April Kihlstrom
Författare till The Wily Wastrel
Om författaren
Serier
Verk av April Kihlstrom
A Taste of Traditional Regency Romances: Extended excerpts of Regency novels (2015) — Bidragsgivare — 5 exemplar
The Charming Impostor & The Counterfeit Betrothal & The Wary Spinster & An Outrageous Proposal ( Set of 4 Books ) (1985) 1 exemplar
Make Every Minute Count 1 exemplar
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Statistik
- Verk
- 35
- Medlemmar
- 774
- Popularitet
- #32,871
- Betyg
- 3.3
- Recensioner
- 17
- ISBN
- 51
- Favoritmärkt
- 1
Oliver Standish was a very eccentric man; the names chosen for his children (Amethyst, Calista, Gilby, Raynor, Xanthe) put paid to that. Known mostly for his scholarly work, Standish continued to play fast and loose with reality when it came to his will. He named as guardian of his children Frederick Leverton, a young man he met exactly once at Oxford. Standish was impressed with Leverton’s intellect and debating skills. He hinted heavily in the instructions along with his will that he anticipated a match between Leverton and Calista, his eldest unmarried daughter.
Unfortunately, 2 years have passed between the writing of the will and Oliver Standish’s death, and in the meanwhile Frederick Leverton quite inconveniently married someone else. Leverton is happy to serve as the nominal male guardian to Standish’s mostly-grown children, however, and is rather amused by the terms of the will for poor Calista: she must marry by her 21st birthday in order to inherit her piece, and she has less than a year to find a husband if she wants her money.
Leverton takes a trip to visit the Standish family and brings along with him Mr. John Witton, a dashing Corinthian who was once the belle of the beau monde himself. The two men take precautions against any potential matchmaking, however, creating a story that Witton is already engaged and merely waiting for his fiancée to snap her fingers and request he show up at the church.
Calista is very much her father’s child, and wants nothing more in life than to carry on his scholarly work. Her mother is more realistic, begging Calista to see reason, put away her childish experiments, and start working her way into a successful marriage. Mrs. Standish is very prim and proper, however, and doesn’t want even a hint of impropriety between her daughter and the currently single Mr. Witton.
Too bad the two take a shine to each other, and Calista’s younger siblings aren’t as adverse to matchmaking as their mother is. A week after meeting him, Gilby and Raynor contrive to create an carriage accident, which strands Witton and Calista during a raging rainstorm, leaving them no choice but to take shelter together, and alone.
This compromises Calista’s reputation, but Witton thinks long and hard before proposing to her, and makes sure that she is accepting him because she’s interested in him, as opposed to saving her reputation. The situation is made all the more awkward because the Standish family is still in mourning, but a special license is procured, the wedding is held, and Calista and John look forward to their married life together.
However, on Day 2 of wedded bliss, Witton overhears his new brothers-in-law discussing the success of the trap that they set for him, with the heavy implication that Calista was well aware of and approved of their machinations, and he gets incredibly mad. Apparently he has a sour history with gold diggers (not to mention a mother who took an instant dislike to his bride because of her lack of social standing), so this notion that he was entrapped sends him beyond the edge of reason. He basically tells Calista that he’s dumping her at his country estate and going off to London posthaste, without giving her an explanation as to why or even much of a choice in the matter.
Calista refuses to join her monster-in-law at the country estate and is baffled by her husband’s sudden change of attitude. It isn’t hard to wheedle the story out of her brothers, and she despairs ever repairing her relationship due to Witton’s infamous stubbornness. She gains an ally in Witton’s younger brother, however, who convinces her that if she isn’t ready to cut a swathe in London to make her husband jealous and bring him back to her side, she can at least put in a good showing in Bath.
Calista is allowed to chaperon her teenage brothers (and brother-in-law) to Bath on her own, thanks to being a married woman for all of five seconds. They meet up with Witton’s great aunt, Lady Carsby, who introduces them to Bath society and tries to direct her new niece in the fine art of fanning the flames of jealousy. Calista doesn’t have much of a stomach for even more deception, but her daring to go to Bath without him brings John running anyway to give her a piece of his mind. Even more misunderstandings ensue before Witton and Calista finally sit down and have a conversation and magically resolve all of their issues.
This book was a pleasant read, but it was all over the place in terms of plot. The back cover blurb is basically unrelated to the actual story, which was a disappointment, as this wasn’t so much a clash-of-class misalliance as it was a serious of Big Misunderstandings fueled by idiot teenage boys with raging hormones. I did appreciate the fact that the characters were “mere misters” and the action takes largely place away from London – two exceedingly rare factors in HR these days.
I’ve enjoyed this author’s work before, and this seems like a rare misfire from what little I’ve read of her backlist. I suppose if you’re looking for something frothy and heavy on family matchmakers, you’ll enjoy this more than I did.… (mer)