The novel starts out similarly to Georgette Heyer's The Corinthian, with our heroine Pommy (Melpomene) escaping through an upper story window into the arms of our hero, Lord Rutledge (Justin) -- but the story is taken in a very different direction. Pommy's dad is off hunting antiquities in Europe; her mother is deceased; she is ostensibly being brought out by her cousin Lydia, but Lydia and her handsy son Frederick are only after Pommy's money and have used Pommy's alleged lack of social skills to explain why they haven't introduced her into society and why she should accept the loathsome Frederick. Rutledge catches her and takes her to his sister Lady Playre's, and complications ensue. A nice little evening's read - no surprises, but told well.
From Inside Cover: Pommy felt Justin's hot gaze on her, sliding caressingly from crown to toe. He must, she thought, hear the blood pounding in her head as he came toward her. She felt the kiss in his eyes as though his lips had already taken possession of hers. She understood the hunger she saw in his eyes, for that same need swept over her in wordless demand.
Pommy of course, was engaged to another man, the odious Frederick Watters. And Justin was engaged to another woman, the insipid Anilee Mortimer.
What they were engaged in now, though, was something else. Something close to scandal....
Light and entertaining read. Easy plot, not overly complicated.
