Mistress

When her beloved aunt falls victim to a sinister blackmailer, former schoolmistress Iphiginia Bright decides to transform herself and pose as the mistress of the infamous--and missing--Earl of Masters, but her scheme is undermined by the reappearance of the arrogant lord.

A sturdy backbone of suspense is the only prop that keeps this latest,uneven historical romance by the author of Deceptions from collapsing. London society in the early part of the 19th century, ruled by rigid patterns of proper behavior, is quick to ostracize those who defy its conventions. So when Iphiginia Bright discovers that her dear old Aunt Zoe is hiding an extremely embarrassing secret--and is being blackmailed for it--the young woman schemes to keep her aunt's reputation intact and to ferret out the perpetrator as well. In order to penetrate the highest levels of society, where the blackmailer operates, Iphiginia poses as the mistress of Marcus Cloud, Earl of Masters. To her chagrin, the earl catches her in the act; but when he learns that a close friend of his is also being blackmailed, the enterprising and unconventional lord joins forces with his strong-minded "mistress," leading to some convoluted sleuthing and complex role-playing interspersed with passionate confrontations. Quick (aka bestselling author Jayne Ann Krentz) deftly spins a first-rate mystery that includes a perplexing murder, but her usual light comedic touch disintegrates into burlesque and farce here, with pointless subplots that veer out of control, spawning pages of vapid conversation. Even Quick's two admirable and enchanting protagonists can't salvage this slow and lackluster romance.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

The author of several lighthearted romances sequined with one- word titles (Deception, 1993, etc.) again sets her fragile mystery and sportive verbal and physical foreplay in what seems to be the Regency era. This time a proud noble is reined in for cozy loving and lusting by another feisty Quick heroine, an ex-schoolteacher knowledgeable about classical antiquities. The supposedly widowed Iphiginia Bright dresses in virginal white and swans about in a little white and gilt carriage, encouraging the ton to believe she was the mistress of Marcus Cloud, Earl of Masters, whom she assumes is dead. He's not. There's much fuss and fuming as she tries to explain to Marcus that her masquerade was aimed at catching the blackmailer of her Aunt Zoe. (This makes as much sense to the reader as it does to Marcus, but who cares?) Other blackmail attempts come to light as Marcus and Iphiginia sleuth, separately and together, and he investigates her foggy past. (Was there a Mr. Bright?) The pair, in and out of harness, meet in unlikely places: a graveyard crypt, a hall of naughty statuary, and the forthrightly titled ``Dr. Hardstaff's Museum of the Goddesses of Manly Vigor.'' Eventually blackmail victims will be forced to exhume old secrets while Marcus and Iphiginia parry and thrust (more parry than thrust) to overturn Marcus's rules concerning messing with virgins, remarrying, or revealing the past. At the close the culprit is cornered in Dr. Hardstaff's establishment. As usual, Quick's heroine is bright and relentlessly bubbly, while her unbending toff finally softens to a jelly bean. Occasionally there are flashes of wit through the coy formula romance, as in this view of a dancing crowd: ``Shimmers of excitement ruffled their gaudy wings. Greedy anticipation lit their hard, faceted eyes.'' Reliable. Surefire. Bestselling. -- Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Jayne Ann Krentz has selected a suitable pseudonym; her novel reads quickly. Her story involves a bright young woman, Iphiginia Bright, who poses as the mistress of a roguish Earl in order to ferret out the identity of a blackmailer who is threatening members of the ton, Regency's high society. Iphiginia's guise becomes reality when the man she is feigning a romance with suddenly returns to Regency London from his country estate. Iphiginia and the earl quibble and caress their way through the rest of the life-threatening investigation. Quick's characters are clever and her plot much superior to the usual Regency. Denise Perry Donavin

Learning that her aunt is being blackmailed, school mistress Iphiginia Bright boldly palms herself off as the mistress of the Earl of Masters, whom she believes dead by the hand of the same blackmailer. She succeeds admirably-until Marcus Valerius Cloud, the dead earl, suddenly walks into the room and throws her plans, and her life, into passionate chaos. Sprightly, funny, and highly sensual, this story harks back to the earlier Quick historicals (Ravished, Bantam, 1992). Quick is a household name to readers of the historical romance subgenre; she produces similarly fast-paced contemporaries under her own name, Jayne Ann Krentz. Quick aficionados might also enjoy reading Julie Garwood and Judith McNaught.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.