Title: A Lady for His Lordship
Author: Allie Kensington
Date: 2021
Publisher: Ardently Admired
Quote: "She still hadn't even met the man she was to marry."
Ancilla (the name is the Latin root word of "ancillary" and means an assistant, a subordinate, which is the sort of thing parents did to children in 1770) has agreed to an arranged marriage in the hope that she can learn to love a suitable man. That would be so much more socially acceptable than running off with an undesirable one and becoming poor and unpopular, as her older sister did. Delivered to the Marquess's estate, she loves the place. She even makes friends with an attractive young man--the gardener? the Marquess's cousin? But the Marquess doesn't show up to announce their engagement. In fact, when Ancilla works out that he's the blue-eyed youth she met in the garden, the Marquess offers her money (to be paid to her father, of course) to go away.
Because he walks with a limp. A walking cane is a fashionable accessory but young men who aren't even combat veterans aren't supposed to need one. He's been ridiculed for clumsiness and inability to dance, in the past, and Ancilla wants not only to be the hostess at balls but to dance at them.
It's a Regency Romance so you know what to expect. Casual touches of probably gloved hands will make their hearts race, there will be a chaste and tasteful kiss when the engagement is settled, and points for not peeking to see whether there's an epilogue that mentions a baby arriving a year or so later. As Regency Romances go, it's short, sweet prequel to a series of longer novels to follow. If you like Regency Romances, Allie Kensington is an author whose acquaintance you will surely wish to make.
No comments:
Post a Comment