I loved this story of the handsome disorganized duke and his ultra neat ward. Ms. Grey has a gift for giving us memorable characters with very real quirks and faults, unlike some of the perfect people found in this genre. Blakewell is usually late and very disorganized and Henrietta is his opposite, since the only control she really has over her life is in the small details. The other characters are equally interesting, particularly Blakewell's two cousins and his former mistress, although I was intrigued by the little seen Duke of Rockcliffe also. I enjoyed the adventures they had, especially the balloon ride with Gibby's flirt. I also liked the realism of Henrietta's allergy attack on the carriage ride in the park with Lord Waldo even if the dog in question showed up a little early in it's history, a spaniel would have been a better choice overall. Westies weren't called such until the mid nineteenth century and are known to be a good choice for people with allergies, though not someone with an allergy as severe as Henrietta's. I have been waiting a long time for Ms. Grey to release another story and was definitely not disappointed here. This romance has great characters, a strong heroine, humor, excitement and great love scenes, I couldn't ask for anything more!

Overall rating:
Sensuality rating: Mildly sensual

Reviewer: Maura Frankman
January 15, 2009