The Trysting Place - Mary Balogh

A MOST DANGEROUS GAME

Lady Felicity Wren came to London for one purpose. After a marriage in name only to a man old enough to be her father, she was now a young, beautiful and wealthy widow; free at last to enjoy the happiness that her misalliance had denied her. And her first step toward this goal was to find the handsomest and most sophisticated lord in all the realm to be her new mate.
She found him in the elegant person of Lord Edmond Waite. From the moment she met him, she wanted him, and he made it clear be wanted her as well.

But there was one cruel complication. While Felicity wanted Lord Waite as a husband he wanted her as a mistress--and to win this war between decency and desire, Felicity had to risk losing all in the arms of another man...

I am a bit undecided on how I should grade this story, it was an easy read but it left me cold and dissatisfied with the heroine. Lady Wren, Felicity, is a widow in her mid twenties. She married an older man when she was eighteen to save her family from ruin and in doing so she had to give up the man she really loved, her neighbour Tom Russell. Now that she is free, she is determined to find a rich and attractive husband with whom she can enjoy the society life she first got to know with her elderly husband. Her feelings for Tom Russell have turned to those of friendship. She arrives at her parent’s country home for a visit. There she meets her twin sisters, now eighteen and eager for a London season, and Tom Russell. Felicity decides to take her sisters to London for the season and Tom decides to go with them.

While Tom is still very much in love with Felicity he realises that she only considers him a friend and is looking for a gentleman to marry. In London they attend several society functions and they encounter Lord Edmond Waite who pays Felicity marked attention. She at first believes him to be paying court to her with marriage in mind but he soon makes it clear that what he wants is a mistress. Felicity then pretends to be betrothed to Tom to make Waite jealous and force him to a marriage proposal. In the mean time Felicity's twin sisters find their own beaus and have to deal with their own feelings to decide with whom they want to spend the rest of their lives with.

I really disliked that Felicity seemed to be so self centered that she did not realise she was using Tom to gain what she wanted and doing him harm because he loved her. He is definitely too good to be true as although it pains him he is always ready to help her. Then I disliked that she seemed to like Waite only because of what he could give her and what her position in society would be. Even after she realises her true feelings she is still planning to marry Waite because she thinks Tom only sees her as a friend and at least she will get to be a viscountess... she is definitely not a heroine I could like.

What I did like very much were her sisters, they also had their own problems and heartaches to deal with but they did it honestly and examining their own hearts. A pity that they weren't the heroines...

Grade: 3/5