Seducing Sir Oliver

This is the 7th book in Nicole Byrd's Sinclair family series. The series arc has Gabriel Sinclair searching for his birth father. In Seducing Sir Oliver, he's found him, and at the same time finds 5 half-sisters, all living in genteel poverty that's only getting worse. Unable to hold on to his anger and resentment, Gabriel invites one of his sisters back to London with him, to help her make a place in society. Juliana is unable to stay with Gabriel because of a measles outbreak in his home, so family friend Lady Sealey invites Juliana to stay with her, along with her godson, the Sir Oliver of the title. Juliana and Oliver quickly find a common interest--and mutual attraction--when they join forces to recapture the monkey that's part of Oliver's zoology studies. Seducing Sir Oliver is a rollicking story of animal misadventures (there are big cats and a snake in addition to the monkey), threatening notes to Lady Sealey, a determined would-be fiancee, and both Juliana and Oliver thinking the other deserves better than themselves. It has, like the rest of the books in the series, Nicole Byrd's trademark blend of romance, mystery, wit, and sensuality. The next book is about Juliana's twin sisters. I can hardly wait.

The cover of this book has a quote which describes it as a "witty, adventurous romance"; this is perhaps a little overstating the case - this book is a charming and gentle story set in the Regency period with a small set of characters, one of the most amusing of which is a monkey, a small amount of adventure and not a great deal of wit - still, it's a relaxing read and reasonably written. When the book opens we meet Miss Juliana Applegate who is doing her best to keep her father's small Yorkshire estate running; the family have almost no money and with three sisters to feed and a disabled father it is a hard life. Juliana's world is rapidly turned upside down when a strange gentleman arrives to meet with her father and the family learn that he is Lord Gabriel Sinclair, second son of a marquess but actually their father's son and their half-brother. He wants to do something for his new-found half-sisters and so offers to take Juliana to London for a season. When they arrive, however, Juliana cannot stay with Lord Gabriel and his wife as measles has broken out in their house. Instead she stays with his friend Lady Sealey, who also has her godson Sir Oliver Ramsey as a houseguest. Juliana finds herself attracted to Sir Oliver and she also finds herself in company with him a great deal in a search for an errant monkey - Sir Oliver is a zoologist and is studying Mia, the monkey, who has a habit of escaping. Juliana and Sir Oliver find out that Lady Sealey is being sent threatening letters and so they resolve, with Lady Sealey, to find out who is sending them. The action shifts to Lady Sealey's country estate (where Sir Oliver takes delivery of some leopards and a snake) and there is a scene with the escaped leopards which I found rather unlikely. Eventually with some danger to the protagonists the sender of the letters is unmasked - not at all a surprise as there were so few characters in the plot that it could only really have been this person. The point of view of this book is mostly with Juliana although there are one or two slightly awkward moments when it changes to Sir Oliver's point of view for a couple of pages - I felt the book might have worked a little better if we just stayed with Juliana as we learned little new from Sir Oliver's thoughts. I was also rather dubious about our hero's willingness to become intimate with Juliana - he comes across as a very honourable and gentle man and so it is very surprising that he didn't adhere to society's views on the treatment of gently bred women - the author probably wanted some intimate scenes but I felt they were a little out of place with the characters we were following. Historical detail isn't a strong thread in this book - although the setting is Regency we learn little about the life and social customs (except that Juliana isn't very familiar with how the Ton behaves). As usual in an American-authored Regency our characters occasionally use American, rather than British, word and sentenc

The stranger informed Applegate that he failed at his responsibility towards him and another before he Lord Gabriel Sinclair leaves the small country house for London. Applegate tells his two oldest daughters that he had an indiscretion with a married woman that led to the birth of Gabriel and another tryst with her that led to another child. Gabriel grew up in a household where his "father" hated him and his mother was a prisoner. Applegate never acknowledged either Gabriel or his full sister Gemma. Now Gabriel demands taking one of his half-sisters Juliana, Madeline or the twins to London for a season. Though Maddie is the oldest, Juliana is sent ostensibly so that the influential Sinclair family can make her a suitable societal match as her sibling insists she will remain a spinster caring for their dad and the twins are inseparable. In London, instead of staying at the Sinclair home, Juliana is sent to Lady Margery Sealey's house as illness has quarantined Gabriel's house. At Lady Sealey's mansion, Juliana meets Gabriel's beloved Psyche and Margary's clumsy biologist Godson Sir Oliver Ramsey. Juliana sees past the brusque klutz into Oliver's gentle soul. As they fall in love in spite of his pratfalls, they become concerned that their hostess is receiving anonymous nasty letters claiming revenge is coming. They vow to keep Lady Seeley safe at all cost. This is a fun regency romance starring two likable fish out of water lead characters. The storyline is superb when Oliver trips over himself while Juliana's heart chooses him for her. When the intrigue takes center stage, the duo turn into courageous bumbling amateur sleuths. The returns of characters from previous tales like DEAR IMPOSTOR (the romance between Gabriel and Psyche) augment an amusing historical romantic suspense. Harriet Klausner