A Gentleman By Any Other Name (A Beckets of Romney Marsh Novel, Book One): Kasey Michaels

“Old enough to remember his beginning, Chance Becket has spent all of his thirty years trying to forget, hiding his unsavory youth behind a society marriage and a prestigious position with the War Office. But now the widower must confront his past and return to the windswept coast of Romney Marsh ... where the ghosts of his childhood still linger.

“Newly hired governess Julia Carruthers is delighted to be in charge of Chance's young daughter and eager to escape the confines of London. Yet the excitement of the journey to her employer's strange home is nothing compared to the attraction between them. And when Julia sees something she should not, she wonders if Chance's sudden intentions are prompted by ungentlemanly desires or his need to protect his family's secrets.”

This was the first time that I have read Kasey Michaels and it was a new experience, to be sure. I did like the book, but it seemed to drag on a bit as the story passed. I loved the whole idea behind this series and each of the characters were so charming that I found it not too difficult to tell them apart—no matter that there were nine Beckets! I found it helpful to have the Becket family tree beside me so I would be able to picture the characters with their respective ages at the time of this book (you can find it pretty easily at http://www.kaseymichaels.com/beckets_tree.html). Overall, this was a pleasing book, but it was full of overly-long sentences that could have been easily remedied. I will read the next book in the series, but I hope that it will not drag on as much as this one did.