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Huzzah and hooray – a really great traditional Regency Romance has arrived, and just in time! Right on the heels of Blythe Barnhill’s report on the gloomy forecast for this genre at the RWA Conference, Elizabeth Powell shows why us die-hard fans are, um, dying so hard in the face of the publishing industry’s fiscal realities. A Reckless Bargain is alternately humorous, informative, wildly romantic and deeply painful; in short, everything a book should be.
Katherine Mallory (Kit to all) is a twenty-five year-old widow who has recently returned to Bath from India, where her wealthy Cit husband was in business. Although her marriage was not particularly satisfying, Kit blossomed in the foreign country, learning Hindi, translating some of India’s great literary works and collecting art. She has returned home, however, because she can no longer stay in India as a single woman. She has no friends and no family in either country, just two servants she brings with her from India.
On the voyage home, Kit befriends a dowager Duchess, a seventy-four year-old woman who is finally free to travel since her ducal duties are done and her health is still good. The dowager is a classic Regency character: the irascible, opinionated, outspoken and stubborn old lady. Kit and the dowager are an unlikely pair of friends, but the two enjoy each other’s differences and both are equally determined to protect each other. That bond gets tested when the dowager is invited to her grandson’s estate, the current Duke of Wexcombe.
The Duke is stuffy, proper and a prig; he is already suspicious of Kit’s motives in befriending his grandmother, and dislikes her intensely. The dowager invites Kit to come with her to the Wexcombe estate, and Kit agrees, primarily to protect her friend. Meanwhile, the Duke has also invited someone else to come for the week: Nicholas Darcy, Marquess of Bainbridge, who is also the Duke’s cousin.
The Duke believes that his grandmother is beginning to lose her senses, and he is determined to keep her under control, so she does not do erratic things like leave her money to her new friend, travel to strange lands, and speak her mind. He has invited the Marquess to come to the country to do what he does best: seduce a lady. The Duke thinks that if his grandmother sees her new friend as a loose, immoral woman she will be cured of Kit’s undue influence.
The Marquess, a superbly charming rake and a classic alpha male, begins to attempt his seduction, but soon realizes that Kit is not what the Duke believes, nor is the Marquess immune to her charms, even though she has done her best to hide them from the world. Their blossoming romance has the usual twists and starts, but ends in a surprising tour de force that is real and delicious.
What makes A Reckless Bargain so wonderful is that it stays true to its time, while also exploring the conventions of the genre, plumbing Mary Balogh/Layton territory in its exposition of its characters’ motivations and thoughts. Let me assure you that I am not the type of person who gets regularly lump-throated in my romance reading. This one, however, was different, and it is a shining example of just how great writing within the traditional Regency genre can be.
Grade: A
Book Type: Regency Romance
Sensuality: Subtle
Review Date: 12/08/02
Publication Date: 2002
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Recent Comments …
Yep
This sounds delightful! I’m grabbing it, thanks
excellent book: interesting, funny dialogs, deep understanding of each character, interesting secondary characters, and also sexy.
I don’t think anyone expects you to post UK prices – it’s just a shame that such a great sale…
I’m sorry about that. We don’t have any way to post British prices as an American based site.
I have several of her books on my TBR and after reading this am moving them up the pile.