The Lady Most Willing... by Julia Quinn, Eloisa James, Connie Brockway

                There are times when I run out of things to read.  Of course I do not mean this literally as I have plenty of books.  But sometimes absolutely nothing is appealing to me.  This is when I usually raid my mom’s books.  I ask her whether or not she has anything for me to read and she nearly always does.  This time she gave me The Lady Most Willing… a romance novel written by three different authors.        

                Taran Ferguson, a powerful early 19^th century Scotsman, is determined to see his name carried on.  As he does not have any children, or a wife, the only way for Taran to do this is through his two nephews.  They must marry, and marry well, but neither one seems fully willing to do this.  So Taran decides to take things into his own hands.

                Determined to find brides for his nephews, Taran takes his men and goes to a nearby party and kidnaps three eligible women: Marilla Chisholm, Fiona Chisholm, and Lady Cecily Tarleton.  At least those are who Taran intended on capturing.  When Taran returns to his castle he discovers there are a couple more people in the carriage.  Ones he never expected to see: Catriona Burns and the Duke of Bretton.

                Catriona is an eligible young woman, but she does not have a fortune or a title.  She is definitely not someone Taran would want his nephews to marry.  The Duke of Bretton could stand as competition to Taran’s nephews, even if he is angry at having his carriage stolen while he was sleeping in it.  Neither is one Taran wants to see and he definitely treats them as such.

                Even though there is much complaint from nearly all sides about the kidnapping, there is not much anyone can do.  A snowstorm is brewing and everyone is stuck at the castle whether they like it or not.  They must figure out how to survive together until the storm is over and they can get on the road again to home.  While it would be easy for everyone to be miserable in these circumstances, the opposite happens instead.  It does not take long for love to begin to bloom.   

                The first couple to come together is Catriona and the Duke.  As the two unwanted guests they get a bit forgotten by Taran and everyone else.  Since no one pays attention to them, no one realizes how fast an attraction and relationship is forming between Catriona and the Duke.  Once they do, Taran tries to prevent them from being alone together.  But Taran’s efforts are too late.  By this point, Catriona and the Duke have already fallen in love.      

                Fiona and Taran’s nephew Byron, otherwise known as Lord Oakley, are the next couple to come together.  Living with a reputation that is based upon rumor and innuendo versus fact, Fiona does not expect to ever marry.  She has accepted this and simply wants to be left alone with her books.  Byron has other plans which Fiona cannot understand.  Why he is paying attention to her, Fiona does not know.  But it does not take long for Fiona to return the favor.

                Taran’s other nephew; Robin, Comte de Rocheforte, and Lady Cecily are the third couple.  Lady Cecily knew upon sight that Robin was the one for her.  He took some convincing.  A known rake without any money, Robin does not see himself as marriage material.  This, however, does not deter Lady Cecily one bit.              

                Finally there is Marilla.  She throws herself at every man, and I mean throws herself.  None of the men are safe from her antics.  She is also quite nasty to her sister, Fiona.  With this type of behavior it is clear why the men do not want her.  But for some reason Marilla cannot figure it out.  This does not mean Marilla’s story ends unhappily.  Everyone finds their match in the end.                 

                While I enjoyed all the stories, I had a clear favorite: Catriona and the Duke. Theirs was so light and fun. It was clear they would be a good match for each other. I also really liked watching Fiona and Byron come together. Robin’s and Lady Cecily’s story took a bit to get into as it felt slow, but it came together well in the end. All in all, the only true clinker of this book was Marilla. She drove me nuts with her nasty ways and antics. Thankfully she was not in the book enough to ruin it and this book was the nice, light read I needed at this time.