Book Review: The Secret Life of Lady Lucinda by Sophie Barnes

Title: The Secret Life of Lady Lucinda
Series: Summersby, Book 3
Author: Sophie Barnes
Genre: Historical Romance
Sensuality Rating: Steamy
Source: review copy from publisher via Edelweiss
Published: November 20, 2012 by Avon

William finally meets his match in the latest Summersby Tale from Sophie Barnes, author of How Miss Rutherford Got Her Groove Back.

Lucy Blackwell is desperate, reckless, and maybe a little bit crazy. That's the only possible explanation for tricking a man she doesn't know into a dance, a kiss, and an engagement—all in the middle of the biggest ball of the year! But Lord William Summersby is the final piece of her grand plan, and she'll do what it takes to make this marriage of convenience work—as long as it's convenient for her. She just never counted on falling in love...

Reviewed By: J9

In a Nutshell: I can’t do eighteen year old heroines, even in historical romances. If other readers can look past this fact then maybe it’ll be an enjoyable read.

The Set Up: Lucy is desperate to have Lord William Summersby’s help in unmasking the men who killed her family. She traps William with a false engagement but when he agrees to a marriage of convenience, it changes everything.

Why I Read this Book: Avon Addict here!

What I Liked: The mystery of who killed Lucy’s family was well developed and kept my attention. This part of the plot built upon itself to a satisfying conclusion. This mystery plot had everything including a good red herring. Anyone who likes mysteries should enjoy this as it jumps from the glittering ballrooms of Regency England to exotic Constantinople.

What I Didn’t Like: Lucy is barely eighteen. Yet readers are asked to believe that she’s mature enough to have plotted her revenge since she was twelve when she saw her parents murdered. She has a grand scheme to entrap William and then is so charming and vivacious that William falls in love with her despite her secrets and duplicity. She was so immature and was often described by William as having a childish innocence about people and sex. This added a total eww factor for me when William, who was over thirty, started training Lucy for her marital bedroom duties. Her chaperone aunt is “old” at thirty-six and is her only friend and confidante so this isolates Lucy even more. I forgive ole’ school romances for having young heroines but this is 2012 and that is passé, even in historical romance. In my opinion if an author wants to tell a new adult romance then label it that and set the characters in that context instead of asking readers to believe an eighteen year old is capable of all this author asked of Lucy.

IMO: This isn’t a remarkable romance and I didn’t like Lucy’s age but the mystery may be enough to redeem it in some readers’ opinion, but not mine.

J9’s Rating: