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Jane
Hart is plain, with a beautiful sister and a mother
who was a former society beauty. Her mother
has an eye for a bargain and when she sees that 67 Clarges
Street is being offered as a let for the season at far
less than it should be worth, she snaps it up. For
the lovely Euphemia is to have a season and, despite
her embarrassing mother, has soon attracted an elderly
marquis. Jane meanwhile has become morbidly fascinated
over the mysterious death of Clara, who used to live
at number 67. Can butler Rainbird and the other
servants make Plain Jane into the catch of the season?
There
are many things to admire about Ms Beaton’s Regency
romances. Firstly, I applaud the way she
has carved out her own special niche by making them
genuinely humorous. Her heroines invariably manage
to attract men who are appealing rather than just overbearing
alpha males. The books are also packed with adventures
and well researched. There is also something
of the serial about each of her sextets, with more revealed
about the series characters in each book and an ongoing
plot. Here Jane is keen to find out why Clara
died so mysteriously, we learn more about the servants
and even hear something of the happily married pair
from the first book. There is always a dearth
of truly funny books and if, like this reviewer, you
are not keen on bodice rippers and like a light, escapist
touch to your romances you will find all that and more
here. Refreshingly different.
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