Miss Wonderful and a trip to the bookstore
70. Loretta Chase, Miss Wonderful
Alistair Carsington, third son of the Earl of Hargate, can’t seem to keep out of trouble. His scandalous liaisons with women are legendary, his extravagance has plunged him into serious debt, and his short stint in the army sent him to Waterloo, where he acquired a leg injury and a permanent limp. Now Alistair’s father has issued an ultimatum: he must either find a job or marry an heiress within the next six months, or his younger brothers will be disinherited. Ashamed and determined to mend his ways, Alistair travels to the wilds of Derbyshire to help his friend build a potentially lucrative canal. However, Alistair reckons without Mirabel Oldridge, the 31-year-old daughter of a prominent landowner, who will do anything in her power to prevent the canal from being built. In order to placate his father and help his friend, Alistair must persuade Mirabel to give up her objections - and resist his own powerful attraction to her.
I very much enjoyed Chase’s historical romance Knaves’ Wager, so I had high hopes for this book; unfortunately, it didn’t live up to my expectations. It was reasonably well written, but I felt as though I’d encountered all the characters and plot devices before. There just wasn’t anything particularly unique or original about this book, nothing to make it stand out from the thousands of other romance novels set in this period. While not a bad novel by any means, this book is simply not memorable, and I probably wouldn’t read it again.
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Today I went to Borders, where I was severely tempted by several books:
Honestly, it was the cover that attracted me to Burning Lamp (seriously, isn't it gorgeous?); I've never read anything by Amanda Quick/Jayne Ann Krentz, and this book appears to be part of a series called "The Arcane Society." Has anyone read these books? Are they any good? The Sherlock Holmes collection was on sale for $7.99. I've already read the stories, but it's been a very long time, and Holmes is a classic...I think it might be worth buying, but I'm hesitating because my mom already owns the book, and I'm pretty sure I could steal it. :) The Pale Assassin is set during the French Revolution, and i have a weakness for historical romances set in that period. The Girl with Glass Feet looks very intriguing, but apparently the Amazon reviewers aren't huge fans, so I'm rethinking it now.
Anyway, I didn't buy anything since I'm on a very strict budget right now. Oh well, maybe I can find some of them at the library!