A Wanton for All Seasons (Wantons of Waverton, 3)
Lady Annalee Spencer and Wayland Smith were secret lovers before they were caught up in the massacre of Peterloo. Since the traumatic experience which changed their lives, both have gone their separate ways: she seeks to escape her frightening memories through a life of dissipation; he, a blacksmith’s son, has been elevated to the aristocracy for an act of bravery. But when circumstances throw them together again, can they find redemption and healing?
Since it deals with the effects of PTSD, this, the third in the Wantons of Waverton series, is darker than most Regencies. It is not helped by the reminders of society’s harsh treatment of those with little power: the lower classes, women, and any who flaunt its rigid conventions, regardless of their justifications. Although there are amusing moments, particularly those involving Annalee’s rapier-wielding younger sister Harlow and the scandalously independent-minded young women of the Mismatch Society. Annalee’s self-destructive behavior and the extensive passages devoted to the protagonists’ feelings of desperation and guilt provide a cautionary tale. Recommended.
