His Lordship's Swan
Grade : B

Once the reader gets past the silly title and the bizarre cover that has His Lordship resembling a vampire, they’ll find a delightful little tale.

Lord Evan Trent never really thought about marriage until his nephew and heir-apparent, Jack, announces that he refuses to marry. Thirteen-year-old Jack recently suffered an illness that left him deaf and he doesn't think anyone will ever want to marry him. Hoping to keep Jack from slipping deeper into depression, Evan decides to remove the weight of producing an heir from the boy’s shoulders by marrying and producing an heir himself. Remembering a set of twins he met in Bath, he decides to offer for one of them. The only problem is that Evan can’t recall their names. So he flips a coin and writes a note asking for the eldest daughter.

When their father receives the letter he knows Evan meant one of the twins, but as both are already engaged he decides to hold Evan to his request and offers him their older sister, Lydia Swann. Evan is shocked when he sees Lydia, who is referred to as the ugly duckling. Lydia’s childhood crush, Sebastian, lives in the region, so she makes a deal with Evan. She won’t hold him to his ill-worded proposal if he lets her come stay at his Cheshire estate for two weeks so she can become reacquainted with Sebastian. Evan, seeing an out, quickly agrees. Unfortunately, Evan soon finds himself attracted to Lydia, but is bound by his word to help her win the heart of another man.

The story is has a quick light pace to it. The reader knows right away that Evan’s half-hearted proposal of marriage is going to get him in trouble. It’s also sympathetic when each of Lydia’s attempts to woo Sebastian goes drastically awry. Of course the reader knows from the start that these two belong together and towards the end, when a ridiculous misunderstanding has Lydia packing her bags, you’ll want to shake some sense into them.

Lydia is not a typical “poor me I’m the ugly sister” type. Instead she just goes on with life and revels in her intelligence (for instance, she admits to using her wits to trick her twin sisters into going along with her tomboy schemes when they were children). She uses her charm to pull young Jack out of his shell and gets him to see that being deaf doesn’t mean the end of the world. Lydia’s only drawback is her blindness to Sebastian’s true character, as well as not seeing her own worth.

Evan, once he learns that he shouldn’t pick a bride without knowing her name first, is quite enjoyable. He helps Lydia in her quest to win Sebastian, no matter how much it might cost him, because he thinks her happiness should come first. He’s devoted to his family, comes to Lydia’s rescue many times, and even pretends to be a hero from one of Lydia’s favorite novels in an attempt to win her heart.

The fact it takes Lydia so long to realize what is right under her nose, and that she gives into the dreaded Big Misunderstanding, detracts from what otherwise is a enchanting tale. There are a few laugh out loud moments (in particular one involving the Regency equivalent of a breast enhancer) and occasionally resembles a comedy of errors. I found that the book’s delightful tone and charming characters made up for my quibbles.

His Lordship’s Swan is a good case for not judging a book by its cover. If you want a fun read for the weekend, I definitely recommend this book.

Reviewed by Jennifer Schendel
Grade : B
Book Type: Regency Romance

Sensuality: Kisses

Review Date : May 21, 2001

Publication Date: 2001

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Jennifer Schendel

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