The Lady Most Willing...

Three popular grand dames of historical romance team up again (after The Lady Most Likely...) to create a charming three-part farce set in 1819 Scotland. Laird Taran Ferguson goes to great drunken lengths to kidnap four young women—and John Shevington, duke of Bretton, by accident—in hope of finding brides for his nephews, Byron (an English earl) and Robin (improbably, a French count). No one takes Taran seriously or feels at all endangered or coerced, but while they’re all stuck in his castle waiting out a storm, romance blossoms of its own accord. Penniless, untitled Catriona Burns doubts John’s interest in her, so he proves his ardor. Ruined heiress Fiona Chisholm is happily looking forward to spinsterhood until Byron awakens her desire. Lady Cecily Tarleton falls for Robin at first sight and decides to seduce him. And Marilla Chisholm, Fiona’s younger sister, improbably sets her cap for hoary, hilarious Taran. Witty dialogue and good-natured, down-to-earth characters make this a nice quick historical romance fix. (Jan.)