The Duchess Hunt

Whether Haymore’s storytelling will appeal depends upon the importance one attaches to the “historical” part of “historical romance.” Nothing in her ostensibly Regency-set series launch suggests the 19th century beyond the ubiquity of horse-drawn transportation. Certainly the premise—the daughter of a gardener, educated alongside the sons of a duke, becoming the love of the heir—gives no more than nodding acknowledgment to the realities of the era’s social order. Beyond that, the inappropriate amour between Sarah Osborne, head housemaid turned lady’s companion, and Simon Hawkins, Duke of Trent, is a pleasant, predictable bit of romantic fluff. Haymore adds some intrigue with the disappearance of Simon’s mother and the eventual emergence of a blackmailing threat, but these are minor diversions from the main agenda of hot glances, murmurs about what other people might think, and setups for future installments. (June)