Jacey Bedford's Journal

An author should be very careful about book titles which can be twisted by an unhappy reviewer, but I'll refrain from the obvious. I'm not entirely unhappy with this book, but most of it does seem to hinge upon the two main characters not talking to each other while each surmising (incorrectly) what the other is thinking. Though this is a fairly common trope in Regency romances it does seem to prop up most of the book despite a fairly thin attempted murder plot, which, I'm sorry to say, I guessed the outcome of from the get-go.

Agatha Trumwell is pretty much on the shelf after several failed seasons on the marriage mart until she receives a proposal – in writing – from Magnus, the Earl of Pensby, considered by many to be a 'monster' due to the scars he carries from a dreadful fire that killed his first wife. They barely know each other, and in fact have only spoken once, so it's no surprise when, after the wedding, they get off on the wrong foot when consummation is not forthcoming. Agnes immerses herself in her scientific experiments (which sound interesting but have no practical outcome) and Magnus gets on with his brooding until someone tries to murder Agnes. There's not a lot of plot, and of course everything is resolved in the end. That's not really a spoiler because that's the way books like this work.