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Miss Caroline Ritter, accomplished flirt, acknowledged beauty, and ruined gentlewoman, offers lessons to any rich, noble lord too inept to attract a wife. Discard your silly affectations and your garish clothing! Learn the art of witty conversation, elegant dancing, equestrian feats and irresistible seduction at the opera! With Miss Ritter's help, you can become the most sought-after aristocrat at the ball! Send your request to the Distinguished Academy of Governesses. Please, absolutely no devastatingly attractive men with hidden agendas, such as secret missions or vengeful plots against evil villains-specifically not Jude Durant, the earl of Huntington, the most handsome, the most covert, the most dangerous of all the aristocrats in Regency London.… (more)
User reviews
All I need is a plot and , thin though that plot was it, it was enough for me I to continue reading this frothy piece of idiocy to the end. I can therefore report that two chapters of a Black Lace novel seem to have been included by accident. sitting strangely amongst the mannered coyness and flat jokes of the rest of the novel. Its part of a series but I won't be reading them. I enjoy a joke but if I were to pay for more of this the joke would be on me.
Christina Dodd once had a book published in whicha three armed heroine graced the cover, i am sure she did the cover justice.
First of all, the premise is ridiculous. Caroline is hired to flirt with a
Second of all - Jude in the role of 'effiminate idiot' struck me as being a poor actor, who can't keep to his role and when he's in it, goes so far overboard that he's a caricature. In short, he wouldn't fool a child.
This second problem - the sheer emasculating silliness of Jude's false identity - ends up necessitating a resulting backlash. Whenever Jude manages to slip out of his sissy role Dodd overcompensates to make a balance and Jude becomes hyper-masculine, a manly man to the nth degree. There is one scene in particular, a sort of fun and pretty steamy sex scene (this is a pretty steamy book on the whole, I have to say), where Jude is flipping around a big knife...and as I was reading, all I could think was: "This half-threatening swashbuckling really isn't necessary, Ms. Dodd."
OK, that being said, Dodd does write very well - fluent, with good period detail and a lovely descriptive vocabulary - and if you're willing to put up with the plot, the romance is rather rewarding.
Caroline Ritter is a product of her upbringing as well as her time outside of the ton. She is a strong capable woman even though she doesn't see herself as such. She has survived on her own for four years taking whatever jobs she can find to support herself and save money so she and her sister can move to France. It is sad that she thinks that she thinks that her only skill is flirting. Caroline is an observer of the people around her. She is able to make everyone seem important and worthy. She is kind and generous and more than a little too trusting. That trust is what ruins her reputation. I was glad to see that she became confident enough to take down the woman that has made her life so miserable. Caroline is an intriguing character much like Celeste was I hope that we get to see more of her.
As with all of Ms. Dodd's story there are all kinds of characters that make this story such a joy to read. The villains of the piece are given what they really deserve. I was surprised that the butler was caught in his abuse and dismissed. I had to cheer for Nicolette, Duchess of Nevet, for giving the man the boot. The Duke of Nevet was as arrogant as a aristocrat could be. The ladies that rally around Nicolette and Caroline are delightful. Caroline’s father is slime and I hope he dies a lonely man for his treatment of his daughters. I have to say that the love scenes, while not as steamy as some of the stories I have read, were hot and well written. This is story goes by pretty quickly and it leaves you wondering what happened to one of the characters. I am hoping we find the answer in the next book. This is a very good story and worthy of the series.
I am currently on a Regency kick and this one was terrific!!