Almost Heaven
With intelligence and humor, Judith McNaught has created a lively and fun Regency romance. Impoverished Lady Elizabeth Cameron must marry well to save the family estate. After receiving a record number of proposals, her London season comes to an abrupt end when she is discovered in a compromising situation with Ian Thornton, a disreputable gambler rumored to be the illegitimate son of a nobleman. Elizabeth retires to the country in disgrace, but her guardian devises a plan to marry her off quickly to one of her former suitors – a group that includes Ian Thornton.
At first glance, the characters appear to be the usual stock in trade: a penniless but beautiful heroine and a rogue. However, one of the things that make this book a cut above the rest is the wonderful job McNaught does of fleshing out her characters so that they emerge as intelligent individuals with distinct personalities. Regency fans will not want to miss this one, but readers who are fans of the period but not of romances in general should also give this a try – they may be very pleasantly surprised.
