A renowned rake, Gideon, Lord Carradice, has a way of making ladies swoon. But when Prudence arrives at his doorstep and mistakes him for his cousin, the Duke, it is Gideon who’s infatuated. The delightful spitfire claims she and the Duke are engaged—although a taller tale was never told. In spite of the lies, Gideon is so taken with charming Prudence that he’s eager to join her game, especially if it will award him a stolen kiss or two. Now, Prudence’s plot is about to go terribly, albeit deliciously, awry...
Comment: This is the first installment in yet another series by author Anne Gracie, which I've decided to read since I've enjoyed another series by the author last year.
In this new series we meet the Merridew sisters, whose parents died and they were taken to live with their grandfather Theodore, but he is a rigid and violent man, always punishing them for any little thing, such as the color of their hair. The five sisters, Prudence, Charity, twins Hope and Faith and child Grace have suffered a lot but when their grandfather has a fall and needs to lay in bed to recover, they decide to take a chance and go to their uncle Oswald's house in London. The deceit is planned so that uncle Oswald isn't castigated by their grandfather and they hope they can last until Prudence is 21 to inherit money... but the more Prudence wants to protect those that become involved with their scheme, the more complicated the situation becomes...
Anne Gracie, I've come to realize, is the type or historical writer who takes several liberties with her historical settings and "rules". I would not go as far as to say she disguises her stories under the historical label when they are not, but perhaps it's close to that. The characters have behaviors and find themselves in situations that just don't seem likely... nevertheless, things don't go as far as I've seen in other authors' work, and I've found her books to be very entertaining, so...
This is the first installment of a series featuring five sisters, but two of them (Prudence and Charity) have their romances both developing in this book. The attention is on Prudence, though, and Charity is clearly a secondary character, and this might be one of the reasons why the overall plot felt too busy, there were too many things going on and several characters and situations to accept and understand, and then two sisters to consider. I have no idea why this was planned this way, but it certainly made some plot situations feel a little silly.
This series was written before the other one I've read recently (the marriage of convenience one) and perhaps it's only an impression, but it did feel as if the more recent series was better edited or outlined...perhaps it's only a matter of honing one's skills. Anyway, Prudence and her sisters find themselves in a very unlikely scenario and things even get worse when Prudence recklessly names a certain duke, whom she thought was in distant Scotland, as her secret fiancé. It just happens that the duke and his cousin lord Carradice are actually in London, for the season and uncle Oswald goes there to demand explanations. Prudence arrives first, has no idea who the duke is and when Gideon, lord Carradice appears, she believes him to be the person she seeks... thus, their adventure begins.
I think it would be too difficult to explain all the necessary details in order for the plot to make sense, without using spoilers or asides for everything. Let it be said that Prudence and Gideon are a good match, even though she believed herself promised to another man and he is considered a rake. Of course, this isn't really a real rake, as he doesn't show that type of behavior on the page, I'd even go as far as to say, thankfully. The goal is to show him as a worthy partner for Prudence and he does prove to be such, maybe in a slightly unrealistic way, but this is a romance and I wanted them to see how good a couple they could be.
It's a given they don't believe this right away, but we see plenty of their adventures to realize they are meant to be. Perhaps I can accept Gideon's real considerate attitude more easily than innocent Prudence's proactive choices, but they do work on their HEA, more or less. As for Charity and Gideon's cousin, the duke, their romance is very subdued and it seems it was love at first sight. If this secondary romance was to be suppressed so much in this book as well, I wonder why bothering at all.
As predictable, all ends well for everyone except the bad guys, and some things that are revealed later kind of twist other assumptions further (I'm thinking of the situation regarding the grandfather, the uncle, the money of the family, etc), which means a lot of what happens through the novel is a bit silly and could have been fixed in a different way. I also think a bit more angst and less comedy in specific scenes/moments would have enhanced the experience and would have made the story richer.
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