Miss Diantha Atwood was only too happy to see her brother wed to an heiress to help him settle his gambling debts, but she was less than pleased to see his friend Devlin at the wedding. She was convinced that Devlin was the source of her brother's financial troubles and therefore took an immediate dislike to him - before even meeting him.

But with Andrew gone and Devlin charged with looking after his bluestocking sister, Devlin finds himself at her Open House more and more often - and not only for the delicious lobster patties. More and more Devlin wants to protect Diantha for his own sake as well as for Andrew's.

This was a sweet story with some very funny moments. One of the first romance stories I read that was any good, I have a bit of a nostalgic soft spot for this one - particularly the funny scenes I remembered even ten years later. My favorites include when Diantha and several volumes of Shakespeare plummet from her library stairs onto the Viscount who is sleeping on her couch.

All told, this is sweet. It feels a little like a book in a series, but I don' t know that there are any prior connected books. There's a lot going on here, probably more than there should be, so nobody really gets quite the amount of depth I would have liked. The many side stories with the inventor, the young innocent from Topping Green and Devlin's mistress can get to be a bit much. It's a bit of Emma, a bit of Sense and Sensibility, and who knows what else all rolled up into a Misunderstanding - but not one that lasts throughout the book.

Diantha is clever, feisty, and fun. Devlin is charming, funny and utterly smitten. I'll probably be keeping this one for the nostalgia factor. I wouldn't recommend people immediately run out and buy it, but if you happen across it at a yard sale or something, it's worth looking into - for the lobster patties at least.

Also posted at my blog. ( )