On the Road Again

This is the third book in the The Cabot Sisters series, detailing the sad story of Prudence Cabot.  She is the good girl of the family and for her efforts, she feels that has been set firmly on the shelf thanks to the actions of her two older sisters Honor and Grace.  They both took scandalous steps to secure husbands, and are not settled into wedded respectable bliss.  Her younger sister, Mercy, is still in school and is not interested in marriage.  They seem to have no sympathy for Prudence’s plight.  Her step-brother is engaged to a woman who doesn’t want to deal with their scandal, and their mother is not well.

In an effort to break out of the good girl mold, Prudence impulsively buys a ticket on the same coach ride as American Roan Matheson.  He is in England to take his sister home to New York for her wedding.  And so the road trip begins, without any chaperone of course.  Prudence is determined to experience life and lust before she rusticates in the country for the rest of her life.  Along the way, she acts by turns childish and infuriating.  They run into highway men who steal some of their belongings, have to buy an old nag to ride (that she insists on riding side-saddle) and of course have sexy times together.

I feel like I’ve read this plot far too many times, and I didn’t really care about either character.  Roan seemed like a decent man, he was trying to save his sister from certain ruin and yet at the same time he was doing just that to Prudence.  Still, I wouldn’t characterize him as a scoundrel, nor was Prudence a debutante after having had two seasons.  Roan’s sister, Aurora, turns out to be a complete brat and he should have left her to her own devices.

Overall, it was a tedious and predictable tale, and not one I recommend.