The Lady in Question

Rating:
Summary: Another welcome addition to the Effington family sagas...
Review: After an impulsive marriage to the mysterious and sexy scoundrel, Lord Charles Wilmont, Delia Effington tragically becomes a widow only days after her wedding. Six months later, after a period of mourning with a distant relative, she is back in London at her late husband's townhouse, trying to make amends with her estranged family and to make sense of his holdings. Enter Anthony, Viscount St. Stephens, who is disguised as Delia's elderly butler, Gordon, but is in truth one of London's most eligible bachelors and a spy for the Crown.

Lord Wilmont's assignment was to uncover the truth regarding papers supposedly linking a scandal back to Delia's uncle, the Duke of Effington -- papers containing information that could threaten the very government itself. Stephens needs to discover if his close friend, Lord Wilmont met his death because he indeed discovered the papers, all the while protecting Delia from any possible danger to her life. Or does Delia know about the papers, and if so, what action will she take?

Lonely and confused, Delia quickly forms an unusual bond with her elderly butler, Gordon. Tony is torn between the necessity of remaining in disguise as Gordon and telling Delia the truth in the hopes that she won't hate him for his deception. Ms. Alexander again creates a cast of sympathetic characters, including visits from Effington family members featured in previous books from this series. Delia's relationship with her supposed elderly butler is both heartwarming and original.

THE LADY IN QUESTION is filled with deception, betrayal, dual identities, and high suspense. I admit Ms. Alexander fooled me this time in regard to the identity of the villain. She is an author with exceptional skill and talent at keeping the reader turning pages.

If you have read the other books in the Effington series, you won't want to miss this latest addition.

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Summary: This author seems to possess a poisonous pen...
Review: Delia Effington and her identical twin sister, Cassandra, were two of the most lovely debutantes in London. Delia had always been the sensible one, so everyone had been shocked when she ran off and wed Lord Wilmont. When her husband died VERY shortly after the vows had been said, the minor scandal became a blaze of gossip. Even months later, only Cassandra would visit. The rest of the Effingtons ignored her.

Viscount Anthony "Tony" St. Stephens was an agent of the British government. Disguised as Gordon, an elderly butler, he had been planted in Delia's house to protect her. In fact, all the "servants" were agents. Delia never knew that her late husband had been an agent ... or that an enemy spy had murdered him. However, the chances were high that Delia was in danger. Yet as "Gordon" befriended her, "Tony" fell in love with her. And THAT had never been a part of the mission!

**** To quote one sentence of the book, "Aside from this butler-spy-viscount nonsense, he really is wonderful." As the reader, that was exactly my first impression. Did my impression of "Lord Mysterious" change? OH YES! Quite a few times in fact.

Author Victoria Alexander seems to possess a poisonous pen that kept me off balance. No one was as he or she seemed! The hero's love for the heroine was the ONLY item of the story that seemed solid and real. It made for some fascinating reading! Now I find myself hoping that Cassie or Mac will get a story. ****

Rating:
Summary: Dull
Review: I couldn't get into this book at all.. It just seemed a little far fetched that the "Lady in Question" was around the butler and Sir St. Stephans alot and still didn't see...that must have been a really good disguise or maybe our "Lady in Question" wasn't very perseptive. And really would a lady have such a close relationship with the butler? Just seemed a bit convienent.. I didn't like St. Stephans. He didn't match his profession at all..you'd think he'd be more careful and guarded but he just jumps right in to wanting to get married and forgets about his duties. The whole plot with the notebook...I forgot all about it...what was the point?

Rating:
Summary: This book DRAGGED
Review: I forced myself to read this entire book because the author hinted in the prologue that the first husband might still be alive. This, I thought, could be interesting. I read and read, then skimmed and skimmed, waiting for the 'dead' husband to materialize, yet it seems he was truly dead. I still can't quite believe an author would hint that a key character could be alive, and then not develop the storyline.

The characters were facet-less and the dialog wooden. This was my first Victoria Alexander novel, and my last.

Rating:
Summary: This book DRAGGED
Review: I have been a long time fan of this talented author but her Effington Family stories are by far my favorite. This is Philidelphia (Delia to family and friends) story and it was not only romantic but a fun read as well.

Delia has shocked society, family and friends when she secretly marries a very unproper man. Well, her scanadalous marriage is brought to a very short end by the untimely death of said groom. Wed less then a week and already a widow what's a girl to do? Well, she takes a break in the country for six months and then moves back to London of course!

What Delia does not know is that her dead groom was actually an undercover agent for the crown and his death is suspect. The powers that be take measures to protect the unawares Delia and puts agents undercover in her home in the form of servents. Enter Tony St. Stephens. This newly named Viscount realizes that this must be his final assignment. He has a title to worry about now. Problems is that he is disguised as an elderly butler and Delia has taken it upon herself to befriend this man. How can this be a problem? Well, it's great for the investigation. Not so great for the young Viscount that now finds himself attracted to Delia. Delia on the other hand can't explain why she feels so safe with her butler but there you have it. Delia though is now aware that once her period of mourning is over she will be free to live her life as she will. This means searching for and finding great adventure around every corner. This of course sends chills down Tony's back because her few ideas that she has shared with her butler would cause a few eyebrows to be raised. It's also not good news for the Viscount that has finally decided that she is the one for him. Her first foray into living despite what society thinks is switching places with her twin Cassie at the annual family Ride and Ball. Here she meets the handsome and charming Viscount St. Stephens for the first time. Needless to say he makes a rather "grand" impression on her. Now she is in a pickle. He thinks that she is Cassie, or does he???

