England, Shortly Post Regency

Miss Margaret Peterson is ready to marry and have a home of her own. Meg is one and twenty now; her sister has presented her husband, the Marquis of Knightsdale, with two sons; her best friend, Lizzie, married the Earl of Westbrooke; and her father is recently married as well. He and his Harriet would probably enjoy having the vicarage to themselves. So Meg is in Town for the Season, lightly chaperoned by Knightsdale's Aunt Beatrice. In her hunt for a compatible husband, Meg has been "interviewing" likely candidates in the shrubbery at various social events. Her fourth or fifth interview is with Viscount Bennington, who has a greenhouse and extensive gardens. (Meg is something of a horticulturalist.) He also has lips like two garden slugs and his hygiene is less than pristine on close proximity. Meg mentally crosses him off her list as she attempts to get Bennington to let her go, but he insists on spreading his slimy lips around. Bennington, it seems, needs an heir and wishes access to Meg's noble connections. His marriage proposal is getting more fervent by the moment when she's saved from being fatefully compromised by none other than Mr. Parker-Roth. How embarrassing!

Meg met Mr. Parker-Roth -- called Parks by his friends -- at a house party last spring; they got along famously chatting about gardening and his extensive collection of exotic plant specimens. Then months passed and Meg never heard from him. Now here she is, hair down and bodice ripped...

Parks recalls Miss Peterson with some fondness; if he hadn't long ago sworn never to marry, she might have been someone to consider seriously. Now, having her sobbing in his arms, his treacherous body is responding in a highly inappropriate manner. He hasn't visited his widow in the village in too long...

Then it happens. Parks and Meg are found by the ton's biggest gossip and are further compromised when... I won't say just what comes next & spoil the fun of reading the next delicious scenes for yourselves. I'll only say that Parks does the gentlemanly thing and offers for Meg. But Meg senses some reluctance in Parks -- in spite of all too visible physical signs to the contrary -- and doesn't want to force a marriage on him when it was all her fault. He was the hero, not the villain, after all. Why should he be punished? Meg doesn't have a firm grasp of Society's ways, though there are many willing to teach her.

I advise reading THE NAKED GENTLEMAN as a romantic comedy, thereby not taking Meg's often foolish actions too seriously. Parks is a very likable hero, rather straight-laced in some people's opinion -- his mother's, for instance -- but he has a quiet sense of humor. As the eldest of six children and the one in charge of the family estate, Parks is naturally responsible. Meg, too, is said to be sensible, but little sign of that is evident in her actions this Season. Perhaps it's all the love in the air the past few years. Or the estrogen. With heroines from Ms. MacKenzie's previous books nursing their offspring or giving birth, how can Meg escape the influence. Or perhaps Parks's pheromones speak to her; the attraction between them would rival a hurricane without a calm eye in the center. Or the sweet baby smell of the infantry brigade; the tale is very much a family affair. If Meg takes the nascent hoyden side of her personality a bit far, who can blame her?

The writing in THE NAKED GENTLEMAN is sharp and funny. A few scenes repeat very effectively to give Meg's and Parks's points of views. We are au courant with their thoughts and feelings throughout, even though Meg and Parks are often mistaken about each other. Unlike the earlier heroes, Parks doesn't get naked early on, but when he does...

Minor characters are important; Bennington even gets his own storyline involving a character from a previous book. Other protagonists from the Naked series appear. Meg's sister Emma's temper is still sharp, much to her husband's amusement. They starred in the second novel. The series began with THE NAKED DUKE, continued with THE NAKED MARQUIS and THE NAKED EARL. Book five will be THE NAKED BARON in 2009.

What a great series! Funny, spicy, and romantic.

Jane Bowers