Secrets of a Proper Lady by Victoria Alexander

This story is the third in a series about a group of bachelors who have a bet going to see how can be the last man standing, the first being A Little Bit Wicked and the second What a Lady Wants.

Lady Cordelia Bannister has always been independent and rather spoiled. She’s traveled the world with her companion, her cousin Sarah Palmer, and writes travel articles for Ladies’ magazines of the various places she’s been around the world. Cordelia is also writing a book of her travels and of course keep traveling the world.

But her nicely planned life is halted when she finds out her father has arranged a marriage with a wealthy American named Daniel Sinclair. Wanting more information she poses as Sarah to question Daniel’s secretary, Warren Lewis. An impulsive ambush leads to an attraction, but Cordelia is unknowingly questioning Daniel Sinclair himself.

Like Cordelia, Daniel doesn’t like being in an arranged marriage. He’s not interested in marrying at all. But an attractive, unknown woman wanting to know about him for his supposed betrothed proves too much to resist. In their guises Daniel and Cordelia learn about each other, fight the attraction, fall in love, and start a tangled mess that if they figure it out, could give them ultimate happiness.

With all the deception, guess who antics, and fear of discovery it was hard to follow Cordelia and Daniel falling in love. It was rather lackluster courtship as well, since most of it they’re thinking they’re different people. And worrying about what’s going to happen when the other person finds out the truth.

There is some witty dialogue, but it happens more in discussion of the situation rather than between the hero and heroine. And there are some secondary characters that bring some liveliness to the action such as Daniel’s new step Aunt Ursula, who looks on the whole situation as a farce. Which it is.

Especially since Cordelia is definitely spoiled and self centered, which people tell her to her face and she realizes she needs to do her duty for her family, since they’ll be out of a fortune if some business investments and companies don’t merge with the merging of the two families. It’s not really a good sign that one of the driving forces for the romance is backed by such immediate rather dire financial circumstances.

Not only is the deception and disguise too much for the story, Cordelia tries to justify her antics with seeing what fate has in store for her. If one truly believes fate has a part in your life, you let things happen, because fate is the end point, not the journey. At least that’s what I think.

And any time when a vicar tells the “happy couple” that God should have mercy on them, hilarity and perhaps a good bout of eye rolling ensues. Alexander usually doesn’t go for the cheap laughs and the slapstick, and the story was rather forced and almost phoned in.

Though I wouldn’t be happy about an arranged marriage either, it all seemed like too much show and little substance for the story. The various disguise, intrigues, and wanting to keep one leg up on the other distracted from something that could have been special: a story where two people are attracted to one another, get to know each other, and fall in love.

Grade: D