The Heir (Reid Family Series #1)

by Johanna Lindsey

Overview

The many wondrous gifts of Johanna Lindsey—her fiery and endearing characters, her enthralling stories, her ingenious blending of passion, wit, and emotion—are all on glorious display in this unforgettable tale about an unwanted title and an unexpected love.

Has anyone in London ever taken part in the coming-out Season with less enthusiasm than Sabrina? Luckily, the most sought-after lady in the city has agreed to usher this young, lovely country girl through the perils and pitfalls of her all-important first season.

Dashing highlander Duncan MacTavish is even less keen to be in London. Having recently learned he is the sole heir of an English marquis, Duncan is now required to assume his grandfather's title and estates—and to marry Sabrina's ravishing, viper-tongued guide, who has been heard to make scathing statements in public about her "Scottish barbarian" groom-to-be.

His unwanted betrothal, however, has brought Duncan into close proximity with the enchanting Sabrina—a kindred spirit whose wit delights him . . . and whose essence is the exquisite stuff of dreams. But duty, station, and a secret that dwells in the lady's past forbid Sabrina's and Duncan's desired union—unless true love can somehow miraculously find a way.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780380793341
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	04/28/2001
Series:	Reid Family Series , #1
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	416
Sales rank:	371,453
Product dimensions:	6.74(w) x 4.18(h) x 1.13(d)

About the Author

One of the world's most successful authors of historical romance, every one of Johanna Lindsey's previous novels has been a national bestseller, and several of her titles have reached the #1 spot on the New York Times bestseller list. Ms. Lindsey lives in New England with her family.

Read an Excerpt

One

They stared out the window at the bleak, winter-touched garden where the girl walked. It was small, though the town house was large and in a fashionable area of London—there simply wasn't much land available to any of the houses along the block, to devote to a "country look."

Lady Mary Reid, their hostess, had done well with her small section of garden, when most of her neighbors didn't bother with other than grass. And trust their niece, Sabrina, who loved the outdoors no matter the time of year, to be found out in that little piece of earth.

The two women continued to watch Sabrina, silently, pensively. Alice Lambert wore a frown. Her sister Hilary, the elder by one year, looked rather despondent.

"I don't think I've ever been this nervous, Hilary," Alice whispered to her sister.

"Me either, if you must know," Hilary answered with a drawn-out sigh.

It was hard to tell they were sisters by looking at them.

Hilary took after their father, tall, narrow of frame to the point of extreme thinness , with dull brown hair and light blue eyes. Alice was nearly an exact copy of their mother, on the short side and rather plump, but with dark hair of a lustrous brown and dark blue eyes tinged occasionally with a violet hue.

They were sisters who didn't get along too well. Bickering was common. Yet for once they were in agreement. The niece they had pretty much raised was having her comeout in London society tonight, and they were both worried. Unfortunately, they had good reason to be worried.

It wasn't that Sabrina might not stand out or make a good showing. Though she wasn't a great beauty like Mary'sdaughter Ophelia, who was also having her come-out this Season, Sabrina did have her good points. It wasn't their lack of consequence, either. Sabrina's grandfather had been an earl, her great-grandfather had been a duke. Her own title was merely Honorable, but then they weren't hoping to catch a lofty title for her, nor even great wealth. Any husband of good standing would do as far as the Lambert sisters were concerned.

NO, it wasn't any of the normal worries that one might expect when dealing with a country girl being put on the marriage block in high society. It was much, much more personal and had to do with why the two sisters had never married themselves. They each feared that the old scandal that had haunted their family for three generations might surface again after all these years.

But neither of the two women would mention what was at the heart of their nervousness. By mutual accord, the long ago tragedies were never spoken of.

"D'you think she's warm enough in that woolen coat?" Alice asked, still frowning.

"D'you think she cares?"

"But her cheeks are going to get wind-chapped, and how will that look at her first ball?"

As they continued to watch their niece, a dead leaf, overlooked by Lady Mary's gardener, drifted toward Sabrina and stopped at her feet. The girl, having noticed it, assumed the pose of a fencer and, as if she had a real rapier in hand rather than an imaginary one, made a stab for the leaf. She then laughed at herself and scooped the leaf up, tossing it into the air where the brisk winter wind caught it and carried it away.

"She doesn't take this marriage thing seriously," Hilary said now.

Sabrina should have been just as nervous as her aunts were, if for different reasons, but instead, she appeared not to have a care in the world.

"How can she take it seriously when she knows we didn't marry and it didn't hurt either of us?"

"I'm afraid we've given her the wrong impression. It's not as if we didn't want or hope to marry when we were her age, just that now we're rather glad we didn't."

Which wasn't putting a good face on it. Neither woman truly regretted not having a spouse. What they might have regretted was not bearing any children themselves, but Sabrina, having come to them to raise when she was barely three, had thoroughly satisfied their maternal instincts. Many might call them old maids and claim their sour-grapes bickering stemmed from that, but that was hardly the case. The two sisters had been bickering since they were children. it was rather ingrained.

As if Hilary suddenly realized she had been participating in an unspoken truce, she said abruptly, "Call her in. It's time to prepare her."

"This soon?" Alice protested. "We've still hours yet before-"

"It will take hours to do her up properly," Hilary cut in.

"Oh, posh, it might take you hours, but-"

"And what d'you know about it, when you didn't even have a come-out yourself?" Hilary interrupted yet again.

"And you did?" Alice shot back.

"Doesn't signify. Mary has mentioned many times in her letters that she starts preparing herself as soon as she gets out of bed in the morning."

