Just a quick work of advice: this is really not a romance, but a mystery and not a very interesting one at that. Romance is in the background. SInce this is the first in a series of stories about the couple solving mysteries, I would save my money and wait for the last book to come out since I would guess it will be during that book that the romance will really bloom.

"A Rather Necessary End" is the first in a projected series featuring the detecting adventures of Lady Priscilla Flanders and her friend, Sir Neville Hathaway. And if the future novels in this series turn out to be as good as this one, mystery fans who also happen to be aficionados to the Regency period can look forward to intriguing and engrossing reads down the road.

Lady Priscilla Flanders (the widow of the universally loved vicar of Stonehall-on-Sea)'s well ordered world suffers a severe tilting when, early one evening, she finds the Duke of Meresden dead in her garden, his head bashed in. But if that was not horrifying enough, the knowledge that the village constable considers her to be the prime suspect in the duke's murder would be enough to send most women scurrying to their beds for solace. Fortunately, Lady Priscilla is made of sterner stuff. And she's determined to clear her name, protect her children and discover the identity of the real murderer. And together with her good friend, Sir Neville Hathaway, she sets out to do this. Unfortunately the clues are short on the ground. And save for the slightly suspicious behaviour of the late duke's son and heir, suspects are in short supply as well. Add to that the headache of having her meddlesome aunt descend on her, threatening to remove her children from her 'scandalous' household, and things look truly bleak indeed. And then another worthy villager is attacked. and finally Lady Priscilla begins to see a glimmer at what may be at the heart of the murder and threats...

"A Rather Necessary End" was a real treat for me to read. Finally a good mystery novel that also possesses an intelligent, engaging and grown up heroine! Thank you, Jo Ann Ferguson. "A Rather Necessary End" possesses a rather interesting and intriguing storyline. And the authour tells the story in such a tantalising way that I just had to finish the book in one go. While there are a few twists and turns in the mystery plot, this book is not one of those mystery novels where clues are strewn all over the place so that the reader can try to solve the mystery as the novel unfolds. (But I found that I didn't mind this very much). And while the identity of the murderer became fairly obvious after a while, the motive behind the murder and assaults remained a tantalising mystery till the very end.

Romance-wise, some readers may be a little disappointed that the romance between Lady Priscilla and Sir Neville Hathaway remains a rather muted motif even to the very end. However, since this is to be a series, I do think that everyone can take heart that the romance between these two will come to the fore as the series progresses.

"A Rather Necessary End" turned out to be a truly brilliant and enjoyable read, and one that should not be missed.

This was an entertaing regency mystery but the romance between the heroine and the hero moves achingly slow. Unlike the previous reviewer, I was not bothered by the timing of the romance between Lady Priscilla Flanders and Sir Neville Hathaway. Lady Priscilla's husband has been dead over a year and she seems to miss him very much, in my opinion, because she mentions him constantly. Sir Neville doesn't even kiss her until the end of this book, the second in the series, so I hardly believe he is rushing things.

I found many of the characters rather unlikeable though, including, at times, the heroine, who seems rather rigid and barely is attracted to the hero.

The mystery moved slowly at first but did reach a satisfying conclusion by the end of the book.

"Grave Intentions" is the second book in the Lady Priscilla Flanders/Sir Neville Hathaway romance-mystery adventures, and follows closely on the heels of first installment, "A Rather Necessary End." In this episode, Lady Priscilla has succumbed to the pleas of her eldest daughter, and has taken her family to London in order to enjoy a bit of the London Season. The last thing she expected was to find herself in the middle of another baffling and dangerous murder investigation!

Someone seems to be killing the servants at Bedford Square. The body count is up to three, with the latest victim being that of Mr. Lampman's coachee has upset Lady Priscilla servants no end. And so, in order to try and alleviate some of their anxiety, Lady Priscilla decides to try and discover what's going on. Her attempts at gleaning any new information comes to naught, except to serve to introduce to the very odd and insufferable Cecil Burtrum, who manages to anger Lady Priscilla with his total lack of concern about the murderous goings-on at the square. Little does Lady Priscilla expect, however, that the next time she sees Cecil, he will be dead -- also murdered, like the others before him. Now, Lady Priscilla, along with her good friend, Sir Neville Hathaway, are determined to get to the bottom of what's going on at Bedford Square...

