The Beautiful One

Aside from some sweet moments and the occasional quip, there’s not much to salvage from this plodding Regency romance. Poised on the brink of scandal over a book of salacious drawings, Anna Bristol heads to Stillwell Hall under the name Anna Black, acting as Elizabeth Tarryton’s companion and chaperone. She has to convince Will Halifax, Viscount Grandville, to let Elizabeth, his ward, stay with him. Much is made of Anna’s independence and resourcefulness, but they manifest as a stubborn insistence that she knows what’s best for everyone else. Will is a ball of clichés: a grieving widower, a hermit afraid to care, and a son angry at his father for remarrying. Unfortunately he comes off as petulant and bitter, not complex. Anna forces Will to care about life again, but when it comes to her feelings for Will and their humdrum affair, she is passive. Will grows up and stops pouting, but Anna never changes, making this love story tedious from beginning to end. Agent: Jenny Bent, Bent Agency. (June)