"Terrific Regency!"

Unassuming, hardworking, underpaid curate and sometime tutor James Weatherly was resigned to his lot in life of genteel poverty until approached by a solicitor informing him he was the heir to a dukedom of Montford. Unfortunately, traveling by stage on the road to claiming his inheritance he was later set upon by footpads, beaten severely and lost his memory and any identifying papers.

Margaret Darrington after having waited long enough to meet up with the new tutor she'd hired to teach her brother, set off for home when she discovered James on the road. Seeing his scattered books and his shabby dress she incorrectly assumes he is Mr. Fanshawe, her errant tutor and brings him to her home. Having lost his memory James goes along with her feeling that perhaps he is Mr. Fanshawe, for being a tutor seemed to feel right.

As time went by, Margaret couldn't help but notice after the bruises faded, Mr. Fanshawe was both pleasing in looks and personality. After disabusing James of any hope of a winning her beautiful sister Amanda's hand (in whom Margaret planned a brilliant match to save the family) Margaret knows Amanda would be the only one who could attract a wealthy suitor, perhaps even the new Duke of Montford not knowing that true Duke was her very own dear Mr. Fanshawe.

*** Rejoice good people, all rumors about Regency being dead should be put aside! If OF PAUPERS AND PEERS is any example of the brilliance of that genre, it is alive and flourishing exceedingly well as evidenced from this superlative offering from Ms. Sherri Cobb Smith! Oh what a perfectly splendid reading experience!

South's grasp of the genre is evident in the well-written story using dialogs utilizing the cant of the period and moving the reader right into Ms. Jane Austen's England. She engages your emotions with appealing characters that will all become endearingly real and memorable. James was a tremendously appealing character who was brilliantly created with a self-deprecating wit regarding his looks and especially his elevated status. Margaret is the strong head of the family, not by choice but by circumstance, and in her determination to see her younger brother have a future, she pins all her hopes on the one asset the family has left -- her beautiful younger sister Amanda. She has been the family savior for so long she has forgotten that she is just as lovely and desirable herself. The impromptu moonlight serenade, and secondary characters including Margaret's feather--brained aunt all blended together to enhance some lovely memorable scenes that made for a delightful story. I totally loved this book and it will find a permanent place on my 'keeper' bookshelf, right alongside Jane Austen.

Marilyn Rondeau, RIO - Reviewers International Organization

Reviewed by Marilyn Rondeau
Posted February 21, 2007