Someone to Love

Other reviewers have described the plot. I would just like to add that the characters are very likeable. Brady, the hero's friend is positively charming and the in-laws of the heroine add flavour to the plot. The heroine is someone you can relate to, and not one of those TSTL (too-stupid-to-live) 'feisty' 'opinionated' females. The hero also had more depth than at first you expect. It is very funny to read the dialogs between Brady and Abby at the beginning. I almost laughed out aloud when Brady revealed the identity of Aramintha Zane, the heroine favorite romance writer. Special appearances by Bram and Sophie from Indiscreet, another of the author's novels give a nice follow-up to their happy ending. In time, Kipp's first appearance was in Waiting for You. All-in-all a book I would recommend. 4 and a half stars.

This book is a sequel to Michaels' Waiting for You, in which our protagonist Kipp is only a secondary character (but who, IMO, leaps off the page as the most interesting character in the book). Waiting for Love is far inferior and should be read only to meet Kipp in a "prequel". Someone to Love is successful because the author brings the characters to life through witty dialogue and uses fast-paced plotting, interesting secondary characters who are not so numerous or complicated as to distract from the main plot, uses a female lead who is neither beautiful nor extremely young and creates wonderful love scenes between a man and woman neither of whom are virgins. Even though the book reads quickly, after you put it down the story and characters (especially Kipp) will stick with you long after and you will want to reread the story again and again. I almost did not pick up Someone to Love because I was looking for an historical or regency on that day and the cover art made me think it was one of the newer contemporary romances. I am glad I saw Kasey Michaels name and decided to read it and happily found that my favorite character from Waiting for You had his own story. (My only quibble and it is a minor one, is that Kipp is clearly based on Kit from Secrets of the Heart, a much earlier book. However, you would not know this if you had not read Waiting for You. Moreover, since Secrets of the Heart and Kit are my favorite Michaels book and character, respectively, I don't mind "meeting" him again!)

I have read several of Ms. Michaels books in the past and this one is in keeping with her lively wit and charm. I found the heroine truely lively and captivating. I loved her sense of humor and practical nature. She was honest with herself and you felt she was a real person. The hero was a typical obtuse man but at times he showed insight. He could be warm and approachable. The secondary characters are outragous! To be saddled with such a group of relatives is unbelievable, but they keep you laughing. I do hope the earl gets his own book, that one is in need of being taken down a peg or two! On the whole I enjoyed the story. It made me laugh out loud on several occasions.

Lady Abigail Backworth-Maldon's negative views on marriage come from her late spouse's death while climbing out the window of another woman's bedroom. However, Abigail knows that marriage is the only way her in-laws will survive the abject poverty her husband left them all to contend with when he died. Abigail chooses her beautiful, but moronic niece Edwardine to get hitched to a wealthy aristocrat. Abigail opts for Lord Kipp Rutland to marry her birdbrain niece. Because of a deathbed vow to his now deceased mother, Kipp seeks a wife. A lovely ninny like Edwardine appears to be the ideal baby maker that will fulfill Kipp's quest. However, Kipp's best friend Brady James knows that his pal's brain would melt if he weds an idiot like Edwardine. Instead Brady chooses Abigail as his buddy's spouse and sets in motion a plan to insure that this occurs. SOMEONE TO LOVE is a humorous Regency romance that sub-genre fans will enjoy. The amusing story line is a superb diversion due to the wacky world of the Backworth-Maldon kin who must have been bypassed when brains were distributed and the in your face machinations of Brady. Abigail and Kipp are a wonderful pair, who war with their inner attraction for one another. Kasey Michaels writes a clever tale that historical romance fans will love and seek other works from this fabulous author.Harriet Klausner