The Imcomparable Cassandra (Zebra Regency Romance)

Rating:
Summary: a pleasant 3 1/2 star read
Review: Laura Paquet's latest Regency-era offering is a nice, no surprises read about two people who are seemingly opposite in nature, and who yet turn out to be soul mates. It is a pleasant, well written novel, the charm of which lies in how both the hero and heroine learn to like and appreciate each other, and how, the heroine especially, changes (slightly) for the better.

Lady Cassandra Blythe is feeling a bit restless. Feted as an "incomparable" for the past few years, mixing with the same people (and avoiding the same people), and having come no nearer to finding her ideal mate, has left her feeling a bit jaded. The truth, though, is that Lady Cassandra has a distinct partiality for Mr. Peregrine Russell, except that while the gentleman enjoys her company and seeks her out constantly, he seems in no hurry to be married! So perhaps the unlooked for visit by her brother-in-law by marriage, Lord Benjamin Rowland, the Earl of Winchfield, should provide some amusement? Benjamin has been estranged from his sister, Elinor (and Cassandra's sister-in-law), ever since Elinor eloped in order to marry Richard Blythe. And Benjamin has been slow to bend the breach between them. Now, however, Benjamin has decided to marry, and hopes that Elinor will help him find a meek, biddable wife. For Benjamin is of a scholarly bent, and would like to spend all his time at his estate in the country, studying, rather squiring some demanding beauty about town. Elinor is aghast! She wants her brother to marry for love; but Cassandra, who despises the earl for all the pain he has cost Elinor privately believes that a meek, biddable wife is exactly what he deserves and is determined to help him find such a mate. That is until she begins to get to know Benjamin and realises that there is more to the man that meets the eye. Slowly she begins to rethink some of the things she has long taken for granted, and even her feelings for the earl. Could the bookish, quiet and stiff Benjamin embody all those qualities in a husband she has been looking for? But does he think the same way of her? And what of the other ladies she has been throwing at Benjamin ever since he arrived in town?

If you're looking for a nice, uncomplicated read with no surprises, then you will enjoy "The Incomparable Cassandra." The book was well written, nicely paced and unfolded at a smooth and brisk pace. Focusing both on how Cassandra's character changes a little and the developing attraction between the two principals, "The Incomparable Cassandra" was an enjoyable read mostly because both Cassandra and Benjamin were easy to like. For while Cassandra is a bit superficial, she's not all that bad and is very good and loyal to her friends. So that, when through Benjamin's influence, she learns a little kindness, one feels good about the potential match between the two. Benjamin, apparently has already had his epiphany before the book starts, and fully cognizant about the wrong he has done his sister and her husband, so that we don't really see his character change all that much -- he's a nice but reserved gentleman when we first meet him, and he's still a nice but reserved gentleman at the book's close. So that while "The Incomparable Cassandra" is not a very complex book, it still makes for a nice 3 1/2 star read.