A Lady of Talent

Sebastian, Earl of Charrington, has decided it's time to marry. For years, he's been in love with a woman in a painting, but he's finally convinced himself that no woman could live up to the image he's built up in his mind of who that woman is, and he's settling for Barbara, the daughter of his mentor and business partner. Barbara is mostly concerned with fashion and parties and having a good time, and she doesn't love him any more than he loves her. Still, she's very beautiful, wants his title, and he doesn't expect anything more from marriage. His affection for her father quiets any other doubts he may have. Then he commissions a portrait of Barbara by C. A. Manners, the same up-and-coming artist who painted the portrait he so admires, only to find out the "C" stands for Cecilia, and it's a self-portrait. The Good: You could really see that Sebastian and Cecilia fell in love with and respected each other, that it wasn't just a superficial attraction. The fiancee, the woman standing in the way of their happiness, wasn't a vicious shrew. She wasn't suited for Sebastian's more serious nature, but she was a genuinely nice person. The Bad: The hero and heroine are both almost too good to be true--the secondary characters almost feel more real. The Verdict: If I were still of the opinion that I didn't care for Regency romances, A Lady of Talent would convince me otherwise.