If Wishes Were Earls

The curse of Kempton has been broken with the marriages of Tabitha Timmons and Daphne Dale (in previous Rhymes with Love novels And the Miss Ran Away with the Rake and Along Came a Duke). Now their best friend, Harriet “Harry” Hathaway, has set her cap for the Earl of Roxley. Harry is no simpering London miss and does not hesitate to interfere with Roxley’s plans to marry the oh-so-proper and well-dowried Miss Murray. Meanwhile, Roxley realizes his imminent social and financial ruin is being orchestrated by an unseen enemy, and the scheme is somehow related to a years-old mystery involving a legendary diamond necklace and his parents’ deaths. Frequent flashbacks disrupt the flow, but the conspiracy is complex and well-plotted. Roxley and Harry’s lovemaking is bold and direct, and their passionate interludes would be hot enough to singe the sheets except that “there was never a demmed bed around.” Some inconsistencies mar this otherwise satisfying Regency romance that perfectly fits Harry’s outrageous personality. (Jan.)