Lynn Messina: The Harlow Hoyden

Miss Emma Harlow hasn’t earned the reputation as a hoyden for nothing, so when the Duke of Trent discovers her in his conservatory stealing one of his orchids, he’s isn’t surprised—charmed, delighted and puzzled, yes, but not surprised. It is Emma who is amazed. She has naturally concluded that the man reading in the conservatory must be the country cousin (who else in London would actually read?) and is quite vexed to discover that he is the Duke of Trent himself—imagine, stealing the duke’s prize Rhyncholaelia digbyana under his very nose!

But her vexation doesn’t last long. For Emma is a practical young lady with a mission: to end her dear sister Lavinia’s engagement to the villainous (and dreadfully dull!) Sir Waldo Windbourne, and she thinks that the famous libertine is just the man for the job. If he would only seduce her sister away from Sir Waldo…. Well, not seduce exactly, but flirt mercilessly and engage her interest. Perhaps then Lavinia would jilt the baron. The Duke of Trent is resistant, of course. Despite his reputation, he does not toy with the affections of innocents. And besides, it’s not her sister he longs to seduce.

A new author is always like a good Regency romp. Maybe a bumpy start, followed by a series of debacles leading to love.

In the case of Lynn Messina and The Harlow Hoyden, the start was more like being held up by a highwayman demanding a kiss. Messina’s skillful understanding of the genre, character development and the Reg Readers favorite tropes (a feisty hoyden heroine and a reluctant, terribly attractive rogue hero) are matched only by delicious action, funny scenes, and a satisfying ending.

First and foremost, it is a funny romp with lots of action, plot twists, and unlikely high flying antics. The heroine, Emma Harlow, is an identical twin. And she CAN NOT STAND her tamer sister’s betrothed. Her love of adventure (including an infamous curricle race) and suspicions about the awful Sir Windbag lead her from one scrape to another. At the opening of the book, it has her conducting some sneak thievery in a Duke’s home.

The hero is immediately entranced by this bundle of vitality and spontaneity. And their interaction is the perfect mix of misunderstanding/miscommunication and thinly veiled love/lust.

The hoyden is pretty naughty, but still skirts propriety so you are not left in disgust with prochronistic impossibilities. She also is delightfully curious and very sassy, which makes her dialogue jump off the page. There is some suspense and intrigue, in addition to a roadtrip which for me always helps accelerate the pace.

And the lust is realized in several tasteful scenes that teeter and finally slip over the edge into historical Reg Rom. In otherwords, there are intimate scenes and while they are vanilla, not for clean only Reg readers.

The Harlow Hoyden reminds me of early Julia Quinn and Eloisa James, and was so enjoyable and quick a read its destined for my reread shelf.

If you don’t mind a little steam (and tasteful, not even close to erotica) and love funny, action packed Reg Roms with kick-butt heroines who can wield a pistol as well as fan than you will love The Harlow Hoyden.

5 Stars 5 out of 6 Action packed, fast paced romp with a sassy and strong heroine and reluctant, devoted hero.