"In my opinion, Mrs. Babbacombe, women like you should not be allowed out alone."

THE STORY: Harry Lester is a rake with a new fortune and as a result the women of the ton are now after him in earnest. When he retreats to Newmarket for the races, he comes across an overturned carriage. He meets Mrs. Lucinda Babbacombe, a widow who is independent and self-assured. Although the attraction between them is immediate, Harry is determined to resist the snare of this virtuous widow. At the same t...

"In my opinion, Mrs. Babbacombe, women like you should not be allowed out alone."

THE STORY: Harry Lester is a rake with a new fortune and as a result the women of the ton are now after him in earnest. When he retreats to Newmarket for the races, he comes across an overturned carriage. He meets Mrs. Lucinda Babbacombe, a widow who is independent and self-assured. Although the attraction between them is immediate, Harry is determined to resist the snare of this virtuous widow. At the same time, Lucinda thinks that Harry may be the man for her.

OPINION: The Lester Family series is softer and gentler than Laurens more recent works. This is my favorite of the series because I like Harry who doesn't seem to have the stupid gene of the other men in the series. Although he is determined to avoid matrimony, he fairly quickly begins to change his mind because of Lucinda. He is even rational about how he has fallen into a pattern that Lucinda breaks for him. Lucinda is independent and strong and clearly has her life under control when she meets Harry. She sees the possibility of their alliance and goes after him. There is a side story of people trying to harm Lucinda that brings some drama into the story. Otherwise, this is really a good story of two people who actually work out their differences and build a relationship.

WORTH MENTIONING: This story introduces Lord Ruthven who is the hero of A COMFORTABLE WIFE.

FINAL DECISION: My favorite of the series. The story has drama but also is a sweet romance at the same time. This book is the first in the series that feels more like Laurens more recent books.

CONNECTED BOOKS: AN UNWILLING CONQUEST is the third book in the Lester Family series. The book can be read as a standalone.

STAR RATING: I give this book 4.5 stars.

My rating: 3.5 stars, rounded up to 4 stars.

This book is well-written, because Stephanie Laurens is a talented writer. I've read a lot of her books, and have always enjoyed them, so I wanted to read this series, too. Since it is one of her earlier series, the sex scenes are not as descriptive or explicit as in her later books -- I liked that.

This book seemed a little slow at first, as the author spent a lot of time developing her characters and the plot. There was also a great deal of...

My rating: 3.5 stars, rounded up to 4 stars.

This book is well-written, because Stephanie Laurens is a talented writer. I've read a lot of her books, and have always enjoyed them, so I wanted to read this series, too. Since it is one of her earlier series, the sex scenes are not as descriptive or explicit as in her later books -- I liked that.

This book seemed a little slow at first, as the author spent a lot of time developing her characters and the plot. There was also a great deal of descriptive detail to wade through. It didn't bother me, but it did make the book long -- and some readers might not like that.

Harry was likable enough, but it bothered me that he had decided that all women were just as untrustworthy as the one who had hurt him years before. It took him a while before he realized that Lucinda was nothing like the woman who used/betrayed him. He was also incredibly arrogant, which I found a bit annoying.

I liked Lucinda, and liked that she was so determined to take care of her stepdaughter. I also liked that she was incredibly intelligent, and capable of managing her late husband's business interests. There were a couple of scenes that I particularly enjoyed, where she showed Harry just how intelligent she was, and proved to him that she was able to do things that were mostly done by men.

There was one other very minor issue, but it is a pet peeve of mine. The people on the cover of a book should look like they are described in the book. Harry was described as having blonde hair, but the man on the cover has dark brown hair, not blonde. This may not be the author's fault, but it still bugs me.

My rating system is below.
1 star -- Hated it, or did not finish. I usually only give this rating if some of the content is truly objectionable to me, like if one of the main characters does something really awful, and gets away with it.
2 stars -- Didn't like it. This rating usually means that I thought the writing wasn't very good, the editing was terrible, I didn't like the characters, or it had other major flaws.
3 stars -- I liked it, but had some minor issues with it. This rating means that there were minor editing issues, the story needed more character development, it was just too unrealistic, or had some other fairly minor issue. The majority of books I read get this rating – I do not consider it a bad rating.
4 stars -- I liked it a lot. This is a high rating for me, and I rarely give a higher one.
5 stars -- I loved it, and will probably read it again. Very few books are good enough to get this rating from me. The ones that do are usually classics.