Fate steps in to thwart Desmond, however. First, a little girl begs him to get her kitten out of a tree, earning him several scratches and mussing his clothes. Then an old lady needs his help to get her vegetable cart unstuck. Finally, Desmond is on his way - only to be stopped by a runaway bride carrying a small chest. She begs him to help her flee from an unwanted marriage, and Desmond, resigned, agrees to escort her to London.

Miss Susan Doyle is about to be trapped into marriage to a loathsome cousin. She’s alone in the world and afraid she’ll be followed, so Susan and Desmond come up with a daring plan. She will stay at his house, under disguise as “Miss Chloe de Havilland”, and pretend to be Desmond’s country cousin. Red-haired Susan dons a black wig, applies a bit of powder, and with Desmond’s help, is ready to tackle the ton.

But what will happen when Annabelle gets wind of this? And the longer Desmond is in Susan’s delightful company, the less he cares what Annabelle thinks. Certainly Susan is an Incomparable, no matter what color her hair is. Susan, however, thinks Desmond prefers her as Chloe - a subterfuge she can’t keep up forever.

There’s an interesting character arc in Lord Desmond’s Destiny, and it belongs to Desmond. He starts out as a bland, rather prim man, determined to do things properly. When he becomes involved with Susan, simply because it’s the decent thing to do, she turns his world upside down and makes him re-examine his beliefs about what he needs. Simply put, Desmond lightens up and becomes a hero in the process. In doing so, he learns to deal with the scheming Annabelle, in a completely satisfying way for the reader.

Susan’s interactions with Desmond are warmhearted and sincere. She’s fully aware of the favor he’s doing for her, and having been surrounded by an aunt and cousin who only wanted to use her for her inheritance, this gentle man who asks nothing of her and only wants to help amazes her. Desmond does a nice turn as an unlikely knight in shining armor. Their mutual attraction is perfectly believable.

My only quibble, and it’s minor, is that the climax felt forced. Susan makes a few unwarranted assumptions, and it felt contrived to drive them apart for a while.

Lord Desmond’s Destiny is a charming Regency with a wonderful, lovable hero. Readers will definitely enjoy Desmond’s story as he meets and wins the woman of his dreams.

--Cathy Sova