PHOEBE'S DUTY - Lesley-Anne McLeod
A Regency Novel Byte
Uncial Press ( https://www.uncialpress.com/ )
ISBN 13: 978-1-60174-219-3
September 2016
Regency Romance

London, England, 1815

A year ago Phoebe Rackson's father died at the Battle of Bayonne. Her father's pension is not enough for her mother to raise their five children on, and her mother cannot apply to her husband's grandfather who is a baron. It was her parents' marriage that created the separation. Instead, nineteen year old Phoebe wants to open a table at the Soho Bazaar, begun to help widows and orphans. The sale of the crafts her family makes will help feed the family. While her mother is upset and worried about her daughter's project, Phoebe is determined.

Tobias Wavendon is a twin, the spare to his brother the heir. While his grandmother left him Salt House and its surrounding land, his father uses it to threaten him with its sale if he doesn't do what his father demands. Right now he wants Tobias to marry well. His brother is a wastrel and jokester while Tobias is serious and a true gentleman. While escorting his sisters to the Soho Bazaar, he encounters a young woman selling items behind one of the tables. He is smitten by her beauty and her voice. His sisters notice how she distracts him.

Both Phoebe and Tobias are attracted to each other, but their social positions and Tobias's twin's actions separate them. Must they both sacrifice true love for family? The historical elements of the time are in place, and the characters act accordingly giving a very good portrait of the times. This is a very short novel, just fifty-six pages, but for anyone who loves Regency stories, it is a great purchase.

Robin Lee