A LIMITED ENGAGEMENT by SaraLee Etter

A LIMITED ENGAGEMENT
SARALEE ETTER
Regency Romance
Cerridwen Press
ISBN# 9781419911590
$5.95
eBook/Available now

Rating: 4 Enchantments

Palms sweaty, nerves jittery, butterflies in her stomach - it was opening night at the Elysium Theater. Miranda was making her acting debut as Hermia in “A Midsummer Nights Dream”, at her brother-in-law Edward’s theater. If she succeeded, it would mean that she could have a career, a chance to be independent.

Justin, Lord Devereux, needed money, and he needed money fast. He wasn’t due to come into his inheritance until his 35th birthday, a long way off. There was a prime piece of property that he wanted to buy, which he knew would not be on the market long. Justin decided to approach his uncle, Lord Meresford, for an early advancement of his funds. The answer is no, he is too young. But were Justin to become engaged to a respectable young lady, he may be persuaded into dissolving the trust early, so long as his wife, Lady Meresford, also approved of the match.

While Miranda and her sister, Mary, are scrambling to find a way to raise money to release Edward from prison, Justin is confronted by his aunt, Lady Meresford, and her new “charge” Lettice Tenley. To escape Lettice’s scheming, Justin quickly made up an imaginary fiancée. He hires Miranda to act as his fiancée until he could convince his uncle to dissolve his trust. He also wanting to avoid marriage with Lettice. Miranda jumped at the opportunity to earn enough money to bail her brother-in-law out of prison.

This was not a bad book, but it’s not one I will be reading again. While I found Miranda to be a warm and loving character, Justin came off as cold and stand-offish. I’m really not sure when they fell in love. My favorite character was Miranda’s nephew, Anthony; too bad nobody would listen to him!

I give credit to Ms. Etter for keeping me interested, I really did want to see what Miss Lettice Tenley held over Justin’s aunt, Lady Meresford, but I found the writing a little over-dramatic for my tastes, it was like reading a spoof of a romance - very cliché. I think the kicker for me was the “Scooby-Doo” ending “Everything would have worked perfectly if it hadn’t been for that abominable brat.” I did crack me up - I do love the Scooby gang, but I’m not sure that was the author’s intention. To find out more about this author and the books she has written, you can visit her on the web at http://www.saraleeetter.com/.


Aemelia
ENCHANTING REVIEWS
November 2007