cover image Skylark

Skylark

Elane Osborn, Elaine Osborn. Diamond Books (NY), $4.5 (0pp) ISBN 978-1-55773-410-5

Hot air definitely supplies the momentum for this ludicrous romance of social climbers, criminals and balloonists in Victorian England. Quinton Blackthorne, the impoverished Earl of Chadwick, dutifully arranges to restore his family's fortunes by marrying Cicely Summerfield, daughter of a neighboring squire eager to buy titles for his children. But Quinton has already been bewitched by Cicely's cousin, Hannah Bradley, a proficient hot-air balloon navigator. During the engagement festivities, Quinton partners Hannah in a balloon race, but sabotage by an overeager competitor causes the two to drift over to France. After spending an intimate night imprisoned in a smuggler's cellar, Quinton and Hannah return to England, bedraggled and thoroughly compromised. Ever one to do the right thing, Quinton dissolves the engagement with Cicely to marry Hannah. However, Quinton's attention is monopolized by his continuing financial problems until Hannah mysteriously disappears, the victim of a crude family plot.p. 325 Aside from a few tidbits on ballooning, Osborn ( Silken Roses ) demonstrates scant knowledge of upper-class life in the Victorian era. (Nov.)