Monday, July 27, 2009
27 July 2009, Monday
So what happens?
Lady Olivia Bevelstoke has a new neighbor, and who else might it be but a gentleman. Not any gentleman, but one who has killed his first wife!
Lady Olivia does not believe this. Nope. She does not. So why is hiding behind her curtains, spying on her new neighbor? Every day?
Until, of course, he catches her.
He's very handsome.
Sir Harry Valentine knows that the chit next door is spying on him. Why else would he conscientiously ignore her? Having been in the army previously, he has all the military training to recognize when someone is spying on him, especially an amateur like the lady next door.
That is until the day they meet, at the Smythe-Smith musicale.
Accompanying his first cousin, Sebastian Grey, to the Smythe-Smith annual musicale, Sir Harry makes himself known to Lady Olivia - without first being properly introduced. And Lady Olivia accidentally invites Sir Harry over to visit without meaning it.
Until of course, he means it.
The war office has given Harry a mission; to keep an eye on Prince Alexei Ivanovich Gomarovsky... and his Lady of interest, Lady Olivia. What better way to keep an eye out for Prince Alexei and his intended Olivia than taking her up upon her offer to visit her home.
And meeting her at balls. In private alcoves. Through windows. And every where else.
Suddenly Harry finds himself noticing Lady Olivia, that he wanted her.
Quinn once again out does herself. Her writing style, as always, is fantastic, witty, and, humorous: Olivia's silent musings "How I would Like to Kill My Brother, Version Sixteen" - Hilarious!
The reappearance of the Smythe-Smith girls is pure gold. Is there by any chance their story will be made in this series? (Hopefully with Sebastian Grey - how wonderful would that be?). Okay, I'll stop dreaming now.
Interwoven throughout the main story are other characters most likely to get a book of their own. They are mentioned with just enough emphasis but not overwhelming the rest of the story: Sebastian Grey, Edward Valentine... and (in my little world) Alexei Ivanovich Gomarovsky (very unlikely though I would love to hear more about him!)
However, I felt bereft at the end. WHAT happens to the Valentine brothers? Do they resolve there family drift? I felt like I was left hanging with no real answer. I'm quite disappointed that no conclusion happened. Nothing was quite resolved. It seemed I had read the whole book expecting... expecting for something to happen. But of course it did not.
Not to worry though, Harry and Olivia do get their "happy ever after" when Harry created a "moment". Harry's proposal was not amazing, but I do love the way every one met at the window for the proposal - Very appropriate.