cover image Frederica in Fashion

Frederica in Fashion

Marion Chesney. St. Martin's Press, $11.95 (152pp) ISBN 978-0-312-30363-1

The sixth and last of Reverend Armitage's daughters is married off in befitting style in this concluding volume of a series known to followers of Regency romances. Frederica, the lone non-beauty among the dazzling sisters, decides to avoid the humiliation of being launched on the marriage mart. Escaping from her finishing school, she uses her plainness to find employment as servant in the household of the Duke of Pembury. Known as ""The Wicked Duke,'' Pembury unaccountably succumbs to the improbable housemaid, bringing the sextet of happily married sisters felicitously full circle. With attention to the customary raunchy behavior of Squire Armitage and the other familiars, Chesney (Diana the Hunter, Deirdre and Desire et al.) concludes the light-hearted series. November 21