MacLean's debut plays with English high society: girls in swishy-satiny fabrics at balls; brooding, port-swilling boys; chaste but thrillingly clandestine kisses; and, oh yeah, a murder mystery. If this sounds like the makings of a Regency-romance primer for the middle-school set, that's not far off. Alex, no blushing maiden, approaches her first "season," when she is officially up for sale on the meat market, and balks at the idea of being married off to the highest bidder. But her mother insists that she marry well. It's a good thing she begins to notice her brothers' closest friend, Gavin, er, Lord Blackmoor. She notices his broad shoulders, gray eyes, and the knot in his cravat. She even notices his odd behavior around her, which obviously is nothing more than his worry that his father's "accidental" death wasn't all that accidental. Alex proceeds to do a lot more noticing en route to solving the mystery, as does Gavin. Bottom line: this is a good suggestion for readers looking for a PG version of a bodice ripper.

1815 London brings Alexandra's first "season," a series of parties during which she's expected to land a wealthy husband. In addition to attending fancy balls wearing beautiful dresses, Alex becomes involved in a murder mystery. Readers who enjoy a little romance and intrigue with their period fiction will be absorbed by Alex's glamorous life.

Jane Austen meets Trixie Belden. Lady Alexandra Stoddard is an anachronism—a feisty, outspoken feminist in Regency England. But the 17-year-old's impassioned resistance to courtship and marriage rings false from page 23, with the introduction of the ploddingly obvious object of her reluctant but inevitable affections, her brothers' best friend Gavin Sewell, the Earl of Blackmoor. Alex's insatiable curiosity further complicates her relationship with Gavin; suspecting that he's in danger, she's determined to solve the puzzle of his father's recent suspicious death, despite Gavin's objections. Formulaic plotting, repetitive phrasing and scant development of supporting characters, such as Alex's rival Penelope, weaken the story. But the novel is grounded in both historical context (Napoleon's escape from Elba and the anonymous publication of Austen's novels) and historical detail (ball gowns and the rigors of etiquette), which set the scene convincingly. MacLean's lively characters, however improbable, provide a fun and unrestrained take on a buttoned-up era, and readers who choose to give themselves up to the tale will enjoy it. (Mystery/historical fiction. 12 & up)

In Regency London, Alexandra is about to embark on her first season of balls and dinners, and while nothing “would steer her mother from the course of marrying off her only daughter,” 17-year-old Alex is put off by men’s seeming lack of interest in women with “any amount” of intelligence (“Evidently, it scares eligible gentlemen off”). Her opinions about romance change when she develops feelings for her brothers’ friend Gavin, who is mourning the sudden death of his father (making Gavin the new earl of Blackmoor). Mac-Lean’s debut is well paced, and as readers fill up on descriptions of dresses and society’s rules, another plot line develops: Alex overhears a conversation proving that Gavin’s father was murdered, and she puts her relationship, reputation and life in danger to help him. Readers will appreciate the clique lit/historical romance hybrid: headstrong Alex rolls her eyes and gossips with friends, but still knows the steps to the quadrille. Clever conversation in the spirit of Jane Austen makes this quite a page turner. Ages 12–up. <EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">(Mar.)

Gr 9 Up-The year is 1815, and 17-year-old Lady Alexandra Stafford is out in society for her first London season: a long sequence of parties where debutantes are paraded in front of eligible bachelors, and finding a husband is of utmost importance. But Alex is an unconventional woman, and this world does not interest her. She prefers independence, despises the thought of an arranged marriage, and hopes to foil her mother's plans to find her a rich husband. Then a family friend, Gavin, the new Earl of Blackmoor, whom Alex had always thought of as a brother, arrives on the scene, and she suddenly realizes that he is not looking at her with brotherly affection. Unfortunately, he is distracted from romance by the suspicion that his father had been murdered. The attempt to solve the mystery of his death places Gavin and Alex in mortal peril. The author excels in her depiction of 19th-century Englandthe dialogue in the society scenes is spot-on. Alex's character is well developed; however, too many supplemental characters make it difficult to get to know them well. The love scenes between Alex and Gavin are fun and romantic, but too modern to be authentic. Readers of Jane Austen will find elements of this story too anachronistic, but fans of the movies of her novels and light historical romances will enjoy this book. Heather M. Campbell, formerly at Philip S. Miller Library, Castle Rock, CO

In April 1815, seventeen-year-old Lady Alexandra Stafford is reluctantly preparing for her informal debut into London society. The spring and summer months, known as "the season," both irritate and excite Alex and her best friends, Lady Vivian "Vivi" Markwell and Lady Eleanor "Ella" Redburn, all of whom are reluctant to, as Alex wryly notes, be paraded before the bachelors of society "like livestock going to market." When the father of family friend and companion to Alex's three older brothers Lord Gavin Blackmoor dies in a riding accident, Gavin, Alex, her brothers, and her girlfriends become convinced that the death was murder. An element of mystery sneaks into and motivates what is, first and foremost, a period romance. Although neither Vivi nor Ella find romance during the season, Alex's involvement with Gavin's mystery leads to complicated emotion on both sides. Fans of the romance genre will enjoy the titillation engendered by society rules that disallow Alex and Gavin to date or hook up in the contemporary sense. These same social mandates ensure that the characters remain chasteùthere are threats of ruinationùand it is this imposed chastity that makes Alex and Gavin's stolen kisses sweeter. MacLean's novel, the first in what may become a series, can stand beside its American cousins, the books in Anna Godberson's Luxe series, on library shelves.ùAmy S. Pattee.