"Light and humorous romp!"
1835, London With the death of their parents, Lady Alyssa Porter and her
young sister, Calla, find life has suddenly become
difficult. Their father's title and his estates have
passed on to a distant cousin who throws the girls out of
their house. Reduced to living in a small cottage that is
little more than a hovel, they barely have enough funds to
make ends meet, while their cousin is living in the lap of
luxury. Alyssa decides to travel to London and try to make
a better living. Once there, she masquerades as Madame
Zora, a gypsy fortuneteller who rapidly becomes a hit at
society parties, and is soon dubbed ëFortune's Lady'. It
is at one such party that Alyssa meets Mr. Ian Fortune, a
man who openly mocks her and challenges her fortune-telling
abilities. Although Alyssa is determined to ignore his
attempts to discredit her, she cannot help being strongly
attracted to him. Ian Fortune has worked very hard to achieve success in his
life. Now he's determined to find himself a suitable bride
with good breeding that he can flaunt in his grandfather's
face, who disowned Ian's father years ago for marrying a
serving maid. When Ian first learns about Madame Zora, he
is intrigued and enjoys mocking her. At every meeting the
two end up bickering about the authenticity of her talents
and regardless of his plans of getting married to a titled
lady, Ian finds himself developing strong feelings of
attraction to Alyssa. FORTUNE'S BRIDE is a light and humorous romp that is sure
to delight fans of Victoria Malvey. Brimming with
excitement and a plot full of unusual twists, I found
myself enjoying quite a few laughs throughout this story. Alyssa and Ian make an interesting couple. Both are strong
personalities with a serious dedication to family
responsibilities and they are both lonely souls carrying
heavy burdens. The dialogue is often amusing and
exhilarating while some scenes were definitely quite
hilarious. I especially enjoyed the times when Madame Zora
cursed Ian with frogs and also the episode with the geese. Ms. Malvey has certainly penned a charming tale with
interesting characters and enchanting antics. The romance
is warm and sweet and the secondary characters are well
portrayed too and add depth and charm to the story. For those who enjoy light hearted regency romps, FORTUNE'S
BRIDE is not to be missed!
Reviewed by Leena Hyat
Courtesy Heart Rate Reviews
Posted July 4, 2001
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