Review: Really adorable, likable heroine, if not a bit self-deprecating
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 06 14, 2014
This heroine is by far my favorite among the heroines created from the author's pen.  She is in every sense a modern woman in Regency dress; she is older, more wizened and more appreciative of herself than any simpering miss making a debut in the ton.But she has lapses of self-deprecation that she really should get over, as they become a bit redundant.  And I understand her lapses in judgment were styled to prolong the plot, but the lapses in judgment of both the heroine and the hero were a bit too prolonged.  It was not very suspenseful, merely prolonged.  Her misjudgment of his character and his inability to coherently make an offer (I understand he was dashed in the head)  are a bit ridiculous.The reader knows that this author's style insures a HEA for everyone involved (except the villain) so it's a foregone conclusion.  Quite quickly you decipher who the villain is, but much to the reader's chagrin, neither the heroine nor the hero figure it out until it's painfully almost too late.There was not enough wit between the two lovers, or would-be lovers, though the potential was there.  Nothing stupid comes out of Meg's mouth until Sedgwick leaves, then we get a few chapters of lovelorn angst that are worth a skim only.In the true sense of Georgette Heyer style the ending is so brief it's almost abrupt, HEA wrapped up very neatly and the villain getting an end that doesn't really match the crime.  It would have been wonderful to actually see these two courting, maybe with an invite to her family to stay at his estate as payment for their hospitality, and all the while the hero's life in danger to almost comical proportions, only to have the heroine save him with the impressive feat of sleuth work she does display in the last chapter.Four stars because I liked the story, the heroine, and even the hero (who was not oversexed as in every other Regency romance not penned by this author, and so was a breath of fresh air) but I did have to skim some parts.