Miss Wilson’s Reputation could have been a fine little romance had it not been sidetracked by subplots and melodrama. Had Kirkland stuck to the romance story line and focused on the friendly characters, this would have been a recommended read. Unfortunately, too much is going on, which made for a much more average read.

Harriet Wilson – the jewelry designer, not the famous courtesan – witnesses a man being attacked outside her window in the middle of the night, and, out of kindness, invites him into her house and tends his wounds. Afraid that her reputation may suffer if she is seen with him, she refuses to introduce herself and sends him on his way that same night.

But Rand Dunford, the infamous Lord Care-for-Naught, is touched by her actions and makes a point of anonymously sending jewelry work her way out of gratitude. One day his mistress commissions a broach, and when she comes to Harriet’s house to pick it up, she accidentally receives a paste copy instead. Harriet, frightened that she will be accused of fraud and aware that the woman has already left town, seeks out Lord Dunford to give him the real broach. Thus starts a tale of mistaken identity and love at first sight.

The story is a bit more complicated, however. Rand has an irate French gambler on his trail and a brother who hates the sight of him, a brother who bears a grudge against Rand for a sin he never committed. Add to this mess Harriet’s two young cousins and an irresponsible uncle dangling after a bourgeois heiress, and you’ve got quite a lot going on in 213 pages.

The book’s busy-ness is its chief flaw. Too much is happening. The French enemy side plot seemed totally unnecessary, and its melodrama did not mesh well with the sweet nature of Harriet and Rand’s romance. As a result of all the action, the romance was cheated in terms of time and pages, and so the emotions of our hero and heroine felt rushed and a bit saccharine. The resolution between Rand and his brother was equally fast and unbelievable.

All of the main characters are kind and worthy, but there’s a bit of a problem with that too. Rand, described as an inveterate gambler and mistress-taker, the kind of man with no real friends and a hardened heart, may well be a Fake Rake. From the beginning he treats Harriet kindly, and he’s quick to come to his brother’s rescue as well. If he weren’t a real rake, then it’s easy to see why he would fall for Harriet: they’re both nice people. But if he’s as bad as all the rumors say, his swift emotional attachment to her seems odd. Is he or isn’t he? The question was never answered to my satisfaction.

Most of the book was fairly well written and engaging; it made for a quick read. Harriet’s jeweler vocation was interesting, as was the way Harriet and Rand reunited with each other. The mistaken identity plot grew thin right about midpoint, though, as events began to seem more and more contrived. And the end fairly dripped sentiment. One scene, in which Harriet does a good deed for a young child and is rewarded with crucial information because of her kindness, was better suited to a fairy tale than a romance.

Like Teresa DesJardien’s The Marriage Masquerade, another Regency Romance I recently reviewed, Miss Wilson’s Reputation struck me as being a good story in need of some serious editing. Cut out the unnecessary, theatrical side plots, develop the main relationship a bit more, suck some of the syrup out of the ending, and what’s left would worth reading. Kirkland’s style is pleasant and charming, but her book is a bit too ambitious for the short format of a traditional Regency. Unfortunately, I’m not reviewing the potential story, but the actual one, and this one I can’t really recommend.