"Regency Opposites Attract"

I purchased this book after hearing how wonderful it was in an on-line chat group. Several members of the group picked it as their Regency book of the year. While I am not sure I would pick it as my favorite Regency novel this year, it would be a close runner up.

Verity Thornrose is a bluestocking do-gooder who, among many charitable endeavors, rescues young farm girls from the street. Verity meets Alaric Tierney, the Earl of Brathmere when she is trying to rescue one of her 'fallen angels' from the clutches of her former employer at a licentious masquerade. Alaric helps Verity reach her charge, but he thinks she is a lady of the night whose favors he would like to enjoy. After this misunderstanding is straightened out, Alaric finds he still desires Verity and sets out to seduce her.

As often happens in Regencies Alaric is caught in his own trap and ends up proposing marriage to Verity, who happily accepts. At this point the villain of the piece Octavian Thornrose, who has terrorized Verity since she was a little girl, raises his ugly head. Octavian is obsessed with making Verity his wife and will stop at nothing to make her his. Octavian forces Verity to renounce Alaric in order to save his life, but her efforts to escape Octavian land her in the Reformatory for Wayward Females Who Have Fallen for the First Time. Really an asylum, where Verity fears actually losing her mind and feels escape is hopeless. Perhaps the book's only flaw is that after a fun and witty first half, the tone of the book takes a dark turn towards melodrama in the asylum chapters. It is quite an abrupt change in tone and is what keeps me from making this my Regency choice for the year. But, Verity's escape is a delight and sends the book back to being a wonderful romp.

Alaric and Verity are both engaging characters and I found myself rooting for their romance. Alaric is a fully developed hero, with plenty of flaws but also engaging and funny.

Verity is a good match for Alaric, although a bluestocking and a do-gooder she is three dimensional with many aspects to her personality. Verity and Alaric's dialogue is snappy and the names of the Charity organizations (all of which are real) are hilarious. The Regency apparently had a charity for every known human condition. The happy ending for this pair was very believable and satisfying.

Also, a delight is the secondary romance between the rescued streetwalker Deidre and Rafe the upwardly mobile footman. These two were a delight and I thought the solution for them was wonderful. I could see this couple sparring and kissing for many years to come.

I highly recommend this delightful story to all and look forward to reading more from Miss Burrows in the future.

Reviewed by Linda Hurst
Posted January 17, 2005

Summary

She has the face of an angel, the gall of an adventuress, and the vocabulary of an Oxford don. She dresses like a Quaker and has some radical ideas about society. She is Verity Thornrose, the last in a philanthropic, reform-minded family. But when Verity's latest charitable endeavor lands her in the clutches of the infamous Earl of Brathmere, he mistakes her for a lady of the night. Although Verity flees, the Earl is intrigued by this lovely highflier—and determines to track her down.

Soon enough, Verity discovers, to her horror, that she has put her reputation in the hands of a rakehell. All the while, a scorned admirer will not rest until Verity is confined to a Reformatory for Wayward Females Who Have Fallen for the First Time. Now all Verity has to rely on is her namesake—the truth...