I came across The Lady Most Willing via the ever industrious Romance Readers here at Cannonball Read. NTE and Malin both reviewed and enjoyed this book so I thought, why not? I promptly added it to my library request list and forgot all about it, until I finished reading Rose Under Fire and needed something that was definitely the opposite of concentration camps to serve as a palate cleanser. A book in which four ladies and a duke are kidnapped by a crazy Scot during a massive snowstorm aiming to get his two nephews hitched sounded like just the trick. And it reminded me of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers in the best possible way. Win.
The Lady Most Willing is definitely a straight telling of the trapped by inclement weather trope. We seemingly magically (and it’s even winked at in the introduction and epilogue) have four ladies of quality and four gents (and a duke, and earl, a comte, and a laird at that) trapped together for a few days to do nothing but be cold and flirt. Needless to say, romance and falling-in-love ensue. Certainly this book isn’t pushing any boundaries, but it is a fun ride with well-drawn characters.
I had never read anything by Julia Quinn, Eloisa James or Connie Brockway before picking up this joint effort. I have to say that each author’s section had its strengths and weaknesses, but that there wasn’t a section I hated. AND, the best part was the two characters I liked the least got together off page and I didn’t have to suffer through them any more than absolutely necessary. Victory!
If you meant to pick this one up here I am reminding you that its good fun.
