The Bedding Proposal

The inaugural volume of the Rakes of Cavendish Square begins with an embarrassing display of amateurishness that undermines Warren’s lighthearted prose. Identical twins Leopold and Lawrence Byron, younger siblings of earlier Warren protagonists, engage in wooden dialogue that lays out their shared history in an awkward infodump. Warren regains form when Leo puts the moves on Lady Thalia Lennox, a lush and allegedly wanton divorcée. Thalia, set up years before by a vicious husband to take the fall in their very public split, is an intelligent and appealing heroine. Though vulnerable, she demonstrates strength and pragmatism when pushed to a decision. Her stereotypical yielding to Leo’s domineering blandishments is not a surrender but a process of identifying what Thalia herself wants, and accepting the consequences of taking it. Regency period details are scant and Warren ignores the plot-generating potential of identical twins, but the core will-she-won’t-she tension mostly manages to carry the day. Agent: Helen Breitwieser, Cornerstone Literary Agency. (Mar.)