Before you know it these two are spending time together all the time and Tony is finding it hard to keep his secret self seperate from his normal self (make sense?) and as the danger to Delia gets closer to home the stakes are raised and more secrets are found with surprising results. Soon the mystery of the missing notebook is solved, love has indeed won the day (no not that easily but eventually) and we have had another nice visit with the zany Effington Clan.

This was a fun book to read. Delia was not written as a flibberty-gibbit and she has quite a lot of spunk but not obnoxiously so. Tony is a true romantic hero if a bit misguided at times but that just makes him a little more likeable if you ask me. I can tell Ms. Alexander had fun writing this book and I hope that poor Cassie soon gets her story!

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Summary: I Love These Effington Family Stories!!!!
Review: I have been a long time fan of this talented author but her Effington Family stories are by far my favorite. This is Philidelphia (Delia to family and friends) story and it was not only romantic but a fun read as well.

Delia has shocked society, family and friends when she secretly marries a very unproper man. Well, her scanadalous marriage is brought to a very short end by the untimely death of said groom. Wed less then a week and already a widow what's a girl to do? Well, she takes a break in the country for six months and then moves back to London of course!

What Delia does not know is that her dead groom was actually an undercover agent for the crown and his death is suspect. The powers that be take measures to protect the unawares Delia and puts agents undercover in her home in the form of servents. Enter Tony St. Stephens. This newly named Viscount realizes that this must be his final assignment. He has a title to worry about now. Problems is that he is disguised as an elderly butler and Delia has taken it upon herself to befriend this man. How can this be a problem? Well, it's great for the investigation. Not so great for the young Viscount that now finds himself attracted to Delia. Delia on the other hand can't explain why she feels so safe with her butler but there you have it. Delia though is now aware that once her period of mourning is over she will be free to live her life as she will. This means searching for and finding great adventure around every corner. This of course sends chills down Tony's back because her few ideas that she has shared with her butler would cause a few eyebrows to be raised. It's also not good news for the Viscount that has finally decided that she is the one for him. Her first foray into living despite what society thinks is switching places with her twin Cassie at the annual family Ride and Ball. Here she meets the handsome and charming Viscount St. Stephens for the first time. Needless to say he makes a rather "grand" impression on her. Now she is in a pickle. He thinks that she is Cassie, or does he???

Before you know it these two are spending time together all the time and Tony is finding it hard to keep his secret self seperate from his normal self (make sense?) and as the danger to Delia gets closer to home the stakes are raised and more secrets are found with surprising results. Soon the mystery of the missing notebook is solved, love has indeed won the day (no not that easily but eventually) and we have had another nice visit with the zany Effington Clan.

This was a fun book to read. Delia was not written as a flibberty-gibbit and she has quite a lot of spunk but not obnoxiously so. Tony is a true romantic hero if a bit misguided at times but that just makes him a little more likeable if you ask me. I can tell Ms. Alexander had fun writing this book and I hope that poor Cassie soon gets her story!

Rating:
Summary: Delighted
Review: I was a little sad and disappointed that the foreshadowing in the Prologue was never realized. The deceased husband does not return. Aside from that one detail, I loved the story and the dialogue between Delia and Tony was lots of fun. I read through the story very quickly and did not find that it dragged in the least.

Rating:
Summary: Delighted
Review: I was a little sad and disappointed that the foreshadowing in the Prologue was never realized. The deceased husband does not return. Aside from that one detail, I loved the story and the dialogue between Delia and Tony was lots of fun. I read through the story very quickly and did not find that it dragged in the least.

Rating:
Summary: a disappointment for me from a favorite author
Review: I was so looking forward to reading this book. I love Alexander's Effington family series, but I was so disappointed in this one. It was not at all up to her usual standard. The story dragged and I sometimes had to force myself to pick up the book (that's an unusual occurrence; typically the book has to be really bad). This book isn't awful, it's just so below the norm for this author.

St. Stephens is *very* romantic. He's a delight. But Delia is somewhat childish and reckless. I'm still not sure what he saw in her. Some of the secondary characters are quite nice, but I was disappointed in Delia's mother. She's not your usual Effington woman. Granted she's an Effington by birth, but that made no difference with the other wives. Delia doesn't even seem to be a typical Effington, and until this book, they were the kind of family you wanted to be part of.

The story is mainly about the hero and heroine relationship; the subplots are thin. The who-done-it was superficial but the villain was a surprise.

The best thing about the book is the hero, who is incredibly romantic; he just goes out of his way to please her and understand her. But otherwise...a book I wish I'd borrowed instead of bought. I had to immediately go read something I knew I'd enjoy.

Rating:
Summary: Delightful read
Review: In the throes of a 'grand adventure', Delia marries, and a week later (after only one night of prenuptial indescretion) her husband is presumed dead. Six months later the story picks up with Delia's return to London after a self imposed exile. Like the one reviewer, I kept expecting Delia's dead husband to reappear. Unlike that reviewer, however, I didn't feel the book dragged at all. The emotional entanglements were novel, and handled quite intelligently. Delia, while at times rather childish, was nonetheless rather endearing. St. Stephens also generally rang true. I enjoyed the twists and turns, not the least of which were accomplished by learning what had happened in her first marriage via bits and pieces in flashback. The ending left some interesting threads hanging.