cover image Sunrise with a Notorious Lord

Sunrise with a Notorious Lord

Alexandra Hawkins. St. Martin’s Press, $7.99 mass market (336p) ISBN 978-1-250-00136-8

Hawkins’s fourth Lord of Vice Regency romance (after After Dark with a Scoundrel) is a lighthearted and familiar story of lovely and impoverished sisters seeking their fortune. When Lady Netherley meets Isabel and Delia Thorne, she sees them as a way to trick her wild son into marriage. Dutifully, Isabel helps throw Delia and the earl of Vanewright together, hoping her sister can make a match that would benefit the family financially, with only a few wistful thoughts for her own prospects. Of course Vanewright is attracted to serious Isabel instead of saucy Delia, and Isabel tosses caution to the wind for one night of passion. But Lady Netherley had Isabel in mind for her son all along, and Vanewright is furious to learn he’s been set up. Plot developments are telegraphed well in advance, but Regency fans will enjoy the bold heroine and rakish hero. (Jan.)