Clarissa and the Poor Relations by Alicia Cameron

Honoria's 'coming out' was disappointing. I didn't care for the constant, and especially the explicit, references to Scribster as ugly & pock-faced or Prescott as a moron by the other characters. It's a romance before it's a mystery so that was a higher priority than keeping the reader guessing who she would choose.

Honoria's relationships with Scribster & Prescott needed better development. The reveal wasn't quite as good as the expectations I'd been building, but it was still an entertaining scene. And the ending amusingly sets up like Hercule Poirot gathering everyone to deliver the big reveal. In the meantime, I found that I wasn't particularly taken with any of the protagonists, but I made myself keep reading because so many of the author's fans like it, there had to be a reason, right? Once Cameron sets everything up & puts it in motion, it IS pretty entertaining, & I was really getting into it - it has a Georgette Heyer flavor to it that had me eagerly looking forward to the resolution(s) of all the complications.

It took a while to introduce all the players and set things up. I love what I've read of Alicia Cameron's books so far, but this one is a little more difficult to review. When Benedict's life hangs in the balance, all the major players are changed forever and the tangle of romance is finally resolved. By learning some scandalous skills, Benedict hopes to give some options to the most trapped figure in all of polite society - an unhappy wife. Meanwhile, Benedict embarks on an adventure with his rogue of an uncle, Wilbert, to save his childhood friend and neighbour, Genevieve Horton, who has become the unhappy Lady Sumner. Scribster, his ugly, unpleasant, unfeeling friend, guesses more than she would like and offers Honoria a place to concentrate her dislike and frustration. His kindness to all her family leaves Honoria with no legitimate excuse to escape marriage. Allison, (annoyingly handsome and kind) fails to propose as expected and leaves abruptly - but invites the confused family to stay at Bassington Hall, his own country home. Allison arrives, there is another problem.

Allison, and this constraint leaves her martyred and unhappy and unable to share her feelings. Her siblings, Serena and Benedict, find this highly amusing, but after Honoria overhears a conversation between her parents about their finances, she realises she must marry Mr. But he had spoken to her father, determined to ask her for her hand. Crippled by her timidity, she hardly looked at him when they'd met during her first London season. She doesn't remember what he looked like. Allison is to come to Fenton Manor to woo Honoria, there is a problem.

Clarissa and the Poor Relations by Alicia Cameron