The Season by Sarah MacLean

     Seventeen year old Lady Alexandra is strong-willed and sharp-tongued — in a house full of older brothers and their friends, she had to learn to hold her own. Not the best makings for an aristocratic lady in Regency London. Yet her mother still dreams of marrying Alex off to someone safe, respectable, and wealthy. But between ball gown fittings, dances, and dinner parties, Alex, along with her two best friends, Ella and Vivi, manages to get herself into what may be her biggest scrape yet.
     When the Earl of Blackmoor is mysteriously killed, Alex decides to help his son, the brooding and devilishly handsome Gavin, uncover the truth. But will Alex's heart be stolen in the process? In an adventure brimming with espionage, murder, and other clandestine affairs, who could possibly have time to worry about finding a husband? Romance abounds as this year's season begins!

     THE SEASON was a wonderful historical fiction to read, filled with suspicious characters and beautiful dresses. I think this is one of my favorite reads of the year and that Alex is one of my favorite literary females. She was strong and had her own opinion of everything. She was determined to be different from other girl of the season and didn't throw herself at men and pretend to someone other than herself. She had learned to handle herself dealing with her three brothers and refused to stifle herself just to acquire a husband. Fortunately, she needn't worry about pretending to get herself a suitor. Gavin or Blackmoor, a long-time family friend is starting to make her confused about her feelings for him. I liked her and Gavin's relationship. Since it started out as friendship for several years, they knew a lot of each other and had a wonderful foundation. I though Gavin was the perfect mix of confident, sweet, and sarcastic. He was the perfect match for Alex and never backed down from her teasing comments. There were times in the book when I wanted to strangle Gavin for being so all obtuse with Alex, but I consider that perhaps he was struggling with his feelings like Alex.
     THE SEASON was mostly romance, which I liked, but also included a suspenseful mystery about the death of Gavin's father. It was interesting to follow and the ending is intense and climaxes well. THE SEASON was a lot of a tease. It made me want to wear beautiful dresses and dance with rakes. There were times I put the book down to imagine doing just that. I was very excited to read this book and I know now that the feeling was well warranted.