Pygmalion story reenacted on the regency stage!

A Reckless Desire: A Breconridge Brothers Novel (The Breconridge Brothers Book 3) by Isabella Bradford

Boldly Lord Rivers Fitzroy declares that he could take the merest person and turn them into an actress. His friend Sir Edward Everett takes him up on the wager.

Lucia do Rossi comes from a family of dancers, yet she cannot dance. As a serving woman with her uncle's ballet company, she knows that she will never achieve anything more.

Having been the object of Rivers declaration, she determines to have him take up the proposition. 

Rivers, slightly the worse for wear when she presents herself at the font door the next morning, nevertheless decides to embark on the wager.

What neither of them see is that the student and master will form a closer relationship. There's anguish a plenty and unrequited desires of the heart.

When the big day comes or rather night falls, Lucia, now Mrs Willow has her moment on stage.

I became quite entranced by Lucia. The challenge is that from time to time the interaction between the two lead characters is rather wooden. Now Rivers of course is portrayed as a man who thinks logically, rather than leading with his emotions. However there was sometimes a note that evoked a B grade movie dialogue rather than a free flowing romantic novel.

A NetGalley ARC

***1/2