Ten Things I Love About You, by Julia Quinn

TITLE: Ten Things I Love About You
AUTHOR: Julia Quinn

COPYRIGHT: 2010
PAGES: 384
PUBLISHER: Avon

SETTING: 19th century England
TYPE: Romance
SERIES: Follows What Happens in London

Ten Things You Should Know About This Book

1. Sebastian Grey is a devilishly handsome rogue with a secret.

2. Annabel Winslow's family voted her The Winslow Most Likely to Speak Her Mind and The Winslow Most Likely to Fall Asleep in Church.

3. Sebastian's uncle is the Earl of Newbury, and if he dies without siring an heir, Sebastian inherits everything.

4. Lord Newbury detests Sebastian and will stop at nothing to prevent this from happening.

5. Lord Newbury has decided that Annabel is the answer to all of his problems.

6. Annabel does not want to marry Lord Newbury, especially when she finds out he once romanced her grandmother.

7 is shocking, 8 is delicious, and 9 is downright wicked, all of which lead the way to

10. Happily. Ever. After.

Ten Things I Love About You is related to the fabulous What Happens in London, which I thought was Quinn's return to the form that made her one of my favourites a few years ago. This one is about Sebastian, cousin of Harry, the hero of the previous book. Everyone thinks Sebastian is penniless and he's only received in the best places because he's his uncle's heir presumptive. Basically, his uncle, the Earl of Newbury, has no children, so if he dies the title comes to Sebastian. If Newbury does manage to have a child however, Sebastian is out in the cold. Which is exactly what the evil uncle wants, and the reason why he's been busily trying to get himself a young, fertile wife, but without much luck.

This year's candidate is Annabel Winslow, recently come to town from a previously idyllic life in the countryside. Annabel's family have been in financial trouble since the death of her father, and as the oldest, she's almost resigned herself to the fact that she'll need to sacrifice herself and marry someone rich. Newbury seems clearly interested, and even though Annabel finds him completely repulsive, she feels she can't really say no.

And then Annabel and Sebastian meet, and the sparks fly.

This is a very romantic book, in a wonderfully sweet, wittily funny way, and I enjoyed it quite a bit. I especially liked Sebastian's secret career as a gothic author; that was just a hoot. Both Sebastian and Annabel are nice, but not boringly so, and I was cheering for them all the way.

I did think that the book didn't have the emotional depth that would make it a keeper though (funny, sweet and romantic doesn't preclude emotional depth -Quinn herself has achieved this time and time again), and I wasn't completely convinced by Newbury's character. He seemed a bit cartoonish.

Still, this is a thoroughly enjoyable book anyway.

MY GRADE: A nice, solid B.