Wednesday, May 5, 2010

The Naked Viscount-Sally Mackenzie

The Naked Viscount
Sally Mackenzie
Zebra, Jun 1 2010, $6.99
ISBN: 9781420102543

In London for her eighth season, Lady Jane Parker-Roth is assumed to be on the shelf. When she enters her rented townhouse from the estate of the late Clarence Widmore, she sees an intruder. Rather than flight, Jane chooses fight, swinging a candlestick at the man holding her. She misses him but knocks over a statue of Pan as Viscount Edmund Smyth kisses her.

Edmund has broken into the townhouse rented by Jane and her mom in search of a paper that could cause some nasty problems if revealed. They stop fighting the moment the statue smashed as each sees the unusual partial caricature. Jane insists on joining him on his quest to locate other statues of Pans to complete the drawing. As they search for clues, they begin to fall in love; but remain unaware that their findings lead them closer to identifying the head of the hellfire club, which means brutal deaths.

The latest “Naked” historical romance (see … Baron, Duke, Earl, Gentleman, etc.) is another wild fun nineteenth century romp that in spite of the obvious time and place feels like a 1930s screwball comedy. Fast-paced and filled with action, readers will relish the escapades and sassy flirtatious yet witty dialogue between the lead couple as Jane joins Edmund on what was his adventure, but now is their quest. Sally Mackenzie continues to lay bare some of the more intelligent amusing historicals on the market today.

Harriet Klausner

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