Reluctant Reformer

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Lady Margaret Wentworth's brother Gerald was unfortunately killed during the war, leaving Maggie to care for his London house and the servants that are dependant on her for a living. There is little cash in her inheritance, so Maggie does the scandalous thing of earning a living - continuing the writing career that her brother started. Before the opening of the book she has disguised herself to, for example, investigate a gentleman's gambling club to write about, something that would horrify society if they suspected who G W Clark really was. Now Maggie is investigating a brothel, conducting interviews in the very brothel housing the infamous `Lady X'.

Lord Ramsey was a good friend of Gerald - in fact Gerald died saving his life. James had promised Gerald to watch over his sister. To live up to that vow, James employed an investigator on his return - an investigator who identified Maggie as Lady X. Now James is determined to save Maggie from herself, and on the very night she next travels to the brothel, James kidnaps her and takes Maggie to his estate. The issue of mistaken identity is resolved about half way through the book and Maggie returns to London, soon followed by James, but now it appears that someone is trying to harm her...

Sands has a definite feel for comic situations. From the kidnap to the talking at cross purposes that goes on for days between James and Maggie, to Maggies attempt at escape, to the events that seem destined to happen whenever they go into a library, the talented Sands is able to infuse a lighthearted element even into moments of danger or stress. And in this case it even carries across to the love life of the two central characters - right up to the very last page.

The eccentric servants, the brothel owner, James' aunt and his best friend Robert all make excellent secondary characters. I'm sure all readers of romance would enjoy this lively example.

One thing you must say for Lynsay Sands - ANything she writes generally has outrageously funny dialog and this one scores a 10!

Talk about a comedy of errors - or should we say a breakdown of communication.
Since her brother Gerald died and left her property without the proper funds to maintain, Lady Margaret must find a way to support herself and old family retainers that she cannot let go of. She assumes her brothers pen name and begins to write articles for a local newspaper. Now everyone knows that a certain amount of research must go int these articles, so donning a plethora of disguises, Lady Margaret has gone into a number of places no 'Lady' should be seen in.

Enter, Lord James, who is alive because her brother took the bullet intended for him. On his deathbed, James promised Gerald to look after his sweet innocent sister. To find this sweet innocent sister in the bordello - dressed as Lady X - well he just had to save her!

This was one terrific read! I don't see where anyone who reads this will not absolutely burst out into gales of laughter! This is an outstanding book by an outstanding author. All her books are keepers - especially this one!

I just started reading books by this author and I must say that I have enjoyed each one so far. Her stories make me chuckle at times. She writes with humor and passion. The characters were warm and easy to get to know. By the third page I was hooked. The only thing that bothered me was that Maggie got knocked out a lot, other than that it was a nice mystery, fun and had several titilating love scenes. I like this writer and plan to read more. The last one I read was The Lady Pirate which I thought was GREAT! I would actually rate this book a 4 1/2 star book.

This the third Lynsay Sands novel and so far my favorite.
The heroines brother on his death bed asked James to look after is sister. Maggie knows nothing of this agreement and has never met James in person.

James learns that Maggie has been going to a bordello and thinks that she maybe the famous Lady X. A lady of noble birth forced to sell her body. James is appalled and rushes to the bordello to save Maggie. Once there James spies a blond lady wearing a red mask; Lady X never intertains men without her mask. He thinks the lady is Maggie. He is right Maggie is there and is wearing a red mask but not for the reason he thinks she.

James kidnaps her for her own good. Once Maggie awakens from her faint the real confusion begins. Maggie thinks that James really dose know what she had been doing to earn money and had no idea that he believes her to be prostitute.

While they are together James fights his attraction to Maggie and tries to reform her. Maggie doesn't think she need to be reformed becasue earning a living as a writer isn't that bad.

This is were the fun begins. James is horrified when Maggie says thinks like I enjoy what I do and Maggie can't understand why he is so horrified. This leads to some very funny conversations that had me laughing.

