TWO WEEKS WITH A STRANGER

Author: Debra Mullins ISBN: 0060799242 2/2007 HISTORICAL Publisher: AVON
Time Period: Regency

The stranger in her bed... Wedded and bedded, Lucy is devastated when she's abandoned by her new husband the very next day. Though it was a marriage of convenience, their heated wedding night gave her hope that it would turn into something more. But she refuses to be the demure bride left behind on a country estate while the stranger she married goes gallivanting about London—even if she has to create a scandal of her own. Simon, the Earl of Devingham, would prefer his exquisite young bride remain at home where he left her. Instead, she follows him to London ...seducing him with her fiery kisses, enchanting him with her scorching touches, and awakening in him an insatiable hunger. His duty to the Crown demands that he remain in town, but Lucv has entered a most perilous game—and she will not forfeit without Simon's total surrender.

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

By page 11 of TWO WEEKS WITH A STRANGER, I went for my baseball bat.

By page 29, the bat was poised and ready for action.

The object of my violent fantasies? Simon, the Earl of Devingham, the 'hero' of Ms. Mullins' story. Simon has the dubious honor of being one of the most annoying, clueless, silliest male leads I have had the misfortune to read. Ever.

Why, you ask? Well, the bookish, nerdy (I wonder if that word was in the Regency vocabulary?) Simon leaves his new bride following an apparent steamy wedding night, to return to London on an assignment as a secret agent in an agency within the War Office. The note he left his new wife, Lucy, simply says, "Have returned to London."

Fast forward two months and Simon is still attempting to seduce a French spy into revealing secrets. The bumbling agent enlists his friend and fellow agent, Fox (another silly, annoying male) for lessons on seduction. Now enter Lucy, who has heard of her new husband's 'romancing' and has come to London to seduce Simon away from his love interest.

Here is where the clueless part comes in. Simon figures his country-bred wife will not hear of his romantic escapades stuck away on his country estate. For one, London society thrives on gossip, so Simon doesn't think Lucy will not soon hear of his infidelity? Even after a gossipy country neighbor sees him flirting at a social function? Hah! Secondly, it is not considered good ton to so obviously flirt with another woman when a wife is present at the same ball. For a newlywed, the oh-so-proper Simon is courting disaster, with actions bordering on scandalous.

Simon doesn't want Lucy in London while he's working his wiles on another woman because he doesn't want her humiliated. Ooooo-kay. And he doesn't think she's not going to be embarrassed if she hears the gossip?

The good news is, Simon and Lucy are made for each other. One is about as silly as the other.

Lucy is a wishy-washy character, wavering between being spirited and being a submissive doormat. At the same time Simon is humiliating Lucy at a ball by trying to get her to leave (so he can flirt with his target), she still feels a tingle when he touches her. Oh, brother...

Both Simon and Lucy would have benefited from a few whacks of my baseball bat.

Aside from several steamy love scenes, there really isn't much to recommend TWO WEEKS WITH A STRANGER. The only really likeable character in this story is Gin, the frank-speaking American heiress, who befriends Lucy and fights with the aggravating Fox.

Debbie Jett