Review: Sweet  **3 1/2 Stars**
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 05 19, 2014
I enjoyed this short story very much.  It's set in Regency England around the time of the Napoleonic wars.  Darian, Marquess of Bingington, and heir to a Dukedom, is just returned home from the war.  He meets Elizabeth while the two are out riding one day, coming upon the young woman directly after she has been thrown by her horse.  Elizabeth is very taken with the handsome soldier, who introduces himself as Darian, a soldier.  Believing Darian to be the son of the upper servants, Elizabeth allows herself to dream about the handsome soldier for the next several days.When the two next meet, Elizabeth is shocked and dismayed to discover Darian's true identity.  Due to pressure from both sets of parents, Darian applies for permission to court Elizabeth's vain, selfish, flighty, ambitious cousin, Isabella.  Nonetheless, Darian can't seem to get Elizabeth off his mind.  When his younger brother Edward displays an interest in Elizabeth, Darian is consumed with jealousy.  The story progresses at a nice quick pace and, for me, was very entertaining.As much as enjoyed the story, I did have a few issues with it--all of which pertained to historical inaccuracies.  First of all, we are told that Elizabeth's parents have recently died (shortly before Yule) and that she's only been living with her uncle for the past two months...shouldn't she be in mourning?  For that matter, shouldn't the Earl and his family also be in mourning?  Elizabeth's father was brother the Earl's brother.  Not only does Elizabeth attend the Duke's ball, it is clear that she will also be participating in the upcoming season, which is--at the most--only a couple of months away.  That would have been considered shocking behavior.The other problem I had was with Elizabeth's describing herself as a commoner saying "I am a commoner.  My papa was your father's brother, but he had no title and when he chose to become a vicar, the prince regent regained his lands."  To my knowledge, younger sons typically did not have "lands", at least not entailed ones that would revert to the crown.  Then as the brother of an Earl, Elizabeth's father would not be a commoner.  True he would have not have a title, but younger sons of Earls are most definitely NOT commoners and are styled as "honorable Mr."  His becoming a vicar would have absolutely no bearing on the situation.  Of course, Elizabeth's father could have been a half-brother, with a different father, but that does not seem to be the case.The third historical inaccuracy I encountered was the scene where the sisters (Isabella and the younger Julianna) were discussing the Duke's ball, and Darian was said to have danced "every dance" with Isabella.  During that historical period, even engaged couples did not dance more than two dances together as anything more was considered scandalous.  And on the particular night in question, Darian and Isabella were not even courting.Another issue I had was with the fact that Darian's parents wanted him to marry into the "peerage."  I'm not sure what that meant, because the only true "peers" were those who inherited their titles, such as barons, viscounts, earls, and dukes.  At the end of the story when Darian announces he is going to marry Elizabeth, Isabella's response is that Elizabeth is "not a peer."  Well neither is Isabella.  As the daughter of an Earl her title of "Lady" is merely a courtesy one, and in no way makes her a peer.Inaccuracies aside, this is a really sweet story.  Darian and Elizabeth are darling together, and I really liked both characters.  Moreover, IMO, the inaccuracies have a minimal effect--if any--on the story, but I have to admit that I am not, by any means, a stickler for historical accuracy; I prefer it, but am willing to allow authors some creative license.  Ms. I will admit that Ms. Breedman takes quite a bit of liberties with many of the historical aspects, and as such, readers who are stickler for historical accuracies, may not find this book as enjoyable as I did.Ms. Breedman even seems to have altered the storyline of Austen's "Pride and Prejudice" as at one point Elizabeth thinks she has much in common with the heroine of that book, Elizabeth Bennett, as she too lost her father.  Can someone tell me WHEN Elizabeth Bennett lost her father?  I've read P&P; a few times, and I remember Mr. Bennett being very much alive at the end of the story!So, bottom line, I would have loved if this story were a bit longer, but enjoyed it nonetheless.  I would recommend it as a worthwhile read.  If Amazon allowed, I would rate it 3 1/2 stars.  FYI, while this is not a clean romance; the love scene occurs after marriage, is minimally described, and very easily skipped.  Happy reading!