Lady Be Reckless: A Duke's Daughters Novel

October 30, 2017
Frampton’s second Victorian-era Duke’s Daughters novel (after Lady Be Bad) sparkles with wit. It begins with a Gone with the Wind reference: Lady Olivia proposes to Lord Carson in a private room during a ball and he gently declines. She heaves a bit of bric-a-brac while he leaves, at which time Edward Wolcott, Carson’s friend and the illegitimate son of a financier, pops up from behind the couch. Frampton takes her leave from Mitchell here: Wolcott is remarkably kind during their introduction. Olivia decides to make a project of getting him accepted in high society, to prove her wifely bona fides to Lord Carson. Her plan goes awry in the best way, and they fall in love instead. The author elevates a standard plot with crisp writing, witty secondaries, and unpredictability. Olivia’s effervescence attracts Wolcott before her beauty does, and Frampton plays with the do-gooder trope in ways that recall Jane Austen’s Emma. Leads who genuinely enjoy each other’s company and the obligatory love scene in a storm-battered shed will delight fans of historical romances. Agent: Louise Fury, Bent Agency.

Starred review from December 15, 2017
A woman does good by doing the guy she's trying to marry off.Not just one, but two of Lady Olivia's sisters have made scandalous marriages. So Lady Olivia is determined to be the Duke of Marymount's daughter who saves her family's reputation by marrying Lord Carson, whom her sister Eleanor refused to wed in Lady Be Bad (2017). There's just one snag: when she proposes to him, he turns her down flat and later asks for her assistance in finding a wife for his friend Edward Wolcott, the illegitimate--though acknowledged--son of a prominent London businessman. Never one to turn down the chance to do a good deed, regardless of what the person she's trying to help actually wants, Olivia accepts. Edward has no desire to marry, but he's promised his very ill father that he will try to make an aristocratic match before his passing, so he accepts whatever guidance Lady Olivia can provide. After society outings lead to a passionate kiss between them, Edward realizes he'd be happy to marry Olivia--but Olivia must decide whether she can stand to be the third daughter in her family to marry for love instead of duty. In this second installment of The Duke's Daughters, Frampton continues one of the most exciting series currently being published in Regency romance. In addition to writing steamy love scenes, she takes a chance in introducing Olivia as a less-than-likable heroine and allowing her unusual romance to founder and grow throughout the book. As Frampton develops Olivia's character and her romance with Edward, she also develops a compelling argument for why good intentions are not enough when trying to change the world, making the conclusion satisfying in more ways than one.A passionate Regency romance of uncommon depth and heart.

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Starred review from January 1, 2018
Bennett, Lord Carson, might not realize it yet, but they are perfect for each other. At least that is what Olivia Howlett believes, and she now feels that she may have found the perfect opportunity to prove to him what a wonderful wife she would make when she agrees to help ease Bennett's good friend, Edward Wolcott, into society. As the illegitimate son of a businessman, Edward has been snubbed by almost everyone of good breeding. Olivia is convinced that not only can she turn Edward into an acceptable gentleman but she can also come up with a list of ladies, any one of whom would be happy to marry him. But, strangely enough, the more time Olivia spends with Edward, the more she considers adding her own name to that list! With the second dazzling installment in her Duke's Daughters series, Frampton once again works her distinctive brand of literary alchemy by taking superbly nuanced characters, plenty of potent passion, and a generous measure of delightfully tart wit and distilling all these ingredients down into another irresistible romance.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)