No Place For A Ladyby Katherine Greylereviewed by Cybil SolynMarch 2003, 320 pages, Publisher: Dorchester, ISBN: 0843952024 Back Cover Blurb: The rookeries were slums, shunned by London's upper crust, but an
assassination was being planned there and Marcus Kane, Lord Chadwick,
was told he would not be able to navigate the labyrinthine underworld
alone. His time spying in France was not experience enough; he would
require a partner.
Fantine Delarive was the one. She knew the street better than he, had
survived it for years and knew its every criminal. And though those
things made her entirely unsuitable to one of his acquaintance, he began
to see Miss Fanny fit in everywhere the investigation led – even the
crushes of the ton. Fit in brilliantly. Which changed everything.
Like the rookeries, Marcus had thought his heart no place for a
well-born lady, but Fantine was perfect in both. He began to dream of
something far less suitable than an acquaintanceship with Miss
Fanny…and vowed to end with nothing less than marriage.
I have enjoyed Katherine Greyle novels, but with NO PLACE FOR A LADY I found myself unable to put it down – which was really a nuisance since I was on holiday in Britain and suffering from jet lag!
Fanny a barmaid wench, Rat a young street boy, or Fantine Delarive the bastard daughter of a political figure and a beautiful actress – no matter what this government spy is posing as, she is not a real lady. Who Fantine Delarive is, is still a mystery to herself. She knows who she was born as, she knows the roles she plays to ferret out traitors for Britain, but she doesn't know who she will one day become…that is until she meets another spy who just happens to be the man of her dreams.
Marcus Kane the Earl of Chadwick doesn't care who Fantine is. He just needs to find out who is trying to kill the powerful Lord Wilberforce. He may not be as "useless" as Fantine originally thought, but he doesn't know the streets like she does and he definitely doesn't know what to do about the lust he feels for his partner spy – whatever her guise!
Greyle's heroine should make even the most stickler of Regency fans happy. She is smart, sexy, capable, and very real. The author portrays Fantine's struggle to find her true self out of the identities she has created for her job as a spy in a very realistic manner. Fantine has grown up as a bastard daughter of an actress/courtesan. She knows what's what, and has worked her entire life to build a place for herself where she doesn't have to sell her body. That place is as a spy for her father.
I raced through this book. It is a chick-in-pants tale like no other. Fantine may only be in breeches for a short time as "Rat", but it is the feisty attitude of the pant-wearing female that I love. Fantine has that and so much more. Unlike many pant wearing heroines, Fantine is ALWAYS careful and smart. No running into bars and fighting off men with her long hair in a hat! When she makes a stupid mistake or miscalculation she doesn't try and shrug it off. In her line of work a miscalculation means death.
Marcus is a perfect foil for her as a hero. So many books with powerful women have men that are either too alpha and are meant to temper the female, or men who are too weak and let her run wild. Greyle has created a real hero in NO PLACE FOR A LADY. He is capable, but doesn't know the rookeries like Fantine and can admit that. He knows when to step in and help, and when to stay in the wings and just support her.
My favorite scene, and one of the most telling of Marcus's character, is when he is speaking to a rival suitor for Fantine's hand and says, "I assure you, you overestimate the power men have over women" while remembering how he thought he could control women when he was young, but had learned differently.
I adored this book and both hated and loved when it ended. I will hope that we will see these characters again in more "Lady" novels by Greyle.
Bottom Line: Make a place for this one on your Keeper shelf because no matter what kind of novels you like, this one will be loved by all.
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Cybil Solyn, csolyn@rakehell.com
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