What’s in a name? A rose by another name might smell as sweet, but a Belle by another name would likely not be as rich. While cousins Arabella and Isabelle Grant are the closest and dearest of friends, they’re far from equals. Lady Isabelle, daughter of a marquis, has money, position . . . and debilitating social anxiety. Miss Arabella has beauty, charm . . . and barely a penny to her name. Arabella is treated as a charity case by Isabelle’s cruel, snobbish mother, yet everything changes when said mother dies and Isabelle’s great-aunt resolves to give her a London season, whether she wants it or not. Just the thought of balls and crowds terrifies Issie into palpitations. But Bella would shine in that setting. And since their nearsighted new guardian can’t tell which cousin is which, Issie concocts a plan for a little switch. It only has to last for the season, and then they can go home to their quiet lives and correct stations. No fuss, no muss, no harm done—as long as Bella keeps from falling in love, a task that’s easier said than done when she meets Lord Brooke. The attraction between them is palpable, but does he love her, or a Lady Isabelle who doesn’t exist?
The Wrong Lady Meets Lord Right has a plot Shakespeare himself might’ve used, and author Suzanne Allain fills it with playfulness, humor and a delightful cast of side characters. (My particular favorite is a maid who gives up altogether on figuring out which cousin to call “miss” and which to call “milady,” and calls them both “mislady.”) While Bella comes into her own as the toast of London and the woman who has wholly—and very truly—captured Lord Brooke’s heart, it’s just as captivating to see Issie emerge from her shell and form a romance with a handsome young doctor who stirs in her palpitations of a different sort. Love is in the air . . . along with confusion, misunderstandings and a whole lot of false assumptions. But where’s the fun in the course of love running smooth? All’s well that ends well—and all ends very well, indeed.
