Title: The Wife Trap
Author: Tracy Ann Warren
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Price: $6.99
Length: 392 pages

In this rollicking entry in a trilogy about nineteenth century mores and high jinks, Tracy Ann Warren concentrates on the loveable cut up, Lady Jeannette Brantford, who has been banished to the dreary Irish countryside for embarrassing her aristocratic family. Along the way to the home of her Irish-cousins, her carriage breaks down and she makes the acquaintance of the roguish Darragh O’Brien whom she mistakenly assumes is beneath her. After all, he accepts pay for his work as an architect—something no gentleman would do! The fact that he is working on her cousin’s home and dares to wake her up with his early morning construction noises leads to a clash of wills and a delightful series of one-upmanships that eventually culminate in passion. Although I took delight in the way Darragh keeps his actual title and riches a secret from her to teach her a lesson even after they are married, Lady Jeannette shows such pluck and willingness to adjust to her circumstance, we soon feel for her. I soon felt for her and can quite understand her sense of betrayal when the truth comes out. Warren has a bright, evocative touch, and the love scenes are worth a second, and on a lonely night, a third read.