BACK IN SOCIETY: The Poor Relation

A frothy Regency period novel which captures the etiquette of its time with a well written and adventurous plot. The Poor Relation hotel is the toast of London and its owners are preparing to sell up and retire. Driven into hiding at the hotel by a tyrannous father and a rich but wizened suitor, Lady Jane Fremney tries to take her own life. The owners start feeling sorry for her as she is miserable and rarely smiles and decide to take her under their wing and launch her on society with the help of Harriet, their first protégée and now Duchess of Rowcester. After bringing her out for the Season, all the young bucks call on Jane, among them the handsome but racy Comte de Mornay, an exile from Napoleon's France who has broken many a heart and so far eluded matrimony. Jane is quite adamant he is unsuitable for her, but when his life is threatened by an assassin's pistol, it is up to her to help him escape from danger and into l'amour. A real treat, 184pp paperback.