Donna Simpson is one Regency author I try to keep up with. Most of her books are still in my tbr pile, but I keep glomming because I’ve enjoyed the ones I’ve read. Her latest release, Lord Pierson Reforms, wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t truly inspiring either. The heroine is intriguing, but the hero is less so, and the ending seems rushed and tacked on.

Miss Amy Corbett is in a very peculiar position. Until recently, she’d been working as a governess for an Irish family. When their oldest daughter got married, Amy was (in her opinion, erroneously) credited with helping the match along. Because the daughter in question had declared her intention never to marry, some considered the match a major feat. Almost out of the blue, Amy is hired by a duke to chaperone his daughter in London. Lady Rowena Remington is lovely, but in private she has the personality of a termagant. She also vows never to wed. One night as Amy and Rowena are returning home from a party, they see a drunken man in the street, supported by two whores. As he looks up at their carriage, he’s splashed with water. Rowena thinks the sight is funny, and Amy thinks they should go back to help him. Over the next week, she can hardly get the poor man out of her head.

The poor man in question is Dante Delacourt, Viscount Pierson. He has been living a life of dissipation and idleness in London while his estate deteriorates. As he looks up from the gutter that night, he beholds the face of an angel; he resolves to find her and change his ways so that he will be worthy or her love. Because he has been guilty of some major indiscretions in the past, he needs the help of his good friend Lord Bainbridge to gain entry into the more respectable ton events. Bainbridge is encouraged by his friend’s change of lifestyle, but somewhat amused by its catalyst. He finds Lady Rowena spoiled and selfish and not the demure paragon of Pierson’s imagination. As they attend various ton entertainments, both men get to know Rowena’s unusual chaperone as well. Pierson finds himself confiding in Amy, telling her his dreams for turning his estate around. Nonetheless, he continues his pursuit of Rowena, who is completely uninterested in his plans.

I actually found much to like about this book. The characters are all a cut above the norm, and even the less likable had something to them. I found Amy to be the most sympathetic. Her position in the duke’s household is tenuous, and subject to the whims of both the duke and his daughter (both of whom have volatile tempers and imperious personalities). She thinks all she really wants out of life is a quiet peaceful existence with some financial security, yet as she spends time with Lord Pierson, she realizes that there is something between them. Yet she hardly dares to give voice to her feelings when her livelihood depends upon Rowena’s marriage.

I also found myself really liking Lord Bainbridge, so much so that I kept wishing that the story were about him. I admired Pierson’s desire to turn his life around, but his stubborn insistence that Rowena was the perfect bride got old fast. He is steadfast in his misplaced devotion virtually until the end of the book, which made me question his judgment. Bainbridge, on the other hand, is charming and perceptive. He has his own somewhat surprising romance that is a good deal more intriguing than the main story.

Even so, the book was more of a B-range read until the ending, which felt rushed and a little out of place. There is a separation that throws off the pacing, and though there are HEAs all around I still felt a little dissatisfied because of the abruptness of it all. Nonetheless, the book on the whole is still slightly above average, and there are some enjoyable moments along the way.