A Radical Arrangement
By: Jane Ashford
Rating: 4.5 of 5
“A Radical Arrangement” is a sweet book in the tradition of the Regency romance stories I read back in the 1990’s. It is a clean romance with only a couple of romantic kisses but with lots of verbal sparring.
It has a fun heroine, Margaret Mayfield, who is rather young compared to most young women in romance novels today (she is nineteen years old.) The hero, Sir Justin Keighley, seems to be well established and quite a bit older but it is hard to say if he is in his twenties or thirties. This was very much the age range of the books of that period and may very well have reflected the age differences of couples during the Regency period. It was a tad difficult to try to relate to the Margaret but given the way the character is portrayed, it probably would have been a bit difficult to set her age at something more comfortable for the reader. Difficult but not impossible. Something the author may wish to consider for future books.
Sir Justin is a tad self-centered. That is an interesting statement as he is portrayed as a spokesperson for the common man. However, when it comes to things not going exactly his way, he throws a bit of a snit from time to time and ends up doing and/or saying things that are harmful to himself and to others.
Margaret is a much subdued young woman who has always done as she has been told by her parents. This extends from what she will wear to what she can do to whom she will marry and even to what she will think about current events and issues. She has been very sheltered and has only a cursory understanding of relationships between the sexes.
The plot is very much a traditional and, for those who enjoy Regency romances (as I do), one that is fun to read. Sir Justin accidentally compromises Margaret – one could, and Sir Justin does, argue that no compromise has happened at all. There is a run-away and a meeting up and a getting to know one another before the book works its way to a happy ending. It was a fun read and one that I recommend to those who enjoy old-style Regency romances that do not include sex scenes.
I received a digital ARC copy of this book from the publisher, Sourcebooks Casablanca, via Netgalley.
“A Radical Arrangement” is a sweet book in the tradition of the Regency romance stories I read back in the 1990’s. It is a clean romance with only a couple of romantic kisses but with lots of verbal sparring.