MISS WONDERFUL

Author: Loretta Chase ISBN: 0425194833 3/2004 HISTORICAL Publisher: Berkley/Jove

Alistair Carsington really, really wishes he didn't love women quite so much. To escape his worst impulses, he sets out for a place far from civilization: Derbyshire--in winter!--where he hopes to kill two birds with one stone: avoid all temptation, and repay the friend who saved his life on the fields of Waterloo. But this noble aim drops him straight into opposition with Miss Mirabel Oldridge, a woman every bit as intelligent, obstinate, and devious as he—and maddeningly irresistible. Mirabel Oldridge already has her hands full keeping her brilliant and aggravatingly eccentric father out of trouble. The last thing she needs is a stunningly attractive, oversensitive and overbright aristocrat reminding her she has a heart--not to mention a body he claims is so unstylishly clothed that undressing her is practically a civic duty. Could the situation be any worse? And why does something that seems so wrong feel so very wonderful?

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

MISS WONDERFUL is Loretta Chase's long-awaited return to the full-length historical romance novel, a return that many of us have eagerly anticipated. While not quite as entertaining and endearing as her previous keepers, such as LORD OF SCOUNDRELS and THE LAST HELLION, MISS WONDERFUL is still an engaging and delightful read, filled with subtle humor, a determined heroine, a modest but scarred hero, and plenty of Regency atmosphere in both prose and style to catapult you back into another time and place.

The first few chapters, I'll admit, were a bit of a slow go for me, but I soon got into the cadence and rhythm of Ms. Chase's prose. It was a flat-out page turner from there. There are so many unique characters in this story, all with their own idiosyncrasies and quirks—from Mirabel's endearing and tunnel-visioned father, to the tortured and dandified Alistair, to Mirabel herself, a strong and loyal spinster who gave up the man she loved to care for her father and run their estate. Each and every one has a part to play in this book and it's an entertaining mix that promises never a dull moment. It was Alistair, however, that stole the show and intrigued me more than any other character. It is always fascinating to figure out what makes some people tick, but never more so than it did the tortured and obsessive-compulsive Alistair.

MISS WONDERFUL is a welcome reentry for one of the genre's most talented writers, and here's hoping that a sequel is in the works for Alistair's partner, Lord Gordmor. Now there's a man who definitely deserves a feisty antagonist of his own.

Nancy Davis