A GENTLEMAN BY ANY OTHER NAME

Author: Kasey Michaels ISBN: 0373771002 3/2006 HISTORICAL Publisher: HQN
Time Period: Regency 1811

Old enough to remember his beginning, Chance Becket has spent all of his thirty years trying to forget, hiding his unsavory youth behind a society marriage and a prestigious position with the War Office. But now the widower must confront his past and return to the windswept coast of Romney Marsh ...where the ghosts of his childhood still linger. Newly hired governess Julia Carruthers is delighted to be in charge of Chance's young daughter and eager to escape the confines of London. Yet the excitement of the journey to her employer's strange home is nothing compared to the attraction between them. And when Julia sees something she should not, she wonders if Chance's sudden intentions are prompted by ungentlemanly desires or his need to protect his family's secrets.

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

A GENTLEMAN BY ANY OTHER NAME starts off a new series by Kasey Michaels, featuring the handsome and brooding patriarch, Ainsley Becket, and his collection of both adopted and natural children—Courtland, Morgan, Rian, Chance, Eleanor, Fanny, Cassandra, and Spencer—more collectively known as the Beckets of Romney Marsh. Believe me, this is no Brady Bunch family. This is a family steeped in mystery and deep secrets, bound by bonds thicker than blood.

Ms. Michaels begins with Chance's story, and if it's any indication of the books to follow, readers are destined to get hooked very quickly. Chance is the sibling who walked away, turning his back on this family of misfits and outcasts (why, you'll find out when you read it *G*). He's your typical London man of the ton—living in a loveless marriage and treating his daughter, Alice, as more or less of an afterthought, a child to be tucked away in the nursery with nannies and governesses to raise her. Once widowed, however, Chance is determined to become a better father to Alice, though old habits aren't easy to break.

It's common for a child's character to overshadow the main characters of a story; I've seen it happen many times. But in A GENTLEMAN BY ANY OTHER NAME, Alice never does. This is an area in which Ms. Michaels' writing excels—in both her portrayal of Chance as a man determined to protect and do better by his child, and of Alice, his ever forgiving 5 year-old whose unconditional love for her father never ceases to waiver, no matter how many times he forgets or "wrongs" her.

Julia, the governess, is intelligent, insightful and caring. Her bond with Alice is immediate, and her attraction to and involvement with Chance, inevitable. The fact that she stays two steps ahead of him is fantastic—she's no fool and won't be played as one, which he soon finds out the hard way. How she handles herself with Chance, as well as how she copes with Chance's extended family using charm, her smarts and quick wit, made Julia my favorite character—this is not a heroine who cowers.

Being my first Kasey Michaels book, I found it didn't disappoint. All the characters, including secondaries such as Jacko and Odette, were well drawn and important players in the storyline. While I did find the last half of the book read much faster than the first—the climax is one of those suck-you-in-and-won't-let-go sort of endings—A GENTLEMAN BY ANY OTHER NAME was far above average and a perfect setup for the books that will follow. All the Becket siblings' personalities were well defined, making me want to know as much about them as I did about Chance. But like all good things that come to those who wait, that's something I must be patient for.

Next up for the Beckets? Morgan's story, in THE DANGEROUS DEBUTANTE. That's one mischievous, headstrong young lady I can't wait to see invade the ton during the London season—I just know that she'll take them by storm.

Nancy Davis