The Incurable Matchmaker (Signet Regency Romance)

Rating:
Summary: A fun romance
Review: Jack, Marquess of Kendall, is bored. So one night at his club when his friends are discussing his amazing success with women and his apparent record of never being turned down, he agrees to a wager that he can persuade any woman his friends name to sleep with him. She must be a lady of quality, but no debutante. A drunken friend mentions his widowed sister-in-law, Diana Ingram, as someone who would be a tough nut to crack in this regard: she's unfailingly virtuous. Jack - extremely drunk himself, and assuming that any widow must be missing lovemaking - accepts the bet.

Jack and Diana meet - and Jack almost wins the bet - under very unusual circumstances when they are both marooned at the same inn on the way to a house party. Confusion leads to Jack ending up in the wrong bedroom and, in a beautifully sensual scene, they almost make love. But when Diana comes to her senses she is mortified and wants to avoid Jack hereafter. The problem comes when they both arrive at the house party and discover that the hostess is determined to throw them together. Lady Rotherham is the incurable matchmaker of the title, and she is determined to marry them off.

Jack is vehemently opposed to marriage and doesn't believe in love. Diana believes that lovemaking goes along with commitment and love. So how do these two come together?

Well, this is my only problem with the book. The two protagonists provide readers with a lot of amusement - their conversations are certainly very entertaining. But I never actually felt that I *saw* Jack fall in love with Diana, and I certainly never saw the reasoning for him giving up his opposition to marriage. One minute he wanted an affair - although he certainly was beginning to sympathise with Diana's wish for commitment - and the next he was in love with her. There was a step missing, to my mind.

One quibble, besides. Jack's friend and Diana's brother-in-law, Ernie, is described as Lord Crensham. But he's a younger son - his oldest brother is the Viscount. So how come Ernie has a title?

Rating:
Summary: A Must for Romance Lover
Review: This is my second Mary Balogh book, and I was absolutely enthralled. It is so funny , witty and romantic. The sparring between the hero and heroine is especially enjoyable. I have now ordered nearly all of the author's books and just can't wait to read them