Slightly Dangerous by Mary Balogh

This is the last of Balogh’s Bedwyn books, and probably the best one. Though, err, it probably owes a chunk of that to apparently deliberately being modeled after Pride and Prejudice. Wulfric Bedwyn, the control freak head of the Bedwyn family, has been lured down to a house party against his better judgment. Christina Derrick, a local widow, is asked by her friend, who is the hostess, to complete the numbers.

Many of their conversations go something like this:

Wulfric: This woman is very annoying and talks a lot and why does she think I’m arrogant? And her poor wardrobe! Not only is it out of fashion, but she keeps climbing trees to rescue small childrens’ toys! And must she talk to every child she meets?
Christine: This poor man is so arrogant and standoffish! No wonder everyone is scared of him! I’d try to save him from the horde of 18-year-olds who want to be a duchess, but this could be entertaining. Also, I’m not sure he likes children.

This is probably the most entertaining of Balogh’s books I’ve read. The horde of Bedwyn offspring from previous books isn’t even annoying! Admittedly, they’re all young enough to still be genuinely cute and have not yet reached the age to be romance novel cloyingly cute children. And evil relatives are redeemed realistically!

There was one part at the end, though, that really annoyed me.

( spoiler )

For those who have read Balogh: I have both the “Simply” books and the “Web” books. (And some others.) Opinions on which I should read next?