"Terrific historical tale"

In 1817 Earl Edward Carsington is tired of paying the bills for his third of five sons and the oldest unmarried one. He demands that Alistair in his late twenties either finds a wealthy wife or earns income through business. Rather than wed, the melancholy war "hero" joins his friend Lord Gordmor in building a canal in Derbyshire.

Some of the local landowners oppose the project so Alistair heads north to persuade them to support the canal endeavor. The opposition leader is spinster Mirabel Oldridge who is a couple of years older than Alistair. As she deftly sabotages his support through her silver tongue, they fall in love. However, he believes the canal is a boom while she believes it is a bust leaving a gap wider than his proposal to keep them apart.

Fans will enjoy this wonderful Regency romance that takes the contemporary issue of environment vs. development back to its roots in early nineteenth century England. The story line is crisp as Mirabel and Alistair debate the merits and demerits of the impact of a canal on the locality even as both fall in love. The secondary cast adds depth to the debate so that the audience receives a terrific historical tale with modern day implications.

Harriet Klausner

Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted February 27, 2004

Summary

Alistair Carsington really, really wishes he didn't love women quite so much. To escape his worst impulses, he sets out for a place far from civilization: Derbyshire--in winter!--where he hopes to kill two birds with one stone: avoid all temptation, and repay the friend who saved his life on the fields of Waterloo. But this noble aim drops him straight into opposition with Miss Mirabel Oldridge, a woman every bit as intelligent, obstinate, and devious as he—and maddeningly irresistible.

Mirabel Oldridge already has her hands full keeping her brilliant and aggravatingly eccentric father out of trouble. The last thing she needs is a stunningly attractive, oversensitive and overbright aristocrat reminding her she has a heart--not to mention a body he claims is so unstylishly clothed that undressing her is practically a civic duty.

Could the situation be any worse? And why does something that seems so wrong feel so very wonderful?