All My Worldly Goods

Convention dictates that no loose strands mar the conclusion of a romance, a dictum successfully upended by veteran British author Weale ( Ecstasy ) in this story set variously in Boston, New York, England, Paris and Barbados. At a 300th-year family reunion Jane Graham, American heiress, meets and is powerfully attracted to her cousin Lord North Carylon, heir to both title and Longwarden, the family's English estate. North's sister, bestselling author Allegra Lomax, is intrigued by artist Andro Risconti. North and Allegra's mother, widowed Countess Penelope, discovers Mr. Ashford, a butler with far-ranging expertise. The Countess's niece Sarah is dedicated to horses and to Nick, a villager who had a stint in the Spanish Foreign Legion before returning to Longwarden. While there are no surprises about who gets together, the couplings are accomplished with panache and interspersed with such fascinating tips as how to clean a historic mansion or where to get sequins in Paris. The unresolved finale, with two characters pregnant, an important character only recently introduced and questions about the parentage of others left unanswered, seems this adept writer's promise of a sequel. (Jan.)