The Luckiest Lady in London

The Luckiest Lady in London (2013) Sherry Thomas

Set in London in 1888.

Louisa Cantwell needs to marry well. Her youngest sister is epileptic, and without a good marriage, Lousia won’t be able to support her after their mother dies. So she’s been planning for years her campaign to find a wealthy husband.

When she had assessed herself for her chances on the marriage mart, it had been immediately apparent that her décolletage needed help. A great deal of help. But did bust improvers, in this regard, constitute flagrant cheating? She’d agonized over that seemingly minor decision.

Felix Rivendale, the Marquess of Wrenworth, has built up his reputation as The Ideal Gentleman. He is everything a proper English Lord should be–except married. But he doesn’t plan upon taking that step until he is much older. And that marriage will be solely for begetting an heir. After witnessing his parents’ marraige, Felix doesn’t believe in love, and will do everything to protect himself.

Another young lady would be doing her utmost to impress him; she, on the other hand, only wanted him to go away, because she knew that he hadn’t the least matrimonial intentions toward her.

But how could she expect him to go away when she was in such delectable ferment?

He’s also an ass.

The first half of the story is how they end up married.

The final part is how Felix screws everything up, and how he tries to make things up to Louisa.

Positives: I love that they are both interested in astronomy. That fact allowed me to believe that Felix would actually take a chance on marriage with Louisa. Louisa is marvelous. She is honest about everything she needs and wants.

Which makes Felix’s dishonesty that much harder to deal with and accept.

He has a LOT to make up for.

“Sometimes a lady is in a mood for skin.”

“Are you ever not in a mood for skin?”

“Yes, sometimes I just want your head on a pike,” she answered without blinking an eye.

One other thing I appreciated was that neither of them had to fall mortally ill or be injured for the other to realize the depths of their feelings.

Publisher: Berkley

Rating: 7.5/10

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