Turkish delight, or, The earl and the houri 1st ed.

Goodreads Review by Linda ~Rosemary Edghill is a pseudonym for Eluki Bes Shahar. She wrote three Regency romances in the late 1980s and one in 1990. Then, for some reason, she started writing mysteries, fantasies and delved into SciFi. As far as I know, TURKISH DELIGHT was her first story.~

Louisa Darwen was ten years old when her father, the 7th Earl of Coldmeece, decided to move his wife and child from England. It didn't help that his creditors were in pursuit. They ended up settling in Constantinople.

Her father, for their protection, placed his wife and daughter in a hareem. Soon after, Louisa's mother passed away and the Earl left for parts unknown. At that time, the Napoleonic Wars with England forbade letters from arriving in a timely manner and, inadvertently, the young girl was left behind.

Louisa loved her life. She adored the colors of her clothes, the animals she had as pets and the people who took care of her. She became a favored child of the French Sultan Valide. She was nurtured and loved and had expected her champion to eventually arrange a happy marriage for her. She was now a young lady of 18 years.

When a relative, Lady Mulford, finally showed up to take her 'home', Louisa (now known as Amber Pearl) didn't want to leave. But she was made to go and eventually relearned the stiffer rules and restrictions of the English. Without a dowry, she became Lady M's companion and a dear, close friend of her male cousin, the Honorable Augustus 'Gus' or 'Gussie' Templeton. And five years go by.

Bevan Gervase Timothy St. George Darwen, was the present Earl of Coldmeece and Viscount St. Germain, Baron St. George of Harrow and Coldham, Baron of Ness, Lord Landsdowne and so on and so forth and yada, yada, yada. At 35 years of age, he was a handsome, wealthy man; he knew it was high time he settled down. He had recently found an old contract that his deceased father had made years ago. His sire had betrothed his then 18-year-old son to his friend's young daughter, Celia. Actually, she was a baby. She was now 17.

STOP. I know what you are thinking. Ick! But large age differences were commonplace back then. Don't let that deter you from reading the story because a lot goes on. Lady Lou as Cousin Gus liked to call her -she despised the nickname- was smack dab in the center of things and nothing went as planned.

This traditional-style Regency romance was very different from the norm. When I mentioned a lot went on, I meant it. This worked for and against the story. It involved six people: Louisa, Gervase, Gus (my favorite character), Celia and two other relatives who came across as shady mischief-makers.

I felt Ms. Edghill kept plenty of notes when she wrote the story; I paused more than once to keep up with who said what and when and why. It was like 'betrothal musical chairs'. The country of Turkey was referred to often enough but TURKISH DELIGHT took place primarily in England. There were numerous minor misunderstandings but they drove the plot, and not in a bad way. Lastly, the romances were slow-going but the witty dialogue and lighthearted characters (namely Louisa and Gus) made up for what the story lacked.