Never a Bride
Camden Thurston Brackley, Viscount Stonehurst, has returned to Regency London from America after six years. A longstanding betrothal awaits, necessary to shore up his family’s failing financial position. Lo and behold, at a party he encounters his fiancée, Lady Mirabella Wittingham, who is enacting a strange plan. Bent on finding the man who seduced and ruined her dead best friend, she is kissing young men at parties in order to find a tell-tale scar on the seducer’s neck. Sparks fly as Camden and Mirabella fall in love and find pleasure in each other’s company, both physically and intellectually. Meanwhile, Mirabella takes great risks as she continues to search for the seducer. She dons male garb and infiltrates the elite men’s clubs of London, and even dresses as a maid in order to gain access to men to check for the scar.
Grey has written a lively romance novel with a fairly accurate depiction of life in Regency London. Her incorporation of the newspaper gossip columns adds verisimilitude to the Regency time period. At times the dialogue is simplistic and predictable, but overall this romance provides an enjoyable light read.
