I feel badly about this. I've heard really good things about Stella Cameron. I even think I've read her books before. But I really disliked this book. A lot. There was almost nothing that made me happy to have read it. Honestly, I'm only happy to have read it so I can clear it off the shelf to make room for a book I'll like. I hate reading experiences that leave me feeling this way.

The historical-set romance opens with an unnamed narrator addressing the reader and telling of his (the narrator's) horror of the fact that his family has allowed boarders into 7 Mayfair Place and of his intention to rid the house of these undeserving, paying folk. Then the tale bumps into gear as Finch More is introduced. She is a 29 year old spinster who lives with her head in the clouds brother as they try to make their way as owners of a small import company. Their biggest client is also their next door neighbor, Ross, Viscount Kilrood. He is an antiquities afficianado but is also involved in some serious foreign intrigue that endangers both the Mores and himself and holds the fate of a small South East Asian country in the balance.

At the start of the story, Finch is accosted and given a strange message that chills Ross down to the bone, knowing that he is the intended recipient of the message. And so begins his vigil to get close to Finch, who is not only in danger but also attracts him like no other woman ever has. While he and Finch alternately argue heatedly and tease and titillate each other, Finch's brother is kidnapped by the baddies. Not content to be waiting at home to hear that he has been saved, Finch insists on helping to rescue him. Ross is dismissive of her skills as a woman but Finch is ridiculously headstrong and thoughtless as a bull in a china shop. The tension of where her brother is is broken up by incredibly steamy sex scenes. And the whole tale is this way. Ross and Finch have only known each other briefly and not well at all before they are panting and lapping at each other only to be interrupted by the pesky detail that they still don't know where Finch's brother is.

The novel as a whole only spans a few desperate days so everything about the relationship is rushed and lust-spiked. Love? Well, the narration tells us it is true love but there's no evidence of that that I read. And our initial narrator? Well, it turns out he's the ghostly ancestor of the owners of 7 Mayfair Place. He interjects himself into the narrative with regularity, making the tale choppy and just generally causing the reader annoyance. Really, this was just not the book for me and I shudder to think there might be more in the series lurking on my shelves for me to read. ( )

A mysterious personage wishes to rid his/her family home of *gasp* boarders so he/she devises a plan to have the young people married off and out of the house. The first in this series involves Finch More, who, along with her brother, runs an antiquities business. Viscount Ross Kilrood is the next door neighbor who has retained the services of More & More to secure some packages that, when united, comprise an artifact very valuable to a small foreign municipality. Both the interference of this mysterious personage and the villains who wish to secure the artifact for their own purposes complicate this matter.
Although this plot seems quite straightforward, the various personages involved do not always act with cohesive motivations. It seems the characters change their behavior in order to advance the plot, and not in a way that one would expect from the established qualities of their personalities. Also, the final climactic scene was confusing, as motives and connections were revealed that I felt had not been at all hinted at. For instance one individual who had acted quite villainously was revealed to have been a good guy all along, which didn’t really play for me. However, the intrigue did wrap up at least satisfactorily with few ends still loose.
In addition, Stella Cameron writes some of the best sex scenes I’ve ever read. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve tended to skip those parts, but I read straight through every one of hers.
To address the aforementioned ‘mysterious personage:’ Cameron has employed the device of revealing this person’s thoughts to the reader through a series of italicized chapters written almost in the style of a letter. This was confusing as I thought this person was employing other people, possibly another character in the story, to assist him/her in his/her goal. However, I currently believe the missives are directed at us, the readers, although I am still not sure. Also, Cameron includes some ‘historical’ information at the end designed, I believe, to induce us to regard this series of tales as ‘true.’
I am looking forward to reading the rest of this series, especially as the identity of this mysterious personage, as that was not revealed in this first volume. ( )