"Grave Intentions" proved to be an entertaining read. The mystery was interesting and intriguing one, even if it did take a while to unwind, and one was left a little in the dark as to what was really going on and why. (Also, there was a dearth of viable suspects). This time around, however, the potential romance that was bubbling between Lady Priscilla and Sir Neville was much more in the fore, than it was in "A Rather Necessary End." However, while, on the whole "Grave Intentions" proved to make for good lighthearted reading, I did find myself feeling a little troubled with the relative ease with which Lady Priscilla and her children seem to have recovered from the their grief over Lazarus Flanders's (Lady Priscilla husband) death. The man's been dead for barely a year, but except for a mention here and there to show how binding the ties are between Sir Neville and the Flanders family are, hardly anyone talks about missing him! I also found it troubling that Sir Neville, who was supposed to be Flanders's best friend would attempt to start a flirtation-romance so soon after his friend's death. I think I would have preferred it if all these mystery-adventures had taken place a few years after Flanders's death. But that's just me -- and not everyone is going to find this particular plot development troubling.

On the whole though, "Grave Intentions" proved to be a rather good Regency romance (Jo Ann Ferguson does a truly good job of keeping the romance between Lady Priscilla and Sir Neville humming at a tentative sizzle) novel with an interesting mystery plot.

"A Guardian's Angel" is a rather enjoyable read and boasts of a plot involving a rather beautiful, sensible and intelligent companion (Angela Needham), a trio a charming youngsters, and two noblemen who are enemies and neighbours.

Angela Needham has been hired by the Duke of Oslington to help prepare his ward, Leonia Sutton for her London debut. And while the duke proves to be distant and austere, his wards (Leonia and her brother, Thomas, and younger sister, Esther) prove to be warm, friendly and quite charming. In no time at all, Angela finds herself becoming deeply involved in the lives of the Sutton siblings, especially so when it turns out that Thomas has been sneaking off to spend time with the duke's neighbour and enemy, Lord Harrington, who to Angela's surprise turns out to be completely charming and attractive. She discovers that there is some kind of disagreement between the two men who were once close friends, but neither will talk about their falling out. And the more time she spends with Lord Harrington, the more deeply Angela finds herself falling for him. But the duke has demanded that she have nothing to do with him. What can a poor companion do when her employer decrees that she ignore the promptings of her heart?

On the whole this was a rather well written novel that also has the advantage of possessing a rather intelligent and sensible heroine as well. I had only two problems with this novel: 1) Angela and Lord Harrington begin to address each other by their first names soon after their initial meeting. This is really not in concordance with the manners of the period. And 2) the manner in which the duke's character was developed. The duke's character sort of swung between being a domestic tyrant and being quite heroic and intelligent. I rather liked the duke (in fact I liked him quite a bit better than I did Lord Harington) and sympathised with the problems he faced, but even I was dismayed at quite a few of the duke's decisions and actions.

"A Guardian's Angel" is quite an engrossing read that, I think, should generate quite a bit of fun -- the plot and characters are engaging (even if the ending and Lord Harrington's conversion to good sense was extremely convenient), and except for the two niggling points I raised, was quite an enjoyable read.

I really found it difficult to lose myself in "A Highland Folly." And that is because I personally did not take to the hero of the piece, Lucais MacFarlane, and not because this novel is badly written or conceived. It's just a private bias of mine to dislike manipulative men, and I found Lucais's behaviour to be just too machinating to take.

After having spent nearly her entire life traveling around the world with her mother and various stepfathers, Lady Anice Kinloch is happy to have a place to call home, for she has inherited the leadership of the clan Kinloch, and the family castle, Ardkinloch. So what if her new found family is driving her nuts with their never ending demands for attention? Trouble however comes in the shape of Lucais MacFarlane, an engineer who has been commissioned to build a bridge across the river Abhainn an Urusig, much to the anger of the people of Kinloch, who believe that such a project would destroy the beauty of the countryside. Lady Anice would like to be able to hear from everyone before she decides whether or not to support the building of the bridge, but her attraction to Lucais is only too evident to everyone in the valley. And soon even her own family does not trust her to be impartial in the matter.

Lucais MacFarlane is determined to be build the bridge no matter the cost. Because he grew up in the region -- he is the second son of Lord Chesterton, but he is keeping that bit of information under wraps -- and because the Kinlochs and the Chestertons have been feuding since the English Civil War, he was prepared for all kinds of crazed opposition from the Kinlochs. What he did not expect was to feel so strongly drawn to Lady Anice. She is unlike any woman he has ever met, but bitter experience has made Lucais wary of trusting any woman completely; and Anice's need to put her family obligations before all else grates on his nerves, esp as he has turned his back on his own family obligations. And then someone starts sabotaging the project. Lucais suspects Anice's family, but Anice demands more tangible proof before she will act. Their relationship seems doomed unless Anice and Lucais can find a way to trust each other. But will they?

