The Reluctant Cavalier

Karen Harbaugh is quickly becoming an author who'll feature on my 'must buy' list. This is an entertaining Regency, better than the average, in which the nice, unassuming guy definitely doesn't come last. Annabella actually chooses the shy, retiring and not very fashionable younger son of an earl over a duke, even before she discovers that the duke in question is not all he seems.Parcifal is a wonderfully attractive hero, precisely because he is *not* dashing, or fashionable, or ruggedly attractive or popular with the ladies. He is, instead, sensible, caring and deeply in love with Annabella - but despairs of her ever noticing him. Until one night he goes to a masquerade ball wearing a Cavalier outfit belonging to one of his ancestors... He ends up saving Annabella from an attack, and surprises himself by refusing to tell her who he is, and kissing her before running off. From then on, she's consumed with a desire to find out who her dashing Cavalier is....I love stories about secret identities, and this one is no exception. Parcifal's Cavalier is a delicious disguise, and Annabella is suitably intrigued and enraptured, but at the same time she finds herself oddly drawn to the quiet younger son of her neighbour. Whether or not the supernatural is at work in this book, as it is in many of Harbaugh's other Regencies, it's a heartwarming romance which I will certainly keep to read again.

I love Karen Harbaugh's regencies. She usually throws in some paranormal or mythological elements, and this is no exception, though it's much more subtle here than in some of her other books. In this book, the hero gets a little help from an ancestor in order to get the attention of the heroine. A thoroughly enjoyable read.

This is a lovely story. The hero is a retiring type, but is drawn out of his shell for the love of the heroine. I really liked him a lot.