WHAT HAPPENS IN LONDON

Author: Julia Quinn ISBN: 9780061491887 7/2009 HISTORICAL Publisher: AVON
Time Period: Regency

Rumors and Gossip . . . The lifeblood of London When Olivia Bevelstoke is told that her new neighbor may have killed his fiancée, she doesn't believe it for a second, but, still, how can she help spying on him, just to be sure? So she stakes out a spot near her bedroom window, cleverly concealed by curtains, watches, and waits . . . and discovers a most intriguing man, who is definitely up to something. Sir Harry Valentine works for the boring branch of the War Office, translating documents vital to national security. He's not a spy, but he's had all the training, and when a gorgeous blonde begins to watch him from her window, he is instantly suspicious. But just when he decides that she's nothing more than an annoyingly nosy debutante, he discovers that she might be engaged to a foreign prince, who might be plotting against England. And when Harry is roped into spying on Olivia, he discovers that he might be falling for her himself . . .

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

WHAT HAPPENS IN LONDON is a quick, enjoyable read. I didn’t have any one thing wrong with the book, but I found myself reading it quickly . Not because I was devouring it, but so much of it seems repeated consistently that I could skim large portions of chapters without missing a beat.

The book begins with an interesting premise—murderer for a neighbor!—and continues to be a diverting read. Unfortunately the leads, Olivia and Harry, never really took off as a couple for me. I don’t think it was a lack of chemistry between the two, but more that they seemed like old friends who had moved on to a romance, not strangers meeting destiny (so to speak) romance.

As usual, I loved the banter between the love interests—Quinn really does excel at wordplay and I am rarely ever let down by it. The story just followed such a predictable rhythm that I found myself mentally going ‘Now Olivia will do this. Harry will respond like this. They both will think this…’ instead of anticipating a revelation of some nature.

The mystery surrounding Harry was also a "been there, done that" with a Quinn hero. Not the exact specifics (to my knowledge, none of Julia’s other heroes had been under suspicion for murdering their fiancée!), but in general the back story went Point A to Point B to Point C with little deviation.

For a quick read I think WHAT HAPPENS IN LONDON is a good choice, but fans of Julia’s Bridgerton novels might feel unsatisfied overall.

Alexandra Cenni