THE LADY IN QUESTION

Author: Judith Laik ISBN: 0821778285 8/2005 HISTORICAL Publisher: KENSINGTON/Zebra
Time Period: Regency - 1812

A FATEFULL TOSS OF THE DICE Charlotte Treadwell is outraged when her gaming-mad papa forfeits her in a game of hazard. Suddenly she "belongs" to the Earl of Rayfield, a rake and a gambler who'll never understand that her passions are engaged in helping those less fortunate than she. A PERILOUS GAME OF CHANCE Rayfield must stop an aristocratic spy from inflicting revolution's horrors upon England. How can he concentrate on his duties when the tempting woman he has won is the fiery daughter of his prime suspect? Love is the most dangerous gamble of all . . .

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

As excited as I was about reading A LADY IN QUESTION, I was a bit disappointed with the book as a whole. While I loved Rayfield and Charlotte separately, together they just did not seem to have much chemistry. That is to say that they weren't together enough in the book for me to really grab a hold of the chemistry between them. They are together for extremely short periods in which they will have a miniscule little disagreement over something extremely petty, and the minute Rayfield is feeling a little put out, Charlotte backs down.

Equally frustrating to me is how Rayfield seems so sure that Charlotte is leading a band of Luddites, when it is her father who has taken off and left for parts unknown without a backwards glance. When Rayfield finally believes that Charlotte has no contact with her father, he automatically assumes that it is she, and still not the runaway parent, who is corrupt. It made for a very mediocre story at best.

Separately, Charlotte is radiant. She is helpful and pretty, very polite and truly trying to make the best out of a horrid situation. Rayfield is the same. He seems to be an even-tempered, slight Alpha male with a good head on his shoulders, until he is around Charlotte. Then he can't seem to tell apples from oranges.

I have read other books by Judith Laik and loved them. Ms. Laik is a wonderful author with a great ability to get me lost in a book. A LADY IN QUESTION just did not particularly appeal to me.

Kristal Gorman