Scandalous Ever After

May 1, 2017
Romain’s diverting novel lacks the intrigue of some of her previous Regencies, but it abounds with delightful characters. Abigail Catherine “Kate” Durham, Irish Countess of Whelan, has only recently shed her widow’s weeds in favor of feathered hats and brightly colored dresses. It’s racing season in Newmarket, and she intends this trip to her father’s home to mark a new beginning. When Kate and her brother Jonah stop in Cambridge to take in a lecture on antiquities by expert Evan Rhys, she means it as an olive branch to Evan, a man she and her late husband once counted as a close friend. But Evan has absented himself from her life since the day of her husband’s fatal accident, and she’s not so sure she can trust his friendship anymore. When she invites him into her bedchamber, an entertaining collision of crossed purposes and mixed messages ensues. These misunderstandings more than make up for the rather lightweight subplot of possible murder, smuggling, and forgery. Agent: Paige Wheeler, Creative Media.

May 1, 2017
After an earl's death, his wife and his best friend must give themselves permission to love each other.Conall Ritchie Durham, the Earl of Whelan, was not much of a catch as either a friend or a husband. But when he died in a riding accident, his best friend, Evan Rhys, couldn't bear to stick around to comfort Con's widow. That's because Evan had been in love with her since the first time they met. For her part, Kate Durham, the Countess of Whelan, was shocked and saddened by her husband's death but not heartbroken. She was tired of his infidelities and his overspending. But she was heartbroken at being abandoned by her dear friend Evan. It was two full years after Con's death before Kate tracked Evan down on a visit to England from the Whelan estate in Ireland. Evan, who had resolved to stay away from Kate, was easily pulled away from his research into antiquities and back into her orbit, staying at her father's home before traveling with her back to Ireland. Kate knows she's attracted to Evan, but she doesn't realize that he's in love with her. Indeed, Kate and Evan and the naturalness of their dialogue are the best parts of the novel and the thing that will carry readers all the way through the last page. The plot is a bit wooden, and Romain (Passion Favors the Bold, 2017, etc.) could have spared readers the addition of a paper-thin villain. But the second full-length book in her Romance of the Turf series is worth reading anyway, because Romain writes the romantic parts of the tale so well and because there is just enough horse talk to please equestrians and not enough to put off people who don't ride. A solid effort from an up-and-coming writer.

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Starred review from June 1, 2017
Lady Kate Whelan is the last person on earth Evan Rhys would expect to see in Cambridge attending one of his lectures on antiquities. Rhys, Kate, and Kate's husband, Con, had once been the best of friends back in Ireland, but that all ended more than two years ago when Con died in a steeplechase accident. Since then, Rhys had made no effort to contact Kate, yet here she is in England, ostensibly to visit her family and attend the horse races in Newmarket while also surreptitiously providing Rhys with a potent reminder of what might have been. Since fickle fate seems to be conspiring to bring Kate back into his life, Rhys wonders if now might not be the time to let Kate know he has always wanted to be more than friends with her. Readers should learn to expect the unexpected in Romain's impeccably crafted novels, and the second in her Romance of the Turf series, following A Gentleman's Game (2016), is no exception. Romain's elegant prose, inventive plotting, brilliantly nuanced characters, and refreshingly different setting make her latest superbly written romance de rigueur for Regency romance fans.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)