Review: OMG!  I Loooooooved This Book!  **Mild Spoiler Alert**
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 11 9, 2013
I completely loved reading this book.  It's only about 150 pages and I read it in one day.....all while doing laundry, washing dishes, and a bunch of other household chores.  I could not put the book down!  The plot of this book is loosely based on the Cinderella fairytale, which is an absolute favorite of mine.Calista, the heroine, has a step-mother, Evelyn, who is an absolute sweetheart, and a step-sister, Blanche, who is a spawn of the devil.  Blanche is very beautiful and feels she is entitled to become a Duchess, or at the very least a Countess.  Calista is also very pretty, though in a somewhat less dramatic way than Blanche.When the story begins, Calista, Evelyn, and Blanche are all traveling to London for the season.  Their carriage is held up by highwaymen and the hero, Colonel Brook Windebank, comes to their rescue.  Brook is ex-army and is absolutely gorgeous!  Blanche is attracted to him and, of course, believes that Brook is in love with her (because every man must be in love with her!)  However, it is obvious to the reader that from the very beginning it is Calista who holds Brook's interest.I love a book where there is a beautiful rival for the hero's attention, but it is the heroine who the hero wants from the outset.  I think it is so romantic!  Brook and his companion, Harry Benedict, who assisted with the highwayman situation, accompany the ladies to London to ensure they arrive without further mishap.  From there the story quickly develops.Although Brook's partiality for Calista is marked from the outset she, of course, thinks he is only being kind to her and that he really wants Blanche.  But, Brook is no fool and sees Blanche for exactly what she is.  Brook's hand is forced to offer for Calista earlier than he had planned when she is pursued by the old, drunkard, Earl of Garton.  Of course, Calista believes that once again Brook is only being kind and tries to find ways to extricate him from their betrothal.The plot gets rounded out by poisonings, a shooting, and an illicit secret.  There is also a sweet side romance between Evelyn and Harry, who were childhood sweethearts.  In addition, there is secrecy surrounding Brook's relationship with his father, the Duke of Midchester, a man whom Brook cannot abide.  Of course the book isn't perfect.....is any book?I did have a couple of minor issues with it...1) the story cries out for an epilogue.  It would have been nice to see how Brook's relationship with his father had developed and whether or not he had embraced his birthright as the next Duke of Midchester; 2) It seems to me that Blanche had gotten away with her evil deeds.  I mean marriage to man who is said may not be a "kind" husband was hardly punishment enough, especially when you consider she had managed to snag a bloody title just as she had aspired to; 3) I would have loved to have seen Blanche's reaction when she realized that Calista was actually the future Duchess of Midchester (I think that would have been classic!); and 4) I did think that Calista could have figured out a bit earlier that it was her Brook wanted.Then too the author seemed to have taken artistic license with the inheritance laws of the time, but I wasn't offended by that fact whatsoever.  I love reviews with spoilers and write my reviews for those of you who, like myself, like to have extra information before purchasing a book.  But, I think I've said enough here which will, hopefully, induce you to read this book.  Just buy it and read it!  At .99 you can't go wrong!  BTW this is a "clean" romance.  There is post-marital sex, but no details.Oh, and if you like this book you should also check out "Once Bitten, Twice Shy" by Christina Courtenay.  That's another wonderful regency that is loosely based on the Cinderella theme (though there are no step-relations in that book, but an evil twin.)