Mastering the Marquess (Zebra Debut) [Mass Market Paperback]

The best stories start off with an orphan heroine or hero, from Cinderella to Harry Potter. Meredith Burnley joins the line-up. She's devoted herself to taking care of her sickly half-sister, Annabel, but now her unpleasant uncle (there's always an evil relative in these stories) wants to marry her off to his loutish son. If Meredith refuses, he'll put Annabel in an asylum.

The two girls escape to her sister's estranged aristocratic grandparents. Now the grandmother wants to match Annabel with her nephew, the Marquess of Silverton, who is enthralled by Meredith. Meanwhile, the evil relatives aren't going away.

This book was a page turner. I enjoyed it from the first to the last page. I loved the main characters, and was drawn into their story. The secondary characters were as real as the hero and heroine. And the scenes with Silverton and Meredith sizzled.

Most of all, the story touched my heart and made me feel emotion. My favorite kind of book!

Meredith Burnley's half-sister, Annabel, is an heiress and her guardians are threatening to have her locked in an asylum. Meredith goes to London to seek help from Annabel's grandparents. Despite a rocky past, Annabel's grandmother welcomes the two women into their lives.

Annabel's grandmother, Georgina, wants to sponsor both ladies for a Season, something Meredith is not comfortable with. While Annabel is an heiress, Meredith is just a common woman.

Lord Silverton is cousin to Annabel and the titled head of his family. He agrees to take the ladies under his wing, but family charity is only part of the reason. His inappropriate attraction to Meredith is a surprise to the closed off lord, but something he can't deny.

As the family spends more time together and secrets come out, Silverton and Meredith have to fight more than just society to be together - they have to fight themselves.

I really liked the characters in Mastering the Marquess. The love that grows between Silverton and Meredith actually has obvious cause, not just ephemeral chemistry, which is hard to demonstrate on paper. All the characters are well-fleshed out and each serve a purpose in the overall story. The plot is twisty and veers in unexpected directions, and keeps the reader on their toes. Overall, this is an excellent story with characters you will remember after the last page is done.

Niki Lee
Reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed

In the mood for a silly-sweet romance? Try "Mastering the Marquess" by Vanessa Kelly. It was a fairly quick read, the plot was easy to follow, the characters were entertaining, and what sex there was, was pretty hot. Better yet, as an 'author debut' novel from Zebra Historical, the price is an economical $3.99. Now that's hard to beat!

Lady in distress. Meredith doesn't expect much out of life for herself. She has the estate left to her by her beloved father, and her painting. But when it comes to her step-sister, it's a totally different story. Meredith adored Annabel from the time she came into the world via her father's second, and titled, wife. Now, with both parents gone, Meredith is all Annabel has left, well...except for Meredith's uncle, Annabel's guardian. When he and his family (including an apparently bipolar son) descend on Meredith's estate, she's not too worried. Until strange events become frightening and Meredith flees with Annabel.

Stephen is the Marquess of Silverton and is quite bored with life. He knows it's time to marry and begat the next heir, but he's having a devil of a time rousing any interest in the debutante line. Then, while visiting his uncle, a beautiful woman storms in and he's captivated by her energy, her beauty, and her bravery. But she's not titled, even if her sister is...and she's totally unsuitable. Now if only he could convince himself of that.

Yes, the plot is one I've read many times before. Yes, I knew how most of the story would unfold before I was three chapters into the book. And yet, Vanessa Kelly still kept me reading. Her characters are so well drawn I think I could recognize them on the street...assuming I traveled back to their time. And the flow of the action was so smooth, I just couldn't find a good place to take a break and read the whole story in one sitting! And the passion!! This is one steamy regency. I enjoyed "Mastering the Marquess" so much, I've put Vanessa Kelly's name on my list of 'authors to watch'. It wasn't perfect, but it was quite a bit better than many of the historicals I've read recently by some pretty big name authors. So this is one you may want to check out so you can brag that you read the author's 'debut' novel. I'm guessing I'll be seeing more of her books in the future.