The Luckiest Lady in London / Sherry Thomas / 276 pages

This is one of those books that the man and the woman don't ever express themselves and if they did, so much heartache could have been avoided. It seems somewhat trite, but it worked here. My only complaint is that I think when it comes to romances, I like my male leads to be nearly perfect. There were times when I wanted to slap the male romantic lead and thought the "luckiest" lady in that book would be better off with someone else.

Louisa is approaching spinsterhood when she is sponsored by a distant relative to be introduced in London as a debutante in circa 1885. She hopes to bag one of two possible matches, neither of whom she is romantically attracted to, but both with enough money to support her mom, her sisters (one of whom is epileptic) and herself. She doesn't want much, but she wants enough that she has a roof over their heads and food in their bellies. What she didn't count on was the most eligible bachelor in London making passes at her and asking her to be his mistress. Could she give up a respectable life and be a mistress to the best looking man in all of England in exchange for her every creature comfort taken care of, or will she turn him down to remain respectable in the eyes of society?