Not Quite a Lady by Loretta Chase

I’ve got to be honest about this one. I love the cover, and that reason alone really made me want to read this book. After reading the summary on the back, I didn’t have alot of expectations going into the reading about Lady Charlotte Hayward and Darius Carsington. Which should tell me that I of course, can’t judge a book by the summary.

After getting through the prologue though I can see why the summary is necessarily. . . vague. Charlotte’s past could very well have made this a much darker story than it was. A bad, bad thing happened to Charlotte when she was 17. It’s understandable considering her father remarried her stepmother rather quickly after her mother had died. She’s coped with it well enough for the past ten years, as well as perfecting the art of Not Getting Married. And having no one notice that she’s good at Not Getting Married.

That all changes when her father wants her to be happy and plans a house party to get her married off.

Darius Carsington is an expert at well. . .being an expert. He’s an intelligent, logical sort of guy and is not afraid of letting everyone know it. When his father offers him the challenge of turning around a dilapidated estate he takes the bait, mostly because he’s getting bored with his life in London. The estate borders Charlotte’s father’s estate and they meet, but don’t really care for each other much. Being in the country though, they tend to encounter each other and then Charlotte’s stepmother volunteers to help put the crumbling house on Darius’ estate in order for him.

Charlotte and Darius are so amazingly real. There are a couple of convenient plot devices, but they aren’t things that a reader would roll their eyes over, and there was no point where the thought “Oh that’s so stupid . . .” ever even crossed my mind. The story is alternately witty and thoughtful, and well, logical.

Charlotte and Darius also show that they not only care about each other, especially when Charlotte confides about the bad, bad thing, but they care about all the family and friends around them, even if they don’t outwardly show it all the time.

Charlotte also had a very healthy view of sex for a Regency miss. She enjoys the touching, and kissing and healthy friction you can have with a fine male specimen, such as Darius, and she doesn’t shy away from him because she enjoys sex. That, fellow readers, is a breath of fresh air. The little guilt she feels is not because she enjoys sex but because of her bad, bad thing in the past.

Lively characters, believable plotting, and a genuinely caring romance make this one a must read for the summer months. If you have time, go back and reread it too. I know I will.

Grade: A