Victoria Alexander, Let It Be Love

Let It Be Love

Victoria Alexander

Avon, Nov 2005, $6.99, 384 pp.

ISBN: 0060593202

In 1853 Marquis Jonathon Effington knows he must marry to sire an heir, but so far has failed to find any woman worth keeping as a wife. He also enjoys writing stories, but uses an anonymous name to get them published, but not with much success.

Every Christmas, his family hosts a ball in which Jonathon spends the evening in bed with a lady. However, something goes awry, as instead of his selection waiting breathlessly in his bed, Fiona Fairchild sits in his room patiently, instead of breathlessly waiting for his arrival. She insists that she must marry in order to save herself and her three sisters from the poorhouse. Jonathon accepts her proposal, assuming his friends are pulling a prank on him. However, when he realizes she was not joking, his honor demands he wed her. They delay marriage to try a business deal to make money selling her erotic art enhancing his stories, but he begins to change his mind about marrying his siren, which means no other sale is allowed.

The eleventh Effington Victorian romance, is an enjoyable tale starring an intrepid lead female protagonist and an honorable but rakish male counterpart. The storyline is fun to follow as Jonathon assumes his merry prankster pals are pulling a stunt on him, only to quickly find out the chit was telling the truth about the situation confronting her and her siblings. LET IT BE LOVE is a lighthearted historical romantic romp that is fun to read.

Harriet Klausner