up and down for me ( )

Great fun.

Lady Lucy Upton is a great character, full of spirit and stinging wit. She's beautiful but with the tongue of a shrew. Then she meets

Lord Derek Hunt who's been assigned to marry her best friend Cassandra. He likes her repartee but he's committed to Cassandra. Lots of twists and turns and true love conquers.

Wonderful dialogue, solid plot, gorgeous cover art. ( )

Little bit Cyreno de Bergerac meets The Taming of the Shrew. ( )

Lady Lucy Upton wields her tongue as a sword cutting men to bits so she has no qualms about helping her friend Cassandra chase off unwanted suitor the Duke of Claringdon, Derek Hunt. Derek won't give up easily though so the women consistently come up with one convoluted plan after another and none of them work out for them. Lucy find herself thoroughly enjoying her spars with the Duke and starts to fall for him as they spend more and more time together.
Lord Derek Hunt, Duke of Claringdon is determined to marry Lady Cassandra and just needs her to give him a chance but her friend Lucy won't leave them alone. He is actually having a wonderful time verbally sparing with Lucy and foiling their plans to chase him off. He finds himself drawn more and more to Lucy but what about Cassandra? One woman he wants to pursue for honor and the other for love. Will Derek and Lucy find a way to be together or will Derek's honor and interfering people keep them apart?
A wonderful humorous story and I can't wait to read about Cassandra and Julian and Jane and Garret! I will be back for some more Valerie Bowman. ( )

The author really knows how to pack in the emotion in this romance novel. It sucks the reader in from page 1, as evidenced by how quickly I devoured this book (one day!). I alternately sobbed and cheered as I gobbled this story. The chemistry between Lucy and Derek just sizzles. I swear I probably saw smoke coming off the pages now and then. And at the end of the day, what other reason are we reading a romance novel than for its emotional punch?! So big plus there.

I enjoyed the main story and the characters for the most part. Lucy's quick wit and Derek's matching one was a nice element. And I enjoyed some of the historical details included in this book like the spying in Napoleon-occupied Europe and some of the details of that conflict.

However, I do have to say that the overall plot was a bit romance-novel cliche. Witty vixen meets nobleman who needs to marry (for whatever reason). They parry and thrust with wit and barbs. Then she slowly melts into this puddle of romantic goo. Many obstacles and shocks later, they wed in a beautiful ceremony full of love and sparkles. So while I was kinda expecting this going in (the description made me think of this type of plot), I was a bit disappointed that this book didn't rise above that and give me something new.

This book is pretty much your run of the mill romance novel. It's got enough romantic, emotional stuff to probably even make Napoleon cry. The witty banter and historical stuff was enjoyable. Yet, there really wasn't anything new here. Pretty standard plot and secondary characters, though our hero and heroine were pretty fun to read about. I'd definitely check this one out if you enjoy romance novels, 'cause holy crap you'll be emotionally moved like nobody's business! But if you don't like romance novels, definitely skip this.

Note: Book received for free through GoodReads FirstReads program in exchange for honest review. ( )