I have read several traditional Regency Romances by June Calvin and for the most part, I have enjoyed them very much. She has been missing in action for a time, and when I heard that she had a new book out, I asked for it. I read A Lord for Olivia, and closed it feeling frustrated. Though it had some wonderful “keeper” moments, a weak hero and a too-melodramatic villain kept it from being totally satisfying.

Lord Edmund Debham is a war hero, mentioned by Wellington himself. After having sold his commission, he now has nowhere to go. Because of a feud, Edmund has been disowned from his family. He owns a horse, some clothing, and has a little money – nothing more. When he finds himself at an inn he joins a game of cards and is soon taken for everything he owns by Jason Ormhill. Just when Edmund is about ready to walk naked into the night, Jason proposes one last bet. If Edmund wins, he gets a job on the Ormhill farm and if he loses, he has to marry Jason’s sister Olivia. He loses.

Olivia Ormhill is a pretty young woman who owns a farm in her own right. Her father’s will gave her control of her own land, stipulates her future husband cannot touch it and directs her to marry a Lord. The fact that the will gives her such independence, and Olivia’s own stubborn temper caused her fiancé, Lord Corbright, to leave Olivia and marry a sweet and compliant woman instead. When Jason and Edmund inform her of their wagerr, Olivia loses her temper. She swears she will not marry Edmund, but she does give him employment.

Edmund is very happy. He has loved the land all his life and wants nothing more than to work, manage, and own an estate. He and Olivia feel an attraction to each other from the beginning, but she is prickly and determined never to marry, while Edmund is not a masterful, arrogant man.

When the now widowed Lord Corbright comes back into Olivia’s life, he is all charm. Corbright wants to marry Olivia and alternates between condescension to her as a lady farmer and flattery for her austute management. But it is soon clear that he has sinister plans. Will Olivia be fooled by her former fiancé?

Of the two leads, Olivia was the stronger character. She was raised to be think for herself, and prizes her independence. The laws and customs that limit women chafe at her and I could feel her frustration. But Olivia is a bit clueless when it comes to character. Lord Corbright was so transparently evil that her wavering back and forth when it comes to her feelings for him made her seem silly. Given their past and his high-handed treatment of Olivia, her family and friends…well almost anyone could see that he had “Bad Guy” written all over him.

Edmund could have been an extremely memorable character, but it wasn’t until almost halfway through the book that he came alive, and even then he wasn’t very interesting. The potential was there, but the execution was lacking. A fundamentally peadful man, Edmund was forced into war by the hatred of his half-brother. Not a man to make waves, he hung around the edges of the action too long for my liking. I don’t demand a strong alpha hero, but Edmund need to swashbuckle a bit more.

Despite the characters, there were some very good things about A Lord For Olivia. The rural setting is wonderful and a welcome change from too much London and too much of the ton. There are some interesting themes touched on too, such as the plight of women in regency society and even the coming mechanization of farm work. The good elements in this book were so good that they almost made up for the weak hero and too-bad-to-be-believed villain.

It’s wonderful to see June Calvin back and I do recommend some of her earlier books – in particular Seige of Hearts or Isabella’s Rake, both of which are excellent. As for A Lord for Olivia, I’m going to chalk up its flaws to the author’s rustiness and hope that her next book is as good as some of her earlier ones.