Sir Walter Scott said it best when he told us: Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive. It is especially tangled when we practice a near impossible deception. And when the deception can carry ruin for all involved if it is ever leaked.

All Lady Nicole Beaumont wants is to have a few moments of normalcy. She knows no man will ever want her for a wife given her disability, but she is desperate to spend the Season without the ton’s pity. To that end, when she encounters a charming man on a moonlit balcony she takes pains to hide her failings from him. The plan for a pleasant interlude backfires when he continues to seek her company. How long can she hide her flaws? And is it right to form a friendship with such deception between them

Jared DeVale, Lord Devlin, has sworn off marriage and ladies due to the deceitfulness of most women. As any reader of Regency romances knows, one must do this after encountering an evil woman regardless of how many decent ones may be in your life. He is pleasantly surprised when he meets a young lady on a terrace and finds her intelligent and forthright. She has assured him she has no interest in marriage so he feels free to pursue a friendship with her. But as he gets to know her his attraction grows – can he possibly change her mind and convince her to take a chance on his love?

For the most part this is a very typical Regency romance novel. The pair do all the typical things – driving in the park, attending balls and soirees, meeting for tea, house parties. And of course they put an individual stamp on it – driving early to avoid crowds, sitting with the dowagers to avoid dancing. They are familiar characters. Both are rich and attractive. Nicole is the care giver of the family, not only making sure that her mother and sister are provided for, but seeing to the lives of all the tenants under their responsibility. She is interested in politics and is deeply concerned for the returning soldiers and the plight they face of no severance, no jobs, and no opportunities for betterment. Jared shares this concern and is doing what he can as a Member of Parliament to address it. Neither character wants marriage but of course their encounters lead them closer and closer to falling in love. Anyone who has read Regencys will recognize these elements.

With all that was average the book would have received a solid C if not for one thing: Nicole’s disability. We are told on page 80 that she is blind but if you have not guessed that before then you are as witless as the members of the ton apparently are. Somehow, none of them guessed. Seriously. Even with a keen sense of smell and equally keen hearing I can’t picture a young lady hiding her blindness in the midst of the Season. While Nicole often had others with her to guide her across rooms etc., she was often left alone as well – on balconies, at the side lines of a ball. Even those with partial blindness often have seeing eye dogs or canes. Someone with Nicole’s visual abilities would, at some point I believe, need noticeable assistance in unfamiliar settings. I couldn’t buy this portion of the story at all. Because this is an Inspirational I should also mention that Nicole’s long deception disturbed me on a spiritual level as well. I felt that many excuses were made for her lying and others were actually chastised for not understanding why she did it. There was some mention of her wrong doing but it was clearly negated by others – especially Toby – defending her purpose.

The novel did have some other flaws – I did not believe Jared’s secret could be kept either, and I thought “Lady Nick’s” TSTL moment at the end of the book put them both in danger – but I probably wouldn’t have graded down for either of them. However, I felt the above was enough to place this at a slightly below average read. The Inspirational market has so many fabulous books available right now that I would urge you to read one of them instead.