Starred review from June 1, 2010
Edmund Smyth, Viscount Motton, cant believe how rapidly his life as a happy bachelor has fallen apart. The fifth of his paternal aunts has joined her siblings on an extended visit, and the collective chaos of their menageriea monkey, several dogs, and a parrot with an attitude (not to mention the aunts themselves)pervades every corner of his once quiet, orderly home. Just when Edmund thinks things cant get worse, the aunts decide he has been single long enough, and begin a matchmaking campaign in earnest. As if he doesnt have enough problems with women, the intrepid Lady Jane Parker-Roth, a veteran of eight London seasons, decides to join him as he searches for pieces of a sketch that hold the answer to a scandalous mystery. Its a laugh a minute as the determined aunts carry out their plans to make their nephew a happy manwhether he wants it or notand Jane blithely ignores his orders. Brimming with sex, schemes, and sass, MacKenzies books (The Naked Duke, 2005; The Naked Marquis, 2006; The Naked Baron, 2009) are so addictive they should come with a warning label.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)