This is Book 3 of the Somerstone Regency House Party series. The books can be read by themselves, as the characters and certain activities at the house party cross over, but the story lines stay unique to each book. In this book, Lord Kendal has been cajoled into attending the Du'Breven house party in place of his twin brother, Lord Ian. The latter is a rake of the highest order and the complete opposite of Lord Kendal. Naturally, this makes for an interesting story - how will Lord Kendal (Conrad) go about pretending to be his brother, and at the same time fall in love with a woman as himself?Jes (Jessica) and her mother are improverished. Her mother married beneath her to a shipping merchant, who unfortunately perished on one of his ships on a goods run, and what was left of his fortune went to pay all his debts and close up the business. Jes has had unsuccessful seasons and hopes to finally find a marriage prospect at this house party. She is ecstatic when she sees Lord Ian at the house party as she has had a tendre for him since her first season. Her mother does not approve of Lord Ian, due his rakish ways, but this does not stop Jes from boldly approaching him at the first chance she gets. The resulting feelings that develop between Jes and Conrad (who must always appear as Lord Ian), is sweet and full of angst at the same time. What happens when the real Lord Ian arrives?Conrad was witty, funny and genuine, but he had a lot of pressure from various responsibilities upon his broad shoulders - the greatest of which was to get his brother out of the vast gambling debts he had amassed. Jes was young and proud, and a little immature - the usual traits of a debutante. Both the story and characters were well written and the story flowed. I liked reading about some of the other characters that were introduced in the first two books, albeit only brief appearances were made! A little political intrigue was introduced, but it wasn't taken any further than a brief conversation between three Lords. Written in the perspectives of both the hero and heroine, the story was clean, sweet and engaging. Worth reading.
