A Brilliant Mismatch

This is the first book of Elizabeth Mansfield which I have read .....once I started I could'nt put it down....I would love to read more of her books.

What a delicious book this is! It features two of the best male characters to be found in Regency fiction as well as a perfectly delightful, absolutely not run-of-the-mill heroine. An off-beat plot only enhances this story of an unusual family and how it copes with the very hard-headed father, Lord Pattinger. Left a widower with four small daughters under the age of six, his word has been law for so long that almost no one has the will--or the heart--to question or challenge him. Except, that is, for his oldest daughter, the feisty, red-haired Moira, still unwed at twenty-six.It is not her wish to be still unwed at this advanced age, having become nearly betrothed on three occasions. In each instance, however, after being offered an enticing settlement by the Viscount, the gentleman in question has instead become betrothed to one of Moira's sisters. Her father's reasoning is that in each case, the gentleman was not worthy of her. After the third such happening, she vows to marry the very first stranger to cross her path. The very first!Oliver Sherrard, now twenty-three, having finished his schooling, is ready to make his way in the world, but quite undecided as to what or just where that way might be found. The second son of an earl, his inheritance is almost nil, however he has hopes of a career as a civil servant. But not just yet. Before settling down to life's duties, he decides to embark on a walking tour of England, for as much a year, much to the disgust, even chagrin, of his older brother John, now the new earl of Lydbury.Equipped with a backpack and thirty guineas, Oliver sets off to explore his world. Unfortunately, he runs into trouble on his very first night. A local prize-fight is being celebrated at the inn where Oliver stops to spend the night, and the next morning finds Oliver beaten, bloody, bruised and left for dead under a hedgerow--minus his thirty guineas, of course. Awakened by the rain in his face, and the urgings of a small dog, he finds his way to shelter--the stables of an apparently prosperous holding, which, at least, is warm and dry.Of course, poor Oliver in such a state IS the very next stranger encountered by Moira, who arranges for the wounded man to be cared for in the best guest room of the house, to the dismay of her sisters and nearly everyone else, including Oliver. He pretends to be a vagrant, but agrees to her betrothal charade in spite of his doubts. Little pieces of the façade each of them has erected as protection is chipped away as events move forward to a most satisfying conclusion, ably abetted by various siblings and in-laws.This book demonstrates very well why Elizabeth Mansfield has remained at the very top of the favorite author list of so many readers for the past twenty years or so. This reader hopes she stays there for many more years.