Desperate Measures (A Regency Short Story) (2000) - Plot & Excerpts
Miss Lydia Bettride is desperate. Her Mama is after her to choose a husband but the man she loves doesn't love her back. Geoffrey Danforth is one of her brother's friends and treats her like a sister. What's a lovesick maiden to do? Enlist the aid of another friend of her brother's to play the suitor to make Geoffrey jealous. When Philip cries off and lets Geoffrey take his place, Lydia doesn't know what to do. She comes up with a brilliant solution that will hopefully have Goeffrey in her arms in no time. Her plan seems to be working too well when Geoffrey awakens her budding sensuality. Will they or won't they get together in the end? This story is dreadful. It could have worked as a longer story but the length makes the action happy too quickly. The backstory comes a little too late after characters are mentioned but not explained who they are. The romance heats up quickly and is more sensual than I expected. The sensual scene is plopped in the story without really exploring what it means to the characters. They very briefly talk after that and then the story ends. It's all a bit too quick for me. There's no time for character development or a slowly developing relationship. The hero and heroine already know each other so that the story can proceed right to romance. I prefer a more slow burn type relationship that begins in friendship and ends in a proposal. This author has gotten rave reviews from clean Regency fans and I hope her non-free, full length novels are better. This is a nice introduction to Candice Hern and the Regency romance genre. Entertaining, it is a simple story of a young woman's unrequited love and what she does to get the gentleman to notice her. This Kindle edition can be read in under 30 minutes and at this time, it is free on Amazon. It is refreshing because you won't find the typical spelling and grammatical mistakes I see with other Kindle stories.
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