Never a Lady

Author: Jacquie D'Alessandro
Published: July 2006 (Avon)
Cateogry: Regency Romance
Rating: 7/10

Sorry, another short one and I'm cheating with a blurb because it's been a few weeks since I read it.

The interesting thing about these particular D’Alessandro books is the not-horrendous cover. But then you open the front cover to reveal the tip-in and it’s very classic smutty romance art. This isn’t a problem except for when I’m checking books in or out of the library and they have to scan the bar code on the inside cover.

Colin Oliver, Viscount Sutton, left his beloved Cornwall for London to find a bride—some comely, proper, wellborn lady to bear him an heir. Certainly not someone like Madame Alexandra Larchmont. Yes, she's the toast of the ton, and a rare beauty to be sure. But she's also a fortune-teller. And Colin has an excellent reason for keeping a sharp watch on this one . . .

The cards have warned Alexandra for years about a dark-haired stranger who would wreak havoc with her life, so when she sees him at a soiree, her first thought is to run. Unfortunately, she overhears a murder plot, and the only person she can turn to for help is a man she knows she should stay away from, a man who eyes her with an undisguised hunger.

But fate's strange turns are Alexandra's stock in trade. And if love is written in the cards, surely nothing is impossible!

Alexandra used to be a street urchin and years ago, she’d attempted to pickpocket Colin, who caught her due to his skills gained as a spy for England. In the years since, Colin searched the uglier parts of London for the young woman he couldn’t forget. Alexandra, on the other hand, was constantly reminded of Colin in her tarot cards (which is a not something she’s faking for the ton’s amusement).

This was one of those Serendipity situations, where two people meet and separate without any knowledge of each other, longing to see the other again, despite the odds. So when Alexandra and Colin meet again, they both realize they’ve finally found what they’re looking for, but Alexandra thinks she’s not good enough for him, and Colin doesn’t admit that he knows about her past. I was getting a little annoyed waiting for the truth to come out.

I thought this book was fun, but not as good as some of D’Alessandro’s other work. A bunch of little things annoyed me enough, but I’m eager to read Not Quite a Gentleman, the book before Never a Lady, which tells Colin’s brother’s story. Dr. Nathan Oliver, a side character in this novel, is a gentleman doctor who loves animals and isn’t shy about sharing them with his older brother.