A Singular Lady by Megan Frampton

Okay, let'’s get a few things straight.

1. I don'’t read Traditional Regencies.

2. I. Don'’t. Read. Traditional. Regencies.

3. Dude, really? You need a third set of criteria? I just used ‘'dude'’ in a sentence like it'’s a real word!

(In case someone comes along and wonders why I did read this book well, I bought it because of Megan's blog and when she found I had it she said I had to read it. I promised!)

Cindy Blurb -– We meet the heroine as she is leaving her lawyer'’s office where she has discovered that her father left all his money to 'a‘nother woman'’ thus leaving her and her brother in financial ruin. Her only recourse is to land a rich husband. (Let's just throw a Hail Mary up for not having the will say 'you must marry to have the money'. I was terrified at first and was pleased that Ms. Frampton didn't fall into that scary place)

On her way out of the office she literally bumps into Edwin the hero who has just returned from America a rich man. He is keeping this a secret since 5 years ago a woman tried to marry him for his money thus, he no longer trusts a woman to love him without his money.

Conflict? You got it.

I liked Titania in the beginning. She was definitely a 'no holds bar'’ kind of heroine. Sit and whine? No thanks, I need to get some stuff done. I liked this about her. I also liked the hero who had a '‘hail fellow fairly met'’ kind of personality.

The beginning of the story was a wee bit slow because Titania had to set up house and get herself situated within society so that she could get invitations to the right places. I'’m figuring this is probably common to most regencies. My problem with this section is that Titania didn'’t like anybody she met (except for the hero and those in her employ) and well, I guess it had to be firmly established that no one was going to help her and her brother.

Also, Titania seemed to be removed from many of the situations. The man who makes her heart beat all sloppy, kisses her and puts his hand on her breast and she doesn'’t gasp or jerk or even really think. In fact, I don'’t think she reflected on what happened until a few scenes later. I was all, '‘uh, he put his hand on your breast in the middle of a park in Regency England!!'’. I appreciated that she wasn'’t a ninny but seeing as how she had probably never had anyone stroke her breast before I'’m thinking her knees giving out or something would be appropriate.

I was glad that Titania came to a certain conclusion (you know, this would be spoiler stuff) before all her troubles were solved. The solution to one problem though? Highly unlikely even with the most gracious of people. Hey, I'’d like to think I could be that high minded but even I would be thinking about returns and dividends and such. And I'’m considered the Bank of Cindy!!

So, what'’s great about this book?

The writing and the banter between the characters was top notch. I was actually able to understand all the double entendres which was a nice change of pace for me. Neither the hero or heroine were perfect and they each made their share of mistakes. Also, there wasn'’t a sense that they saved each other from anything overly sinister. These are two people who could have existed and made a mash out of their courtship. At least they were able to find their way towards each other in the end!