tamabam

I'm sorry, I can't think of any other way to put it.

I was trolling my kindle for something to read the other night when I happened upon the title. As I remembered exactly nothing about the book (other than that I really liked it) I figured what the heck and re-read it.

Now I'm gonna gush.

I love Christine Merrill's writing. An author of some wit, her books are infused with a sense of it, both in the prose and in her characterizations. Not all authors have this, and when I find one who does, I glom their backlist like RIGHT. NOW.

It doesn't hurt, of course, that The Inconvenient Duchess has one of my favourite plots ever - a marriage contrived by a scheming relative bringing together the stuffed-shirt Hero and an upstart heroine. This Hero stomps about yelling at the staff and slamming doors, just the way I like 'em. He isn't so much of a boor that he doesn't recognize what a jackass he is, and this is his saving grace. The heroine is another favourite type of mine, the ruined/poor/spinster with a temper.

I laughed out loud at some parts, grinned to myself at others, and thoroughly enjoyed every second of reading it.

One of my favourite quotes from the book is here:

"I know that you must have certain...needs," she almost whispered the word. "If you might wish to visit your mistress...I would not blame you for it."

He choked on his tea. "There are a few things we need to make clear, lady wife. Firstly, I do not wish you to discuss such things at all, but, if you must, you will not do so over the breakfast table. Secondly, if and when I seek to visit my "mistress" I will not ask, or for that matter, need your permission to do so. Thirdly, you should not even know of such things, and if you do, I'll thank you to keep the information to yourself. The last thing I want to do is discuss "my needs" with my wife." The last seemed to him so ridiculous a statement that he was momentarily struck dumb. No wonder, with an attitude like that, he'd sought to avoid the married state for so long.

A couple of things kept this from being a 5 star - perhaps it was a little rushed, but that might be due more to the fact that this is a Harlequin Historical than any other. In any event, it's going on my "favourites" shelf, and is a perfect feel-good regency keeper.

And I'm off to glom Christine Merrill's backlist. :)