Part of the problem with this novel was in how it unfolded. The reader is able to glean from the bits of information strewn all over the book why Lucais feels so bitterly towards women who are after a titled husband, and why he has decided to keep his real identity secret. But the entire picture only comes to light halfway through the book, and by that time, I for one had lost interest, for Lucais MacFarlane had already crystallized as a rather mercurial and manipulative individual. He frequently blows hot and cold towards Anice because of all his hangups (distrust of women, anger at her need to put her family first, etc) and yet he keeps putting off being honest with her about his own past and secrets! And then there is the manner in which he keeps compromising Anice, thus causing her to loose the confidence of her family and the people of the valley. This seemed to me to be a rather foolish thing for Lucais to do esp since Anice was his best hope for getting the people of the valley to accept his bridge. It seemed as if what he really wanted was for Anice to choose him over her family, rather than for Anice to help him garner support for his project. And then there was the whole feud between the Chestertons and the Kinlochs. This is referred to again and again but is only resolved as an afterthought in the epilogue. Which of course brings us to the falling out between Lucais and his father, and the rather haphazard resolution of that subplot. Does Lucais finally accept his family obligations or not?

The characters in this novel are all very well portrayed, from the rather ruthless Lucais to Anice's Kinloch kin. And the story itself is promising; I just found myself resenting Lucais MacFarlane for the manner in which he used Anice -- just because he was not mature enough to handle his heritage and responsibilities was no reason for him to keep compromising Anice's position with her own kin. No doubt Lucais's kin were probably every bit as trying as Anice's, but she found a way to deal with her family and accept her familial responsibilities. Lucais MacFarlane desperately needed to grow up, in my view; and Jo Ann Ferguson tries to add some maturity to her hero in the epilogue, but it was a little too late for me by then.

"His Lady Midnight" possesses a rather interesting plot involving a very unconventional and beautiful heroine on a quest to save lives and a rather dashing and handsome hero who comes to her aid. It is not your usual light Regency romance reading, and would, I suspect, made a much better reading if it had been a much longer novel. However it is still a rather goodish read.

Lady Phoebe Brackenton has a very dangerous secret life: she uses her wealth to buy the freedom of the unfortunates who have committed petty crimes out of necessity, and have been condemned to being transported to the penal colony in Australia. Very often this means being forever separated from their families forever because few have the money to buy their way back to England once their sentence is over. Phoebe buys their freedom off the transportation ship (illegally, of course), and then she smuggles them to more remote counties where she finds them work and sanctuary. Once their sentence is up, they are then in a better position to return to their families and start again. Phoebe has been successfully doing this for quite a few years now, however her good luck has just run out. In her latest venture, she all but walks into a trap, and barely escapes in tact. She makes for a carriage, thinking it her own, and is aghast to discover that it actually belongs to Lord Galen Townsend.

Galen Townsend is at the dockyards, looking for his drunken and wayward brother when Phoebe fairly hurtles into his carriage. He recognises Phoebe as the restained and beautiful heiress, who in spite of her beauty, wealth and connections, seems to flit through the ton only at it's fringes. He is curious as to why she is at the London dockyards at this hour of the night, and her fevered request for help, moves him to help her. Realising that the authorities suspect and are after Phoebe, Galen whisks her off the his friend's Brighton home, Thistledown Cottage, so that she can maintain a low profile until the authorities loose interest in her (though how a unchaperoned young lady of society living with an eligible bachelor she's not related to or engaged to could be considered as maintaining a low profile, was a bit of a mystery to me).

The more time the couple spend together, the more they come to admire, respect and fall for each other. Galen is fairly bowled over by Phoebe's courage, compassion as well as her beauty; while Phoebe finds herself falling under the spell of Galen's good looks, charms and kindness. However their blossoming relationship suffers a few setbacks, when first Galen's' spoilt and manipulative younger brother, Carr, turns up at Thistledown Cottage, and later when the authorities center in on Phoebe. Will Galen's and Phoebe's fragile relationship be able to withstand the twin assaults of Carr's petty malice and the dragnet the authorities have placed around Lady Midnight?

"His Lady Midnight" is not a bad read -- both Galen's and Phoebe's characters were well developed. I especially liked the heroine, Phoebe Brackenston, who was not only courageous and compassionate, but who was also sensible to boot. It's not often one comes across a heroine of Phoebe's caliber, and it was a treat to do so. I also liked that both Galen and Phoebe treated each other with respect and deep regard, without playing the kinds of games that usually passes for "flirtation." Much of the plot was interesting and believable as well, thought the ending was a little rushed. Also, more could have been done with the Galen-Carr plot line, I thought. And, without giving too much away, I found the projected 'all's well that ends well' ending of the novel to be highly improbable. I didn't think that there was much chance for Phoebe and Galen could resume their lives 'as usual' in England barring some kind of special dispensation. In spite of what I thought was an unlikely ending however, "Lady Midnight" was a rather enjoyable read, and should not disappoint.

Although often contorted, this book is a fun break from reality. Ms. Ferguson offers appealing characters and a credible romance. The contrived plot is what keeps this from being a truly excellent book. The heroine distains the season because she is searching for her lost brother. But somehow she turns abrupted to allow all three gentlemen involved in the wager to court her seperately. And then there is the government, which denies that her brother is still alive, but secretly knows he is a prisoner of war. Why would the government hide this? It would actually be in their best interest not to mess with the peerage's inheriting structure and mess up the title system with their denials.

Overall, the strong characters make up for an inherently weak plot and make this a pleasant read.

The plot has promise--a man who wakes up beside his host's daughter and is told he married her in a drunken stupor with a proxy standing in for the bride--but the 'twases, 'tises, and a mayhap every other page certainly ruined the flow of the narrative. Those expressions are Georgian and even if they were not, it is not necessary to use them to write a good Regency. The main characters have promise but they are sort of dragged from page to page, vascillating about their attraction to each other as they try to undo the marriage. That some of the other characters do not ring true to the period is a common problem with American writers trying to "do" Regency England. There was nothing democratic about it--rank was everything. Also,Cameron's brother would never bring his doxy to his brother's house to meet the bride nor would Cameron have a picture of his mistress in his house. Some behaviors were beyond the pale and to pretend otherwise wastes a good plot opportunity. Definitely not of the caliber of "Lord Radcliffe's Season" but I'm trying to finish it anyway.

While the novel starts out well it sorta fizzles. The hero seems to be a bit to remote for the story. It was also easy to determine who the bad guy was (I had it figured out way to early) and when that happens it sorta looses it's hold on you.

But if you are just looking for a quick enjoyable read it is not a bad book.

"His Unexpected Bride" by Jo Ann Ferguson is a rather well written novel that makes full use of the marriage of inconvenience plot. Lord Cameron Hawksmoor drunkenly stumbles into Miss Tess Masterson's bedroom, mistaking it for his own. But before he can rectify his error, Tess's father turns up. Apparently Cameron has married Tess (by proxy) with her father's blessing. Both Tess and Cameron are appalled: Tess, because her father has married her off so summarily without giving any thought as to her wishes and feelings; and Cameron because he's so drunk, he cannot remember having even obtained a special license in order to marry Tess. However married the two irrevocably are unless there is some legal way out of this bumblebroth. Unhappy, both Cameron and Tess leave for London in order to get some legal advice about their predicament. The trouble however is that while Tess feels quite resentful towards Cameron for the part he played in this mess, and while Cameron cannot help but feel that there is something terribly wrong about the manner in which he came to be married, both Tess and Cameron are powerfully attracted towards each other. The question then is if both Tess and Cameron should give up their hopes of putting and end to their marriage and give into their feelings for each other or not?

The novel unfolds a little slowly for the first half of the book. Jo Ann Ferguson spent a lot of time circling around the frustrations that both Cameron and Tess feel about the state they find themselves in -- being married and yet not wanting to remain so because of the manner in which their marriage was contracted; stir in the powerful attraction that they feel for each other and the fact that neither party really trusts the other completely, and you have a royal mess in the making! On Tess's side of grievances lies also the unpalatable truth that she doesn't know what to make of Cameron's tendency to blow hot and cold towards her, of his ability to suppress all his emotions, to say one thing but mean the other, and his tendency to blame her and throw tantrums whenever things go wrong. (I mentally cheered when she finally tells him to grow up and face things like an adult.) However, halfway through the novel, there is a major plot development (and I'm not saying what so as not to spoil things for everyone). From this point on, the novel unwinds at a faster and at a more interesting pace, as Cameron finally begins to take a hard look at who is trying to harm and manipulate his family.

All in all, I'd say that "His Unexpected Bride" is a pretty good read. I did think that Cameron's and Tess's obsession with putting a quiet end to their marriage was unrealistic. This was early 19th century England afterall: no such thing (save an annulment) existed. Also, I wished that Jo Ann Ferguson had developed Cameron's character more -- what had turned him into such a control freak? And why he felt the need to suppress all his emotions? As it is we're left with a frequently grumpy and short tempered grouse, albeit an intelligent one. I also thought that introducing Cameron's good hearted ex-mistress into the mix was unnecessary, as she served no real purpose except to advise Tess to stick out her unconventional marriage and to trust in Cameron. She only added to the mess of there being (at times) too many characters for such a plot. A good read however in spite of my caveats.

