I was a little disappointed to find this was a Regency, since Feather does so well with history and since I'm kind of Regency'd to death. However, this was still a breath of fresh air. The story starts when a man, pursued by enemies, breaks into an old, somewhat derelict residence to hide the message that he needed to protect. Enter the hero, Harry Bonham, whose work involves coding and decoding messages between England's agents abroad and the ministry. It was his message that was nearly stolen, and is now hidden in the house. He learns that the previous occupant has recently died and left the estate to a distant relation. The easiest way to reacquire the missive is to buy the house from the heir, who surely won't want it.The heroine is Cornelia, whose friend Livia inherits said derelict residence. Cornelia (Nell), Livia (Liv) and their friend Aurelia (Ellie) are languishing in the country. Liv is the daughter of a country vicar, while Nell and Ellie are both war widows, whose finances are stringently controlled by male relations. The three women see this as an opportunity to go to London against the wishes of their financial guardians. Nell has a great deal at stake, in that her son's grandfather, the Earl of Markby, resents the fact that her late husband designated her as her son's guardian. Anything she does that is at all scandalous could give him traction in court to obtain guardianship. When Harry meets Nell, he offends her; eventually he realizes that the trio of women cannot be divided. If he wants entree to Livia to try to persuade her to sell her property, he has to get through Nell. Harry's autocratic behavior is off-putting to Nell, but the draw of the attraction between them is enough to overcome the occasional offense until his secrets threaten her family. For once we have a heroine who doesn't accept being run over. Without giving the ending away I'll just say I liked Nell and her backbone and the ending satisfied.
Okay, here's the thing. I normally quite like Jane Feather's work - she's not my favourite by a long shot, but her heroines are usually engaging and her heroes always walk the fine line between alpha male and douchebag without crossing it, which I approve of. This novel was no different. Except, of course, for the fact that I never really got interested in the heroine, who was at times that kiss of death for any good romance heroine, Too Stupid To Live. My other main problem with the book was that the plot device that perpetuated the entire meeting was - brace yourselves - a thimble. Pretty damn lame. And when the hero finally comes out with it that he knows about what the villain wants, etc. etc., the heroine gets mad at him for it! Like he could have come to her the first day and said, "Terribly sorry, ma'am, but might you have found my mysteriously engraved thimble anywhere during your perusal of this newly inherited mansion?" The spy stuff got really old, really fast. Which is sad, because normally it doesn't for me, but I'm thinking in the future Jane Feather should stick to non-spy romantic intrigues. Not a bad romance altogether, but just not my favourite of the author's, and mostly not at all my cup of tea.
What do You think about A Wicked Gentleman (2007)?
With the exception of the more-detail-than-needed descriptions of certain scenes, this was a very good story. I loved the look into the "daily lives" of people in the nineteenth century. The whole mystery surrounding Harry and his codes was so fun to read. I loved the end when the story picked up and the conflict was palpable.Overall, a good book; the only thing that I disliked was the 'R' rated sex scenes. Honestly, if it was a Nora Robert's type of scene, it would have the story so much better, in my opinion.I liked it well enough. The story was good and I loved the mystery and the descriptions of mundane life. Plus it had a happy ending! Those always make me happy.
—Lindsey Faye
The plot was okay but not exciting. It needed more action and suspense--the biggest problem with this book si the characters. They seemed faceless and without empathy. The heroine was a war house and the hero had a panty waist, plus, they didn't seem to like each other. In fact, the heroine disliked the hero on contact (uh-oh!) Then they hop in bed which was not romantic, especially since the love scenes seemed so clinical. This was the perfect example of a set of characters that seemed better suited to a secondary role.
—Angelyn Schmid
A sassy little historical romance with a touch of intrigue and devious shenanigans thrown in for color. Both Harry and Cornelia were immensely likable and their interactions, from the first case of mistaken identity right on through their late night get-togethers, were fun and fiery.It was nice to have our main lady love not only be a widow but have two children that she's deeply devoted to. She doesn't much care for the shallowness of the society ladies or the insipidness of the men. She loves her friends dearly and sticks by them through thick and thin. The fact that she's not a trembling virgin (which is really a nice change of pace, btw) means that she isn't afraid of Harry's man parts and doesn't mind going on some exploratory jaunts to learn what he likes.A quick, light read that won't over-tax the brain.-Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal
—Kelly
