Lions and Lace

When Mrs. William Astor dictates that New York society refuse to attend a coming-outcoming-out? ball for the Irish Mara Sheridan, her nouveau riche brother Trevor (called ``The Predator'' on Wall Street) decides to ruin as many of the Four Hundred as possible. One of his victims, however, is the highly pedigreedp. 8 and well-intentioned Alana Van Alen, who tried unsuccessfully to thwart her grasping uncle Baldwin Didier and attend the ball. When Alana's fortune is destroyed by Trevor, Baldwin dumps his impoverished niece on the Sheridans' doorstep. Trevor blackmails her into marriage: Mara will secure social acceptance and a husband, and in return Alana will receive financial security. Alana accepts, as she secretly supports her sister Christabel (who is thought responsible for their parents' deaths but suffers from amnesia). Love inevitably and incredibly results between Trevor and Alana. Despite McKinney's ( Till Dawn Tames the Night ) flaunting of her research, the historical setting is unconvincing, full of exaggerations, errors (Alana's gloves wouldn't actually have had 15 buttons at the wrist)p. 39 and omissions (notably, the period's super-snob Ward McAlister). Major ad/promo. (May)