Great book, I loved it! . First, a word about the publishers. . . Somewhere it is decreed, I suppose in the Regency genre publishing house, that all "Regency Romance" books must be exactly 218 pages, no more and no less, so that if one author writes less, they make the letters nice and big, three paragraphs to a page. . . And if another author has a longer story, the publishers will squeeze ten paragraphs, in tiny letters, onto one page. . . This is one of the books where you have ten paragraphs (or more) per page, plus there is so much going on in the story that the plotline is constantly changing . . . for me, this made for some frustrating reading.    But as for the story itself - this is my first by Allison Lane, and what I see, I like.  I was pre-warned that she is a "darker" Regency author, so that I did not find the issues explored in this story shocking.  Yes, it's sad, but, unfortunately, there really are parents like that.  (Today, since arranged marriages are not really "done" it will play out in the form of career, or how their children should live their lives. . .)  As for the character of Reggie - he's a really nice, sympathetic character, but I'm afraid that his problem was a real one.  Maybe it's uncommon, and he seems to have had an unusually bad case of it, but it is only today that they have medication for these problems (those who have read the story know which medication I mean).      I loved the heroine!  I hate to say this, but she sounds so exactly like me, that how can I not have loved this story?    Miss Joanna Patterson was hired as a sort-of companion to Lady Harriet, to launch her into society - and to find her a husband, perferably a rich one.  Being rather plain, awkward, and bespecled besides, Joanna has no such hopes for herself.      Lord Sedgewick Wylie is not only a dandy, but he is the biggest dandy of them all - actually, he is a social leader.  Always, always, impeccably dressed, always with perfect manners, Lord Sedgewick is as different from Joanna as could possibly be.  But what society does not know, and would possibly ridicule if they did, is that under that dandified clothing is a smart and educated man - and he is starting to get bored with the society role that he is playing.    In short, this is a couple that is different as could possibly be, and would never have even looked at each other, if fate had not intervened, in not one, not two, but three separate "accidents" involving each other, the last one culminating in their forced marriage - although "marriage" for show, and "marriage" for real are two separate things entirely. . .     Quite early on in the book, I recognized the plot.  Yes, I was right.  This book has a similar plot to "The Viscount who Loved me" by Julia Quinn.  I checked the publishing dates to see "who cheated" but they were published quite closely together, actually this book was first. . . Maybe this is a fairly common Regency plot device, I haven't read enough Regency books to know if this is so or not.    And unlike some previous reviewers, I really liked the character of Lord Sedgewick.  He is a refreshing change from the rakes, and more rakes, that seem to populate all the Regency fare that I have read so far.  Although a dandy, he is responsible, and uses his position in society wisely - he actually tries to help people.  He is not a rake, nor does he gamble in excess, or drink etc. etc.  In short, in many ways a paragon.  And although he does treat the heroine badly at some point in the book, his reasons are very clear, and believable, to me.  Besides, once he gets over his initial reaction, he does apologize, and he even comes to an understanding within himself as to why he treated her this way, and how he will change in the future.  Hey, you can't ask for much better than that.  Even if I am the only one, I do see a very nice future for the rest of their lives together.    I like Allison Lane's style.  I like her complicated plots, I liked her *very" complex characters, and I especially liker her *very* realistic portrayal of the issues she has chosen to deal with in this Regency novel.  This is one smart lady, and I really enjoyed her writing.      I recommend this book for anyone who likes Regencies a bit *darker*, but more realistic, and especially for those who like complicated plots with full-fleshed characters, created by an extremely intelligent author
Output: POS