Felicity is claimed from the foundling hospital at the age of sixteen by an uncle who has just recently discovered her existence. Her best friend, who has visions from the spirits, tells her about a future involving a duke and a ruby ring. A visitation from the spirit of her mother once she has moved into her uncle's home leads her next door to Mr. Redstone, an American with an improper reputation who is very much not a duke.
I had problems enjoying this book. First of all, much like the Duke of Andelot, this book is not as different as it thinks it is. There's a forward that explains that unlike many romances in which the hero and heroine meet on the first page, in this one we're going to watch Felicity grow up first, much like Pip in Great Expectations. While it's true that we do not meet the hero until chapter three, that's only twenty-nine pages in. In Great Expectations, we meet Pip as a child, and Felicity is already sixteen when we meet her (although we do get a crash course in her childhood escapades). In the right setting, I'd have thought nothing of the romance already starting at that age. I'd probably have thought nothing of this if it weren't for the forward, but having read the forward I was expecting something more on the order of Jane Eyre. I also never thought there was a serious threat of Felicity winding up with the Duke of Ainsley rather than Redstone, considering that we get Redstone's narrative perspective and don't even really see Ainsley until very late in the book. It's very much a traditional romance, not that that's a problem, except that the forward set me up to expect something else.
Setting aside the areas in which I was expecting the book to be something other than what it was, there were a couple of things that bothered me in their own right. First of all, Redstone kisses Felicity for the first time right after she has directly told him not to. It's one thing not to ask and find out if you're told to stop and quite another thing to go ahead after having been told no. Secondly- and this is something that has happened in more than one Marvelle book- there's a certain frequent equation of sexual satisfaction and fertility. Lots of talk of kissing somebody until they wind up pregnant (which, ok, done right kissing may very well lead to activities that cause pregnancy but whether or not they actually do result in pregnancy has nothing to do with how enjoyable they are) and discussion of filling up nurseries in the middle of seductive moments. I'll admit this is a matter of personal taste, but I find the thought of filling up nurseries to be something that would really kill the mood, and on the other hand I also imagine there are women who suffer from infertility who would be made uncomfortable by the thought that great sex life=tons of babies.
On the other hand: the dialogue is entertaining as always. That's mostly what I read Marvelle's work for. And there are several entertaining side characters whom I imagine will be getting their own books. I haven't decided yet whether or not I will be reading them, but given the size of my pet peeves against pregnancy being brought up in sexy talk and somebody I'm supposed to be rooting for doing anything physical to the other after being explicitly told "no," the fact that I'm even considering it says something.
Overall: C