This book is quite comical but at times quite predictable. When Gerald dies saving Lord James life in war, James promises to look after his sister Maggie. James hires a bow street runner to track down Maggie and finds her in a brothel. James mistakenly believes Maggie to be Lady X, a famous prostitute believed to be a member of the nobility who has fallen on hard times. Maggie has indeed fallen on hard times, she was left a townhouse and a house full of servants to support with little income. She must go to work to provide for all the servants, she refuses to turn any of them out as most have been with her family for years. However, Maggie is not a prostitute she is the infamous article writer GW Clarke and is at the brothel to gather research for a new article. James kidnaps Maggie and takes her to his country estate hoping to reform her and convince her to leave her notorious profession. For the first half of the book, James believes her to be a prostitute and Maggie thinks he is outraged over her being a writer. James Aunt Viv arrives for a visit and finds James and Maggie in a very compromising position in the library. The truth of Maggie's identity comes out and angered over his perception of her, Maggie leaves James' house and returns to London. After her return to London, several attempts are made on Maggie's life and it becomes obvious she angered someone with her articles and needs to be protected. OF course, James volunteers and takes her to his London home. James and Maggie are once again caught in a compromising position and James asks Maggie to marry him.

This is a really cute story, but not very realistic. Maggie would have been ousted from society after the first of her antics had this occured in the 19th century. It's still a fun story though.

The heroine may act silly; but, didn't we all when we were young (or maybe we still do stupid things). She is impulsive and I can relate to her. This is a fun book to read and very elementary if you don't try to 'anal'yze it to death. I am now reading 'The Perfect Wife' and find Ms. Sands books a refreshing change much like Jillian Hunter's books. Remember these 'girls' were/are a product of their society and era.

Perhaps this was the wrong book to start reading Lynsay Sands, but I just couldn't get into the book. In fact, I largely skipped through the last half. Don't get me wrong! It started out with such promise, but I slowly started to REALLY dislike the heroine, I mean for God's sake, how many times can you be almost "accidently" killed - and her half*ssed attempt at escape was truly insulting. Again, perhaps this was just a hiccup in the Lynsay Sands book collection - but a heads up to other readers who maybe aren't into the defenseless heroine schtick - BUY IT USED!!!

This was a lot of fun. It was the first of 3 Lynsay Sands books I have read so far, and of those 3, it is my 2nd favorite. I will review the other 2 shortly.

This book had a cute & charming premise, and I loved the way the
main character was always landing herself in predicaments that were
difficult for her to get out of. I got the distinct impression that he really did have a thing for libraries, although there is
an interesting carriage scene at the end of the book >wink, wink, nudge, nudge<

I don't know if Lynsay has any other regencies, but if not, she
should most definitely attempt a few more. I like how she throws some mystery in to each of her books I have read. She seems to balance humor, mystery, love, romance, villany, etc. very well.