A young man who grew up unloved is enjoying London Society,
determined that he'll marry at a much later date. A young
woman from an impecunious family has to make a good match,
and works hard to present herself as ideal. She finds
admirers at balls, but her family circumstances may deter
offers....
THE LUCKIEST LADY IN LONDON is Miss Louisa Cantwell, of
threadbare respectability and charming looks. Felix
Wrenworth notices her but can't take her seriously. He's
not looking for a wife anyway, while the girl is obviously
on the marriage mart. Then another man has to cry off a
dinner party and Felix takes his place, thus being seated
next to Louisa, making her the envy of all the unmarried
girls in London. Somehow as they chat about inconsequential
matters a chemistry sizzles between them, so that it's hard
to concentrate.
Louisa loves books and unknown to most people, Felix is a
keen astronomer. So it's not surprising that they should
bump into each other in a museum, and eventually Felix is
interested enough to make a less than decent proposal to
the lady, who needs money to support her family. She can't
accept, because that would ruin any chance of wedding well.
Louisa may have read 'Pride And Prejudice' but she knows
that even Jane Austen didn't get swept off her feet. Which
makes it all the stranger that she keeps imagining Felix
and herself together....
Sherry Thomas has written a careful study of manners in
which conversations and not action are to the fore. Nobody
can either feel strong emotion or display it, in the rigid
society of the wealthy, and women have little say in their
circumstances. These two characters really came to life
for me when they made astronomical observations together,
seeing a comet, or the blueness of Neptune, through Felix's
expensive telescope and reacting with genuine excitement.
Some readers may find the earlier chapters slow because of
this, but the contrast with Louisa and Felix when they
allow themselves to be real people instead of appropriate
figures is a pleasure. THE LUCKIEST LADY IN LONDON will
interest readers who want a historical romance with an
unusual twist.
Felix Rivendale, the Marquess of Wrenworth, is The Ideal
Gentleman, a man all men want to be and all women want to
possess. Even Felix himself almost believes this golden
image. But underneath is a damaged soul soothed only by
public adulation.
Louisa Cantwell needs to marry well to support her
sisters. She does not, however, want Lord Wrenworth?though
he seems inexplicably interested in her. She mistrusts his
outward perfection, and the praise he garners everywhere he
goes. Still, when he is the only man to propose at the end
of the London season, she reluctantly accepts.
Louisa does not understand her husband's mysterious
purposes, but she cannot deny the pleasure her body takes in
his touch. Nor can she deny the pull this magnetic man
exerts upon her. But does she dare to fall in love with a
man so full of dark secrets, any one of which could
devastate her, if she were to get any closer?
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