Friday, January 23, 2015

Becoming Lady Lockwood

Becoming Lady Lockwood
By Jennifer Moore
Covenant Communications, 2014. 199 pages. Romance.

Amelia Beckett is a widow before she even meets her husband. When her father sends word to her on her Jamaica estate to sign the marriage contracts, she finally agrees only to get a modicum of freedom from the strictures of society. But being a widow seems to be an even better life for her than an arranged marriage - until her new brother-in-law, Captain Sir William Drake, arrives in Jamaica full of accusations that she is trying to illegally take possession of her dead  husband's estate. Forced to sail with the captain to England to attend the legal proceedings, will Amelia find that her brother-in-law is more amiable than he first appears?

Okay, I will admit up front that most of the basic premises of this novel are patently improbable. Is it possible to be actually married to someone who lives on a different continent by signing a piece of paper and without any kind of legal ceremony? Would Regency laws really consider it illegal to marry your dead brother's wife because you were now brother and sister? Is it even possible to fit 6 bottles of rum and 2 pistols under anything less than a Civil War-era hoop skirt with any hope of going undetected?? And yet, in spite of the horribly irrational plot, I was completely entertained by this book. The characters were fun, there was some action to balance out the romance, and the pace moved quickly. This is a great book for a lazy afternoon read.

JH

1 comment:

ME said...

I really enjoyed this book. It has a Pride and Prejudice feeling to it at the beginning as the main two characters meet, making the romance so sweet. The story moves along at a good pace and always leaves you wanting more until you finish the book in a day. The time period is during the war with France and it was interesting to read a regency book that takes place on a ship rather than in England with the war as more of an idea versus a real threat as depicted in this book. If you like regency, history, and romance then this book is for you.