Lord Fool is really Leland Wescott, the Duke of Stromburg. Young though he is, he is a decorated war hero, having saved many of his men from being burned to death in a building fire. Unfortunately, he did so by holding them at gunpoint so that they could not run foolishly into the conflagration to try and save mates who were already beyond help. The military may have thought he saved a significant number of lives, but the peerage thought his actions dishonorable. Dubbed “Lord Fool” behind his back, Stromburg spends his days trying to keep his land and crop holdings from the grasping clutches of the Duke of Redmond and feeling like the fool he is called.When Baron Ledford offers his stepdaughter, Tempest MacIntyre, up for auction as a one-night stand, Stromburg receives an invitation to bid. Infuriated at the Baron’s gall, he goes to warn Tempest of her guardian’s lies about an arranged “wedding.” Though used to the stepfather’s cruelty, the depths of this particular depravity take her aback. And now she understands why so many men are walking around her in the park, looking her over as they would a horse up for sale.Though thankful for the warning, Tempest assures Stromburg that she has already made arrangement to escape the man’s clutches. She also assures him that, with the new developments, she will be gone before the morning and before the stepfather can turn her into damaged goods.Well, as you can imagine, the best laid plans, etc. etc…So, for the remainder of this 70-some page short story, we witness the “gone astray” parts from the viewpoints of Tempest as she tries to flee and Stromburg as he tries to protect and save her. L. L. Muir crafts in this Regency entry, a scenario that alternates tension and fear with bouts of tongue-in-cheek, laugh out loud, tears down the face humor. The scenes involving the auction, the attempt to flee, and the transfer of “goods” to the winner of the auction are all quite seriously plotted. And, as such, the comedy that seems to pop up out of nowhere is both a relief and a true delight. This short story is not deemed a prequel to any of Muir’s current series. However, numerous and intriguing hooks exist that could lead to future works or even a series should Muir choose to do so. **Updated 03/28/13**In this Regency period novella, Lady Tempest finds herself on display, standing alone by the fountain in the park, under the scrutiny of several strange gentlemen. Enter Lord Fool, as one of these fellows has the temerity to approach her under guise of returning a dropped handkerchief, so that he might warn her that her step-father intends to auction off her honor dear, so to speak. She knows she must escape the dastardly villain's clutches.The story is short and would benefit from more development, both in plot and character, but many of the major issues with the previous version have been corrected. The story has a lot of silliness in it and almost makes me think of it as a 'dreadful,' rather than a Regency, but overall, I still find it amusing and on the basis of the revisions gave it another star, for a total of three.One pet peeve of mine: sample chapters from other work are presented as 'bonus material.' In my mind, something that is a complete story in itself would be a bonus. Sample chapters from another book you must buy to finish are advertising and not a gift, and thus not a bonus for anyone but the author and the publisher.Overall, a nice improvement, making the short story more pleasant to read.*********Previous review******************Still a somewhat cute story, but it would have been much improved with better development, a more logical plot line and had the duke not called the young lady 'honey.'*******************************************
What do You think about Lord Fool To The Rescue (2000)?
Way too short but a very cute read! I'll be looking for more by this author. 3.5 stars
—daniel
Good short story. Not a novel, just an afternoon read.
—katniss
Really confusing plot... Just didn't do it for me!
—val_1ofakind
