Splendor

Joyce (The Finer Things) has some of the components of an epic romance: a complex narrative, lots of historical detail and a heroic era--the Napoleonic wars. The hero, Russian Prince Sverayov, is to die for, but a little indistinct as Joyce doesn't delve into his point of view. Carolyn Browne, however, a beautiful radical commoner with noble roots, is a heroine readers will root for as she faces Sverayov's family--his vicious wife, their daughter Katya and his yummy brother Alexi. What undermines the book is the first third, during which Carolyn masquerades as a young man. Although written to titillate, this standard romance device seems stale; it is not until the heroine comes clean that readers will relate to the story. This is Carolyn's story, and readers who enjoy following a woman's coming of age through family betrayals and a love lost and found might find this enjoyable. (Dec.)