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Smythe-Smith Quartet – Book I
Julia Quinn
Piatkus (Little, Brown)
2 June 2011/ ISBN 0749941995
Historical Romance / 1824 / Cambridge and environs, England
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Reviewed
by Rachel A Hyde
Honoria Smythe-Smith
is twenty-one and firmly on the shelf, for every time she thinks
she is about to be married something goes wrong – why? Determined
to find a man or perish in the attempt she heads off to Cambridge
and into trouble. She meets up with her brother’s best friend
Marcus Holroyd, the Earl of Chatteris whom she has known since childhood
and who, unknown to her, has promised her brother Daniel that he
will look out for her. For Daniel is overseas following the disastrous
consequences of a duel and cannot be there to see she does not marry
the wrong man. But maybe it is the wrong man Honoria is more interested
in…
Julia Quinn is a prolific author who has written many Regencies
and has a trademark style that is more comical than the usual Jane
Austen/Georgette Heyer imitators. Whether this is to your liking
or not is a personal taste, but if you are in the mood for a light
summer read this is possibly just the thing. Following on from her
Bridgerton series this features another member of the clan, and
I felt that so much had gone on before this book that calling it
book one of anything is rather misleading. However, is does serve
to give a taste of the famous Quinn style and as such does deliver
the goods well enough. It has an engaging hero who is easy to like,
a rather silly heroine who is rather less sympathetic and plenty
of light romantic humor minus some irritating clichés such
as the notorious misunderstanding plot device. Parts of the story
could be resolved more quickly but overall if you are looking for
something light and romantic you could do a lot worse.
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