I do enjoy reading family series, for example, Mary Balogh's Slightly series, and I had hoped the Malory family might be similarly engaging. And I still hope so, but this first book in the series was not as good as I wished for.I liked the hero and heroine; he was a charming rake, and she was a beautiful spitfire. His mistaken abduction of her was a fun start to the book. I loved all of the uncles and their backstories. And although a pirate story suddenly appears about halfway into the book, it all fit together nicely.
We've all read romances that involve the so-called Big Misunderstanding, but this was a book with dozens of big and little misunderstandings. Really, the miscommunications and misunderstandings between Regina and Nicholas were immensely frustrating.
There were also lots of secrets, which typically irritate me, but Ms Lindsey threw in some well-executed surprises, which I won't describe so as to avoid spoilers.
It's an entertaining story, though, and I like Ms Lindsey's style. The sex is pretty tame by today's standards, but that's okay. I will try the next book in the series.
And finally, I can't help but complain about something that really bugs me, namely the misuse of English titles. Nicholas is called the Viscount of Monteith, which is completely wrong. Dukes are always "of" something; earls sometimes are, but not viscounts. Reggie, as the wife of a viscount, is referred to as a countess. Also, she's an earl's daughter, and earlier the author called her Lady Ashton when it should be Lady Regina. If Americans insist upon writing about English nobility, they should at least do their research. It's really so easy. (I was about to point out that it's all explained on Wikipedia, but of course this book was written in 1985, so perhaps I should cut the author some slack.)
I especially liked Uncle Anthony, so I'll move on to his book next.