There were a few things that didn't sit well with me as I read this book. Firstly I found the interactions between Arielle and Daniel lifeless. The romance just wasn't there, at all. Needless to say the lovemaking scenes were no better. As a matter of fact, the first night they made love I had to reread the section because she never exactly explained what they did... had he taken her viginity? Were they just being intimate without intercourse? I had no idea even after rereading the scene. It was very irritating to not know for sure what's going.

I was also very confused about Stephen leaving her at the hotel (apparently not planning on coming back) on at least 3 or 4 different occations because he was upset! What a fickle man. Who would want that in their life anyway?

I also didn't like the bizzar situation of Arielle searching for her fiancee, but falling in love with her "guide" as he became once they set off in the jungles of Nicaragua.

None of it appealed to me and quite frankly the only reason I continued to read it after what was a good beginning until they reached Nicaragua, was because I did want to know what happened to her fiancee Caleb.

Forget the story in this book - though, actually, it's pretty confusing in parts and could have benefitted from an honest and very critical editor. What really turned me off was the sheer impossibility of so much of what Ferguson writes about. It's perfectly clear that she doesn't know very much about the habits and customs of the Regency period.

Young ladies did not go about unescorted or unchaperoned. So Emily's visits to the bookshop could not have gone unnoticed. She would have had to have, at the very least, a maid with her everywhere she went. More likely, there would have been some female relative or paid chaperone living with the family; two unmarried women would simply not live with their father without a female companion of some type.

The forms of address are wrong: only Emily is Miss Tallcot. Her sister is Miss Miriam Tallcot, or Miss Miriam.

Women were not supposed to know any slang terms. So, even if Emily did know some of the terms in popular usage, she would never have revealed that fact, far less use such language in conversation.

If Emily's father had owned his own shipping line, then he was in trade and would have been shunned by the ton. Likewise, it's fanciful to imagine that Wentworth would have managed the publishing company himself. It just wasn't done.

There is no way that Emily could have been her sister's chaperone. Both are unmarried young ladies; both would have been required to be chaperoned by an older matron, some relative who was a married woman or a widow.

People simply did not use each other's first names in public; even in private, it would have been unheard of for a lady to use the first name of a gentleman who wasn't very closely related to her. So Emily and Damon would not have called each other by their first names, nor would any other characters.

Damon is unmarried, and apparently has no female relative acting as chatelaine in his country house. Therefore he simply could not have held the house party as described in the book. He could certainly invite male companions to his home, but no women; not without a respectable hostess.

And, most of all, Emily and Damon could never have been alone together in the way Ferguson writes them as being throughout the book. Even on the very first occasion, when they'd gone out into the garden at someone's party and were alone, once they were discovered - as they were - it wouldn't have been treated as nothing out of the ordinary. Emily would have been completely compromised and Wentworth would have had to marry her or be considered beyond the pale. Yet Ferguson has them seeking places to be alone and to kiss the whole time, as if no-one else would notice or bat an eyelid. Emily would have been ruined, and would either have been sent away by her father in no short order, or Tallcot would have called Wentworth out.

I just couldn't get beyond these inaccuracies, and more, to accept the story on face value.

When I read a romance, it is for fun escapism. This book is not fun and it is not escapism. Although the plot is interesting (woman, daughter of foreign diplomat, married to peer by proxy and sent to England and pursued by evil henchman from foreign country), the characters simply make this piece fall apart.

Neither the "hero" nor "heroine" are at all likeable. The hero is a jerk. He bullies his wife around, refuses to stop sleeping with his mistress, and generally acts like a cad while he tries to seduce his wife. The heroine, we are told, is a spunky, independent thinker, but we have no evidence of this. In fact, the heroine is supposed to be enamoured with politics, but isn't, and fights to change the role of women, but doesn't. She wrings her hands and blames herself when her new in-laws are incredibly rude to her. She claims to dislike her role as a female, but she has absolutely no talents at all, wifely or not (no wonder her husband gets exasperated with her). And, she is fighting her attraction to her bore of a husband, but immediately capitulates when ever he touches her and she feels that "spark." To add to this mess, the secondary characters are inconsistent and stupid.

And the end of this book, I was relieved it was over. The promising plot set-up gets the 2 stars in this review. The writing, the characters, and the action make this book worth only one star. I recommend that you leave this book on the shelf and try some of Ferguson's other efforts, which are at least amusing.