After spending most of her formative years in the harem of the Grand Seraglio at Constantinople, Lady Louisa Darwen enters London society and upsets the genteel equilibrium of the higher classes by appearing unconcerned with prospects for marriage
An interesting premise for a Regencyhaving the heroine raised in a haremis not carried to fruition here. Twenty-three-year-old Lady Louisa Darwen arrives in England with her aunt, Lady Mulford, and a cousin, Augustus Templeton. Lady Louisa has spent several of her formative years in a Turkish harem. For the past five years she has traveled on the Continent with her aunt and cousin. Enter Gervase, Earl of Coldmeece, the arrogant, handsome head of the family. Complications abound with an unscrupulous sister-in-law and a handsome ne'er-do-well cousin from America. The possibilities are endless with misdirected engagements, kidnappings, elopements, etc. The result, however, is unexceptional, though this first novel shows promise. More characterization and less machination are needed. Still, recommended. Paula M. Zieselman, Sarah Lawrence Coll . Lib., Bronxville, N.Y. Copyright 1987 Cahners Business Information.
On September 1, 1819, in St. James's Church in Piccadilly, the 10th earl of Coldmeece marries a woman who has been raised in a Turkish harem. To arrive at this event, the author of thisrun-of-the-mill first novel, a Regency romance, puts some stock characters through familiar routines. Lady Louisa Darwen, who spent her orphaned childhood in a seraglio, returns to England trailing scandal for the social Darwen clan, who sponsor her coming-out. Using paints, powders, dyeing her hair and wearing diaphanous garments, Louisa is a tempestuous, independent debutante who causes genteel havoc among the London ton. Eventually she melts steely Gervase Coldmeece, a supreme catch, having run the gamut of romantic misunderstandings among the Darwen clan, as well as participating in a masked ball, a kidnapping and other diversions of the Regency genre. The subtitle of the novel is The Earl and the Houri. (March 23) Copyright 1987 Cahners Business Information.
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