Miss Wilson's Reputation

Miss Wilson's Reputation kept me smiling page after page. Martha Kirkland created thoroughly enjoyable characters and wove them into a heartwarming story full of that wonderful Regency-flavored wit and humor. Can you imagine having the same name as London's most notorious lightskirt? Well, that's just the beginning of Miss Harriet Wilson's difficulties. Lord Dunford, an dashing rakehell, mistakes her for the ill-reputed Miss Wilson and leaves her with a kiss she can't forget. That fateful meeting propels them both into one delightful tangle after another. A truly fun read!!! I'm looking forward to reading Ms. Kirkland's next book.

Randolph Dunford, the sixth Baron Dunford, was set upon by thieves sent by a pirate bent on revenge. His escape was aided by Miss Harriet J. Wilson. She designed and fashioned fine jewelry. Because of her occupation, her reputation had to remain unstained. However, her name worked against her a bit. One of the most sought after light skirts used the same name with a slightly different spelling, Harriette Wilson. She begged the man she had helped NOT to tell her his name. The incident was to be forgotten. Randolph was unable to do this. Since Harriet did not know who he was, he became her best, but unseen, customer. Harriet came home one day to learn her cousin, Anna Gwynn, had given a customer a brooch that Lord Dunford had ordered and prepaid for. The customer had been Dunford's mistress. That was fine since she was the person it had been made for; however, Anna had given a copy instead of the real piece of jewelry and the lady had already left the area for the next six weeks! Fearing she may go to prison for fraud, Harriet went to give the jewelry to Lord Dunford. As luck would have it, he, too, was out of town. Lord Dunford was in Leicestershire, at his grandmother's request, to pull his brother, Burton, out of depression. The brothers did not care for each other, but called a fragile truce. When Lord Dunford ran into Harriet, he was able to begin courting her. Knowing what Harriet thought of the reputation of "Lord Care-For-Naught", he let her call him Mr. Randolph. The lies of omission began! At the same time, someone was trying to kill him and his brother thought Rand was out to tumble Anna, who HE had become fond of! ***** Martha Kirkland had written a wonderful work of Regency in this story! Much happening to keep readers turning pages swiftly! Highly recommended! *****

As always, Ms. Kirkland has given us a book with all the Regency flavor we love, while wrapping it around a different story line. I loved it.