"A charming Regency"

In 1816 London, the Earl of Sinclair, Benjamin hires Joe Quincy as his secretary because he likes the cheeky response the applicant provides back to his inquiries although he has some doubts as the lad does not shave. Quickly, Joe gets the household staff and even Benjamin's mother wrapped around his thin finger and soon uncovers that his predecessor Johnson embezzled quite a bit of money from the Earl.

Benjamin realizes something is not quite right with Joe; a revelation hits Benjamin that Joe is Josephine. As he hires homeless servants who seem to get married rather quickly, he earns the reputation as the "matchmaking Earl". When Jo and Benjamin fall in love, she rejects him because she fears the scandal will hurt her beloved and his kind mother. Benjamin knows he must persuade her otherwise.

Though women masquerading as males have been done quite frequency amongst the Regency romance sub-genre, nonetheless this is a fabulous tale due "Mr. Quincy". Benjamin is a typical hero while the support cast augments the plot by providing insight into the lead couple. The "chase" for Johnson provides a bit of a mystery and some suspense, but the novel is owned by the wonderful Jo. Fans will enjoy her antics as a young man and as a desirable woman. Readers will look forward to more works if this is any indication of how talented Shirley Karr is.

Harriet Klausner

Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted December 18, 2004

Summary

The devilishly attractive Earl of Sinclair is having trouble holding onto servants, what with so many of them pairing up and running off tobe wed. Luckily, his able new secretary, J. Quincy, seems scrupulously loyal, and possesses the invaluable abilityto flawlessly forge the master'ssignature. But imagine Sinclair'ssurprise when he discovers the "J" stands for "Josephine." His cherished employee is, in actuality, a quite delectable lady in disguise! Jo desperately needs this position, and never actually lied about her gender -- though she didn't expect Sinclair's keen eye to expose the truth so quickly. Ifthe ton finds out, the scandal could be devastating. But Jo believes she can still be of service to the dashing lord.The greatest difficulty, however, will be keeping her mindon business with Sinclair standing so tantalizingly, intoxicatingly close. And what this earl wants,he usually gets!