I read this when it originally came out (over 10 years ago now) and reread it once every 4 years or so. So I enjoy it - but it's a silly, frothy, light book. It has no historical accuracy, but Iphiginia Bright is a bright character, dressed all in white and pretending to be a dead man's mistress - and then he turns up! Again, there is the annoying theme of sex outside of marriage with no though of consequences, and the man who fears becoming a clockwork mechanical (Jo Beverly did it so much better with Rothgar!) but everything works out for the best and a pleasant few hours has passed. ( )

THis is an interesting historical with a heroine who is very smart and independent enough to set up a charade as the mistress of an earl whom she thought was dead. The reason for this masquarade is to solve a mystery involving blackmail.Iphiginia Bright, sets out to solve a crime and in time meets the undead earl, which sets up an interesting situation. She of course enlists his help in attempting to find the villian. This is a love story wilh a clever mystery included. THe story is very interesting and I would not put it down until I found out who done it.

PACING: fast paced; dialogue dominates; quick read; CHARACTERIZATION: recognize immediately but some development through action; roguish; sympathetic; emotional involvement; reader identification; STORYLINE: character-centered; resolved ending; double entendres; episodic; FRAME: heartwarming; suspenseful; upbeat tone; conversational style ( )

Iphiginia descends on London society as the dazzlilng mistress of the Earl of Masters, meanwhile going through the lush homes looking for clues left by the blackmailer (a black stamp pad). While the earl is planning to expose her as a fraud, he falls madly in love with her. ( )

The Earl of Masters’ newest mistress is the talk of the ton because of her titillating flouting of Societal strictures and because of her knowledge of classical art and architecture – the latest rage in fashion. What no one knows is that Lady Starlight is, in fact, spinster Iphigenia Bright masquerading as the earl’s mistress to catch the blackmailer of her beloved aunt – whom she thinks also did away with Masters.

But Marcus is very much alive, and he too soon brings his rigorously trained intellect to bear on the problem – and the most logical choice of suspect is Iphigenia… Sparks fly as Iphigenia ignores the rules of propriety and Marcus’ commands and breaks through the walls he erected around his heart after his painful first marriage.

For starters, the relationship was amazingly dumb. From the beginning Iphigenia is supposed to be in love with him because she has been ‘studying’ him for her role and she has built an elaborate fantasy in her head – but we never see her fantasy clash with the reality of Marcus. As this would be a major stumbling block to a relationship, I was annoyed that it was never addressed at all.

I was also more irritated than charmed by Marcus’ autocratic giving of orders and his know-it-all attitude. I’m glad that the heroine was initially shown as his intellectual equal, but she seemed to constantly be losing the battle of wits (which seemed mostly to do with whose man of affairs possessed the better information-gathering skills – in short, lame). The identity of the blackmailer was obvious (to me) early on, and I liked the secondary characters (particularly Manwaring) considerably more than I did the principals.

SPOILERS:
I also have real issues with deflowering scenes where the man gets angry because he was deceived. Angry withdrawal after the first time is NOT sexy, and does NOT make me want to read on to Happily Ever After. It makes me want her to find a hero who will take care of her and be there for her – not act like being a virgin is something terrible. Besides her reaction was highly unrealistic. ( )