Through Lady Charlotte's unfortunate encouragement her friend Lucy Fletcher was now known as Swan Lucy and Lucy Feathers. If only Charlotte had not told her the rather realistic swan-themed bonnet was fetching, Lucy would not have been the center of frenzied male swans vying for her attention at the king's Swan Day celebration in Hyde park. Still. The damage was done and despite Charlotte's deeply sincere promises to avoid all hint of matchmaking in future, it truly was her responsibility to find Lucy a husband. She simply could not live with the thought of her actions resulting in Miss Fletcher living out her days as a dried up old spinster.

The first bachelor rake to spring to mind is Mr. James Beauchamp, no longer the apple of her eye he is ripe and ready to be leg shackled to a young miss. She ignores her faint pangs of dismay at the thought of anyone but her being with him and forges onward with a plan of enforced confinement that is certain to lead to love and matrimony. Not necessarily in that order. It really is too bad of providence to thoroughly disarrange Charlotte's carefully executed scheme.

Even worse, James seizes the opportunity to develop a few schemes of his own, targeting Charlotte and the comeuppance she (in his opinion) so richly deserves.

The irrepressible Charlotte has become one of my favorite characters. I deeply enjoyed her sense of fun and gift for wriggling out of the most outlandish situations. Besides, anyone who has a pet fox named Penelope is someone I would enjoy knowing. I thoroughly enjoyed the book from first page to last, accompanying Charlotte as the misfiring of her best laid plans led from one absurd and hilarious situation to the next until romance catches her up in the greatest scheme of all.

THREE SCHEMES AND A SCANDAL, another episode in Rodale's Writing Girls series is pure entertainment unadulterated with any heavy ponderous themes. Maya Rodale's deft turn of phrase, effortlessly captures the frothy spirit of the genre with occasionally wicked, witty undertones that never quite shade over into caricature. Her choice of words have a bit of the flavor of Jane Austen, with sly side glances at the preposterous rules of society. It was the first I've read in the series, but I think I shall seek out the others. They will be perfect escape reading for those days when reality drags on a bit.