An attractive young woman, possessed of a handsome fortune, Lady Juliette Devereaux thought it would be a simple matter to find a husband, someone who would help her to manage Chaceley, the prosperous estate she was to inherit. Insulated by her wealth, and guided by no judgment but her own, the motherless Juliette set out to take the Ton by storm, only to find - to her chagrin - that her London season was not the string of social successes she expected. Outspoken and independent, with a taste for overly colorful clothing not appropriate in a young woman making her debut, Juliette wasn't "quite the thing," and received nary a proposal.

Her invitation to a house-party at Duckmanton, the Sussex estate of Lord and Lady Ralph Candlesby, arrived just in time to offer her an alternative to visiting her autocratic Aunt Solange, and explaining her conduct, and Juliette jumped at the opportunity. But house parties can be dangerous, as Juliette learned when confronted with "Bad Barham," the wicked son of the Duke of Owlsthorne, and the last man on earth to make her a suitable mate. Why then, could she not stop thinking of him...?

Although Edghill's premise here is intriguing - a socially inept heroine meets a socially damaged hero - she somehow fails to translate it into as engaging a narrative as I would have hoped. I expected to identify more with Juliette's experiences, but found her mostly irritating. Barham is an amusing character, until he decides to teach the heroine a lesson. I have seen Two of a Kind described as an "irreverent" Regency, but I myself would probably use the word "melodramatic." Juliette is strong, but needs "taming," Barham is a bad boy, but only because he's "misunderstood." It's possible I just wasn't in the right mood for this one, but my final thought, on closing the book, was that it would have benefited from being 100 pages shorter, with fewer dramatic contretemps. ( )