Loretta Chase was the first romance I ever read. (I'd say I don't know how I got so lucky, but I do -- I followed a rec from Smart Bitches, Trashy Books.) I was a little worried, because this is an early book by her, and sometimes going in to a favorite author's back catalogue is a mistake. Not everyone started out a brilliant writer, and the tropes that were popular a decade or two ago aren't the ones that are popular now.
This is definitely different from other Chase books I've read, but not in a bad way. It feels very much like Chase was trying to recreate the screwball comedy pacing and narration of some of the Georgette Heyer books. There is an awkwardly bookish hero, and a heroine who just can't stay out of trouble. There are scheming parents who knew all along who loved whom, there is a hapless bad guy and an evil bad guy, and our hero has a beautiful (male) friend who, of course, tries to seduce the heroine just as a joke at first, and then gets serious about it later to his own surprise. There is a missing manuscript and a secret plot.
It's giddy and delightful and funny -- although, like a lot of other back catalogue books I've bought, there are a bunch of typos and a couple of missing sentences. I'm not sure anyone is proofreading the kindle versions of these books, which sucks. It definitely detracts from my enjoyment.
Grade: A
#60 in 2016
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