Miss Lattimore's Letter. Suzanne Allain. 2021. [August] 256 pages. [Source: Review copy]
First sentence: It had been many years since Sophronia Lattimore had used her fan as a means of flirtatious communication. As a poor relation of eight and twenty, she was now too firmly ensconced amongst the chaperones to try to attract a gentleman's attention, but if one had noticed the frantic waving of her fan he could have no doubt of the message it was sending: Sophie was desperately overheated.
Premise/plot: Sophie Lattimore, our heroine, overhears a private conversation in the gardens and writes an anonymous letter. Two matches come of it, her anonymity is lost, and Sophie finds herself enjoying a moment or two of popularity. Sophie has been "blessed" (though sometimes she feels cursed) with a second opportunity to find a love of her own. But finding one's true love isn't all that easy--all that glitters is not gold.
This Regency romance is set in London and Bath. There's a small cast of characters--readers follow their adventures and misadventures with "love." Notably, Sophie herself is being wooed by a former lover, Mr. Maitland, and a new one, Sir Edmund Winslow. Her cousin, Cecilia, is being wooed by a Mr. Hartwell and a Lord Courtney.
My thoughts: I may not have loved Mr. Malcolm's List, but I definitely loved Miss Lattimore's Letter. It remains a premise-driven romance. Sophie unintentionally becomes a matchmaker for the ton, and she's clueless as to how to proceed. (What does she know of matters of the heart?) While it might be easy to want to compare Miss Lattimore with Jane Austen's Emma, the two are not all that similar. Emma is an arrogant brat who feels herself better and worthier than anyone/everyone of her acquaintance. Sophie is a (mostly) sensible heroine. In fact, I got more Sense and Sensibility vibes than Emma ones.
I enjoyed the varied romances of these couples. I think it would make a delightful film.
The cover of this one doesn't scream Regency Romance. I'm not sure it screams out historical at all. Perhaps that's why it got misfiled as "adult fiction" instead of "historical fiction" when I was randomizing my reads for July! I won't complain about it in general for a romance novel. Romance novels can have absolutely horrid covers.
Is it clean? Mostly. I'd say PG or PG-13. There are kisses. A handful of kisses. It's far from smutty.
I think my favorite part of the novel was reading Sir Edmund's letter to Miss Lattimore!!!! It reminded me of Darcy's letter to Lizzie! I also thought it was a nice play on the title.
© 2021 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews
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