James and Maggie had great sexual chemistry which lead to some sizzling love scenes.

Sensuality rating 4 out of 5

I read everything Ms. Sands write. She is a must read for me. This book is one of her best. It was hilarious. I loved evey minute. I could not put it down. I recommend you read all her books. They all have good stories and a large amount of humor.

This book is quite comical but at times quite predictable. When Gerald dies saving Lord James life in war, James promises to look after his sister Maggie. James hires a bow street runner to track down Maggie and finds her in a brothel. James mistakenly believes Maggie to be Lady X, a famous prostitute believed to be a member of the nobility who has fallen on hard times. Maggie has indeed fallen on hard times, she was left a townhouse and a house full of servants to support with little income. She must go to work to provide for all the servants, she refuses to turn any of them out as most have been with her family for years. However, Maggie is not a prostitute she is the infamous article writer GW Clarke and is at the brothel to gather research for a new article. James kidnaps Maggie and takes her to his country estate hoping to reform her and convince her to leave her notorious profession. For the first half of the book, James believes her to be a prostitute and Maggie thinks he is outraged over her being a writer. James Aunt Viv arrives for a visit and finds James and Maggie in a very compromising position in the library. The truth of Maggie's identity comes out and angered over his perception of her, Maggie leaves James' house and returns to London. After her return to London, several attempts are made on Maggie's life and it becomes obvious she angered someone with her articles and needs to be protected. OF course, James volunteers and takes her to his London home. James and Maggie are once again caught in a compromising position and James asks Maggie to marry him.

This is a really cute story, but not very realistic. Maggie would have been ousted from society after the first of her antics had this occured in the 19th century. It's still a fun story though.

This was a lot of fun. It was the first of 3 Lynsay Sands books I have read so far, and of those 3, it is my 2nd favorite. I will review the other 2 shortly.

This book had a cute & charming premise, and I loved the way the
main character was always landing herself in predicaments that were
difficult for her to get out of. I got the distinct impression that he really did have a thing for libraries, although there is
an interesting carriage scene at the end of the book >wink, wink, nudge, nudge<

I don't know if Lynsay has any other regencies, but if not, she
should most definitely attempt a few more. I like how she throws some mystery in to each of her books I have read. She seems to balance humor, mystery, love, romance, villany, etc. very well.

Lord Gerald Wentworth had been Lord James's best friend before dying saving his life. James had promised to protect Gerald's beautiful and virtuous sister, Margaret, but when he found her in a house of ill repute, he was sure she was Lady X, London's most enigmatic wanton. He had to find a way to reform her and save her from scandal, and, at the same time, keep his hands off her luscious curves and himself from falling in love with the temptress.

Not much of a review writer, but I am the male half of the team that runs WISE Writers and Readers at MSN. And we picked this book at the Book of the Month for February 2002. And I must say it earns it.

I have been a fan of Lynsay Sands since reading Lady Pirate, and with each book only grow more an ardent admirer of her writings.

The book was simply a great read. Her characters are funny, but not stupid. I really hate when writers force their characters to do stupid things just to further the plot. Lynsay never resorts to this. Her characters often end up in really hysterical situations, but it because it happens in the natural flow. She never insults the reader with sappy,paperdoll characters, but gives you living breathing people that you truly 'See'. She is in a class by herself, and I note many writers trying to imitate her lately. There is only one Lynsay.

When I pick up her book I know I am going to smile, laugh out loud and come away knowing I enjoyed myself to the fullest!!

Thank you, Lynsay!!

This book started out so slow for me. I kept waiting for it to get interesting (per all the 5 star reviews)and, eventually, it did and was a pretty good story. I think the editing was just very bad. I enjoyed the attraction between the hero and heroine and their escapades in the library. This was an average read for me, enjoyable but not knock your socks off good. It could have been so much better but there were entirely too many musings over the same thought. When a book does that, it really makes you want to skim through those long, boring, repetitive thoughts. When the story was "active" and moving, it was so much better and it was much more that way as the story progressed.