"It would take her all day just to stuff herself into her corset."

Hilary flushed with color, unable to deny that charge about her childhood friend who had been kind enough to offer them her residence for the Season, since they didn't own property in London themselves. Mary had grown exceedingly plump over the years, so much so that Hilary had barely recognized her old friend when they arrived in London yesterday.

She countered instead, "Even her daughter begins readying herself at noon."

"Ophelia just likes staring at herself in her mirror, no doubt," Alice snorted.

"I'll have you know..."

The words trailed off as the sisters left the room, this squabbling a much more normal state of affairs for these two. No one who had heard them talking in whispers and in such agreement for those few moments would have believed it, certainly not the niece they had been discussing.

Editorial Reviews

Charming and very witty, with delightful dialogue, this comedy of manners is a light frothy tale that borrows from a traditional Regency plotline. Johanna Lindsey writes with joy and pleasure that is infectious and sure to make you smile.
— Romantic Times

Kathe Robin

Johanna Lindsey displays her usual talents for creating intriguing characters...an entertaining read.

People Magazine

First rate romance.

New York Daily News

Johanna Lindsey has a sure touch where historical romance is concerned.

Newport News Daily Press

One of the most reliable authors around. Her books are well-paced and well-written, filled with stong character, humor, interesting plots — and,of, course, romance.

Cincinnati Enquirer

The Heir is the story of an arranged marriage that is desired by neither party. Sabrina Lambert has come to London for a Season, one scraped together by her maiden aunts. She’ll be assisted by lovely Ophelia Reid, who is already the toast of society for her beauty and is enjoying a Season of her own. Ophelia has plans, however. Her parents have arranged a marriage for her with a future Marquis, Duncan MacTavish. He’s a Scotsman, a barbarian, no doubt. If Ophelia can manage to make him the laughingstock of London before he even arrives there, then perhaps her parents will be mortified and let her out of the engagement.

Sabrina is bemused by all these machinations, and soon finds out that Ophelia’s vicious tongue can spread gossip in all directions even over Sabrina, whose family history of suspicious deaths have led most to believe she’ll soon take her own life. The fact that most of those deaths were rationally explained means nothing. When Sabrina’s sense of humor and sunny disposition garner her a few too many dance partners at her first party, Ophelia’s true nature rises to the fore. Soon all of London has heard about the scandal.

Duncan MacTavish is in a bind as well. His English mother and Scots father are both long dead, and he has just been told by his Scottish grandfather that he is the heir to an English title of Marquis. Duncan is outraged. Leave the Scottish estate and travel to bleak England, all to please a grandfather he’s never met? And marry an unknown English girl into the bargain? Never. The most he’ll agree to is making a visit and looking over the crop of English misses. But he won’t marry to please his grandfathers.

When Ophelia and Duncan meet at his grandfather’s estate, neither is impressed. Ophelia insults Duncan, who declares he’ll never marry such a woman. Sabrina, however, soon becomes good friends with Duncan. When Ophelia decides to reinstate the engagement rather than face Society’s scorn for being dumped, events are set in motion that will be difficult to stop.

The Heir contains some of what readers might call Classic Lindsey. The dialogue is witty, most of the characterizations are clear, and the settings are well-drawn without overwhelming the story. The “falling in love with a friend” plot isn’t new, but here it works well, especially on the part of Sabrina. She’s easily the most engaging character in the book. Short, a bit plump, possessing remarkable eyes but little else in the way of traditional beauty, she’s well aware of her shortcomings and uses humor to cope. This approach wins her friends and admirers, though she’s unable to believe that men might find her attractive.

Duncan was much blander. Other than rail at his grandfathers for trying to arrange his life, we never find out much about what he does want. He’s handsome enough, and seems to be a nice guy, until a climactic point about two-thirds through when he does something so loutish that it left this reader’s mouth hanging open. I won’t reveal the plot point, except to say that his utter lack of regard or even thought for Sabrina’s welfare was inexcusable. That it helped set up Duncan’s and Ophelia’s re-engagement was contrived, weak plotting. From that point on, I didn’t care a hoot in Hades for Duncan. Marrying Ophelia would have been exactly what he deserved.

As for Ophelia, she’s a lead character too, for all the space that is devoted to her. A more self-centered and despicable character would be hard to find, and no doubt that’s exactly what she was intended to be. However, it says something about the book that her comeuppance was far more interesting than any romance developing between Sabrina or Duncan.

Ultimately, the romance in this romance novel misses the mark. Diehard Lindsey fans may not blink at paying $24.00 for The Heir, but my advice is to get it from the library. The story just doesn’t justify the price.
—The Romance Reader

Cathy Sova

A Scottish heir is engaged to one woman but finds he loves another. Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

YA-Sabrina Lambert is popular due to her personality and wit, not her looks. Her friend, the beautiful yet heartless and spiteful Ophelia Reid, resents her own arranged engagement to Duncan MacTavish, a "barbaric" highlander. After she insults him at his own party, hoping to end their relationship in front of London's in-crowd, Duncan throws her out, making her the laughing stock of the town. He finds a true friend in Sabrina, who makes him laugh and feel completely at ease. A jealous Ophelia notices all of this and plans her revenge. The story line is satisfying: a nice girl with personality and intellect gets a chance at Prince Charming or "The Heir." Change the dress and time period, and this romance and its characters will hit home with many YAs who get passed over because they are not considered "beautiful."-Lisa Muir, Poe Middle School, Annandale, VA Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.

School Library Journal