THE MOST ELIGIBLE LORD IN LONDON

A reformed rake has to win the trust of a skeptical lady before he can woo her in this first of a traditional Regency trilogy.

Lady Adeline Wivenly is enjoying her first season in London when she attracts the attention of handsome flirt Frederick, Lord Littleton. “Frits” Littleton’s bloodline, wealth, and title make him a catch, but he is known as a rake. Worse, last year, he jilted Lady Dorie Calthorp, one of Adeline’s closest friends, after leading her on all season long. Frits knows he made a mistake with Dorie, but now he's ready to settle down, and Adeline has caught his fancy. Adeline avoids him as much as politeness allows, in deference to Dorie’s feelings, so Frits finds creative ways to cross her path during the usual social activities of the ton—carriage rides, plays, and balls. As Frits’ basic decency reveals itself, Adeline begins to question Dorie’s perspective. When she overhears another lady scheming to trap Frits into marriage, Adeline decides to warn him, throwing them together even more. In the meantime, Adeline is the target of an unscrupulous suitor who will stop at nothing to win her. Quinn (The Seduction of Lady Phoebe, 2019, etc.) creates a richly detailed traditional Regency world whose social rules dictate much of the characterizations and plot. Frits and Adeline are likable enough—they bond over their love of country life, especially animal husbandry—but their relationship moves at a glacial pace. Worse, they seem to have little effect on one another. While Adeline’s inexperience explains some of her naiveté, she is frustratingly bad at understanding basic human psychology. So many characters are crowded into the storyline that readers may need a chart to sort them out. A late and unwelcome incursion of politics and violence adds no excitement to the romance.

Copious historical details cannot mask a pointlessly slow pace. Might have worked better as a novella.