I’m certain it’s not the easiest thing in the world for writers to come up with new situations and characters when writing within the conventions demanded by books set in the Regency period. But I have to hope for more than Christina Kingston managed in this predictable and pedestrian story.

Michael, Viscount Kantwell is tormented by his experiences in the Napoleonic war. He has nightmares. Lady Alissa, our heroine, is an heiress who, though we are told she is intelligent, apparently didn’t believe that her evil uncle would actually enforce the provisions of her grandfather’s will requiring her to marry before she is 25. When she suddenly realizes that she has a week to find a husband, she is up the proverbial creek.

Said uncle is so evil, in fact, that he has actually had several of her suitors murdered. (It’s amazing she didn’t catch on earlier, isn’t it?) Our heroine’s only hope with the little time she has left is to travel to London and put her case in the hands of the Bow Street Runners. Evil uncle will then be declared the murderer and despicable cad he is and her inheritance will be secured. Sounds like a plan, doesn’t it?

But it’s snowing. Big time. Getting to London isn’t going to be easy – especially with evil uncle and his henchmen on the case. But, fortunately, our noble hero is shortly to appear on his battle-weary steed to save our heroine. First by rescuing her (twice) and second by heroically agreeing to marry her, just in the nick of time.

Guess what happens next? Heroine falls madly in love and sets out to make our noble hero do the same. Matters are further complicated by the fact that Michael lost the use of one arm in the war – something that apparently makes him a total outcast in society and, he is convinced, completely unfit for marriage.

I’ll admit I didn’t live in Regency England but I certainly have read an awful lot about it, and I just don’t buy the fact that a wealthy, handsome Viscount would be completely ostracized simply because of a useless arm. In fact, an argument could be made that being wounded in a war about which people of the time were so very passionate would be a badge of honor.

And I also have to say that while I liked Michael well enough, I just never warmed up to Alissa. Starting with the fact that she’s a bit slow on the uptake to realize the peril of her situation, Kingston never managed to make me care about Alissa and her fate.

There are certainly worse books out there than Ride the Winter Wind. But in the final analysis, this book is just all so formulaic that I can’t come up with a reason to recommend it to anyone other than a reader with an endless tolerance for books of this type.

Frankly, I’m not one of them.