Kasey Michaels, How to Beguile a Beau

How to Beguile a Beau

Kasey Michaels

Harlequin HQN, Jun 2010, $7.99

ISBN: 9780373774333

Everyone knows that Lady Nicole is the extroverted twin while her sister Lady Lydia is the introvert. Lydia likes the quiet cocoon and felt anchored and safe until her beloved Captain Swain Fitzgerald died at Quatre Bras last year.

On the battlefield, the Duke of Malvern Tanner Blake promised his best friend Swain that he would take care of Lyddie. He now plans to keep his death battlefield pledge by finding her a suitable spouse. However, the problem he has is he wants to be that suitable spouse but also feels guilty that he is betraying his late friend. Meanwhile Lydia realizes she loves Tanner, but to get him to realize that Swain will be smiling in heaven if they marry in love seems difficult for him to grasp.

Following up on older brother Rafe's story (see How to Tame a Duke) and twin sister Nicole's tale (see How To Tame a Lady) with the third sibling's romance, Kasey Michaels beguiles her Regency romance readers with an amusing yet poignant novel. Lydia is terrific as her preference is not to be the life of the party or even a wallflower, but to not attend the gala. Tanner is a bit more typical of the historical as he fights falling in love because he feels that emotion betrays his honor and pledge to his late friend. Although straightforward with a theme used frequently before, the refreshing mouse that roared turns this into another superb historical Daughtry family saga.

Harriet Klausner