The Plumed Bonnet by Mary Balogh

This is a classic Mary Balogh with a cynical , all-about-me lord and a naive, but spunky heroine who somehow are able to make it work. I liked the book, mostly, and the plot as it was described on the back. In the beginning, Alistair is all "You are a liar but I want you so I'll put up with it until you're so humiliated you will sleep with me".  This is a little much, but since he ultimately understands the word "NO" he gets away with it...at least with me.  He is paired with Stephanie, who is innocent and naive and VERY, VERY LUCKY! I cannot underscore this part enough.  In fact, I may have my teen aged daughters read this as an example of WHAT NOT TO DO!  Although, I do recognize she had very little choice by this point.  Anyhow, the fun ends when Stephanie is revealed to be exactly what she said she was and Alistair steps up to do the right thing and marry her.  This actually would have been an excellent ending to a short story because the first third of the book was the best.

It kind of fell apart in the middle when Stephanie was being prepped by Alistair's family. She didn't act the same (not sure why) and neither did Alistair (again, not sure why) so the story ground to a bore...bore...bore. In fact, I decided to take a nap but finished it when I woke up.  


Now the plot got interesting after Alistair OUT OF THE BLUE confesses to her what he really thought about her those first few days. I'm not sure why she was upset since I got the feeling he was more upset than she was.  I guess he hated that she was grateful for saving her and I can see his point, her martyr act was a little much after awhile.  

ETA: I just reread this scene and I have changed my mind a bit...it really wasn't that interesting.  I must have been searching for something nice to say.

So, at the end, there was a nice HEA for an okay story about mostly likable characters. 2 1/2 stars just for the beginning.  I bought this book for $.20 at a library book sale...I am going to re-donate it so they can make some more off of it.  Mary Balogh is a great author...but even the greats have some clunkers.