Nowhere Near Respectable

Starred review from March 7, 2011
Putney's third Lost Lords Regency (after 2010's Never Less than a Lady) is rich with historical detail and multifaceted characters. Anglo-Hindu Lady Kiri Lawford is about to accept a proposal from an English gentleman when she learns that his racist, fortune-hunting relatives secretly despise her. Stealing a horse, Kiri rides for Dover and right into a den of smugglers. Gambling club owner Damian Mackenzie aids her escape and passion instantly flares between them, but they resist, knowing the daughter of a duke and an Indian princess could never wed an actress's bastard son. When Kiri visits Damian's club, foils a kidnapping, and gets involved in a covert investigation, their romance sizzles out of control. Kiri's striking beauty, mental acuity, and martial arts training make her the perfect match for charming rogue Damian in this "splendid joining of East and West."