A Family Affair

Jennifer
Wenn
Genre: 
Historical

Lady Francesca Darling is in love with her uncle's best friend. In fact, she’s been in love with Devlin since she was five years old. Now that she’s eighteen, all she needs to do is convince Devlin. Unfortunately, Devlin isn’t on board with the plan. He declares he’s not the marrying type due to his past. That doesn’t slow down Francesca in an effort to make the match of the century.

 

“A Family Affair” actually does involve Francesca’s family, as the title implies. Every one of them is devoted to the outspoken gel. Even though the book is a Regency, modern terms show up like ‘restroom,’ ‘you think’ and ‘waitress’ that pull the reader out of the story. The plot is a familiar historic romance, one with the young virgin setting her sights on a notorious rake, but doesn’t have the spark to carry off the tired story line. 

 

About halfway through the book, Devlin decides he can have a relationship with the young Francesca, but he treats her like a dockside doxie as opposed to a gentle flower as he had vowed earlier that he would. Francesca is an amusing character, even though she leans toward being too perfect. This romance could work better set in a later time and trimmed down to only the essential plot. 

 

Morgan Stamm