Lord Perfect

Author: Loretta Chase
Published: March 7, 2006 (Berkley)
Category: Historical Romance
Quote of Choice: "I have explained to Olivia time and again that physical assault is not the proper response to disagreements unless one's life is in danger."

Jennie deserves a huge thank you for bringing this book to my notice!

I unashamedly judge books by their covers even though I should know better, but who wants to be seen on the subway reading a book with this cover? It's ridiculous! Look at him with his come-hither look and his slick man-chest. ::shudder:: When I read this book on the subway (it was too good not to), I'd keep the cover pressed against my bag.

Anyways, Benedict Carsington is Viscount Rathbourne, also known as Lord Perfect to the rest of the ton. His name never appears in the scandal sheets. Even though he's a widower, he hasn't had any (public) affairs. He's also uncle to his nephew Peregrine as well as pseudo-guardian, as his in-laws would rather not bother with raising their child.

Bathsheba Wingate is a widow of widely-known scandal. The ton believes that Bathsheba lured her husband into a marriage to a woman from a bad family. Apparently, Bathsheba is from the bad part of the DeLucey family. They rack up debt and then run away from the credit collectors. And supposedly, there was some piracy in the family history. Jack Wingate, her husband, was cut off by his family when he married Bathsheba. They had a happy marriage for 12 years, although they didn't live comfortably. Now that she's on her own, she's teaching art classes to support herself and her daughter Olivia.

Bathsheba and Benedict meet (ugh, what unfortunate names) at the museum when Olivia attacks Peregrine with his sketchbook. Olivia, as a street-smart kid from the almost-seedy part of town, spots an opportunity for her mother to take on a rich pupil. Even though Benedict's strict rules of propriety forbid him from allowing Peregrine to take drawing lessons from this scandalous woman, his heart (a.k.a. better judgment) sets up the lessons. However, when Peregrine's parents decide to send him to a new school abruptly, Olivia doesn't want her mother's rich pupil to disappear. She ropes him into a harebrained idea of hers to search out the treasure of her scandalous ancestor.

So Benedict and Bathsheba embark on an adventure as well in search of the children. And if you throw our hero and heroine together without any supervision, the laws of attraction take over and there's some boinking and falling in love. However, with both of their highly evolved senses of propriety, they know that getting married would be social suicide on Benedict's part, and Bathsheba would be skewered again as some sort of seductress of well-to-do gentlemen. There is a sly solution to this, and it's thanks to Bathsheba's family that she is able to marry the man she loves. Hurrah! A happy ending!

This book is Jennie approved, and she's lending me her copy of Mr. Impossible, the story of Benedict's brother Rupert!