THE SUM OF ALL KISSES – Julia Quinn
The Smythe-Smith Quartet , Book 3
Avon Books
ISBN: 978-0-06-207292-4
November 2013
Historical Romance

England 1824

Over three years ago, too much alcohol turned a friendly card game dangerous. A challenge was made, and a duel ensued. The challenger, Lord Hugh Prentice, is left with a damaged leg. The challenged, Daniel Smythe-Smith, Earl of Winstead, was less seriously wounded, but Lord Hugh's mad father's threats chased him to Europe with a group of spies and assassins on his trail. Haunted with guilt, Hugh somehow got his father to call off the hounds, and Daniel came home to England, where he promptly fell in love. (See A NIGHT LIKE THIS, 6/2012.)

Daniel and Hugh are friends again, but one person is determined never to forgive. Daniel's cousin—and a member of the large Smythe-Smith family through her mother—is Lady Sarah Pleinsworth. She hates Hugh, and doesn't care who knows it. She not only blames him for her cousin's travails, but believes he ruined her life. Her come-out Season was delayed a year because of the scandal. She's had three Seasons now, but all the good ones were snapped up the year she sat at home…or so she believes. Sarah badly wants to marry and have children, but she can't find a man who suits her. And now, because of two family weddings in rapid sequence, she must put up with seeing her nemesis every day for weeks.

Hugh would rather stay away from the festivities held in the country, but two of his friends are marrying and want his company.

What does Hugh think about Sarah? He doesn't think of her often, but when he does, he thinks she's an overly dramatic female not to his taste. And yet, Sarah and Hugh are the protagonists of THE SUM OF ALL KISSES…that's right, pro …not ant agonists, though it surely starts out that way.

As I've mentioned before in reviews of Ms. Quinn's work, many of her books are set in the same story world. For instance, mentions of the hard-on-the-ears annual Smythe-Smith musicale evenings have preceded this series, as fans of the Bridgerton books will know. They will also know that Ms. Quinn does dialogue and character building very well. In THE SUM OF ALL KISSES, the banter between Sarah and Hugh is cleverly done, and so is the sisterly bickering among Sarah and her three younger sisters. The changing relationship between Hugh and Sarah is guaranteed to pull many heartstrings and tickle many funnybones.

Jane Bowers