A caretaker to her blind father, Eliza Tricklebank is not used to being noticed. Still, she longs for adventure, which is why she is delighted to find herself attending a ball held in honor of Sebastian, the Crown Prince of Alucia (a fictional European country). Gossip has it that Sebastian is looking for an English wife, and though Eliza knows she's hardly princess material, she can't pass up the chance to meet a real prince. Their first meeting, however, does not go well: she is drunk on rum punch, and he accidentally steps on her foot on the way to a rendezvous with another woman. The same night, Sebastian's trusted secretary is murdered. Contrived circumstances lead Sebastian to call on Eliza and ultimately ask for her help in solving the murder. Although they continue to be rude to each other well into the novel, their feelings change once the crime-solving gets underway. The hero's unkindness toward the heroine in the book's beginning was problematic for this reviewer, and while he does come around, it's too little, too late. VERDICT A surprisingly uneven entry from the best-selling London (The Trouble with Honor). While some readers will love the Victorian commoner-meets-royalty fairy-tale plot, others may find the romance between these two mismatched characters remains unconvincing.--Kathryn Howe, Saint John Free P.L., NB

Blame it on the rum punch. That's what Eliza Tricklebank is going to do. After all, if she hadn't imbibed several cups of the Queen's special brew at the masquerade ball, there is no way she would have found herself flirting outrageously with a stranger. When Eliza later discovers that he is none other the Crown Prince Sebastian of Alucia, in whose honor the ball was being held, she figures that at least this will provide some juicy material for Honeycutt's Gazette of Fashion and Domesticity for Ladies, the gossip rag Eliza publishes with her sister. However, when Eliza later prints an anonymous tidbit about the murder of the Prince's personal secretary, she finds herself once again enjoying Sebastian's company. But this time Sebastian isn't wearing a mask, and he has some questions for Eliza. The hunt for a royal spouse and the hunt for a murderer intertwines in the launch of London's new A Royal Wedding series, which distinguishes itself with captivating characters and a generous draught of dry wit.--John Charles Copyright 2010 Booklist

A retiring spinster inadvertently becomes embroiled in solving a mystery with the crown prince of Alucia, winning his trust and lovewhich is a problem since he's expected to marry, but he can't marry her."At eight-and-twenty, Eliza was unmarried, a fact that had long baffled the judge." The judge is The Right Honorable Justice William Tricklebank, Eliza's father. The family is highly respectable but common. However, Eliza's sister, Hollis, runs a ladies' gazette, and their closest friend, Caro, is an aristocrat. Caro and Hollis routinely mingle in society events, but after a youthful indiscretion, Eliza is mostly content to live vicariously through them while helping her blind father navigate his physical and professional spaces with cheerful efficiency. Unusually, she decides to attend a masquerade ball arranged to help Prince Sebastian find an English bride. When a masked stranger cynically tries to seduce her, she's amused, then tickled and surprised when she realizes it was the prince. After the dance, Sebastian's personal secretary is murdered, and a note with a rumor hinting at the possible culprit is delivered to the Tricklebank family's home. Hollis publishes the gossip, which leads to a rude visit from the prince. Eliza throws him outa novel experience for Sebastianbut subsequent run-ins between the two highlight her honesty, intelligence, and wisdom, which he comes to depend on as they work the case together. Sebastian wants Eliza, but she's not an appropriate match since he's not allowed to wed a commoner. London's newest series launch is a charming read, but don't come to it for the mystery, which feels hodgepodge and poorly motivated. Where it works is as a perfect showcase for the delightful Eliza, an anti-Cinderella who captures the prince not with her beauty but with her precious real self.A fun, touching "prince meets real girl" Victorian fairy-tale romance. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Bestseller London (Seduced by a Scot) launches a Victorian series with the complicated romantic entanglement between Miss Eliza Tricklebank, owner of a gossipy gazette and caretaker to her elderly father, and Crown Prince Sebastian Charles Iver Chartier, destined for the throne of fictional Alucia. At 28, the self-assured and pragmatic Eliza is comfortably unmarried; she publishes the gazette with the financial backing of her widowed sister, Hollis, ignoring their father's concerns about their inappropriate pursuit. Eliza and Hollis attend a masquerade ball held in the prince's honor, fertile ground for gazette content, and soon Eliza, tipsy on rum punch, meets Sebastian, who's dodging several women who want to marry him. Eliza's perceptive nature and possession of an anonymous tip are valuable to Sebastian when his trusted aide and friend Matous Reyno is murdered, possibly by an Alucian considering rebellion; as Eliza and Sebastian pursue the killer, a cross-class romance kindles. London's observations of gender roles are keen, and her protagonists are eminently likable in their dogged pursuit of their own goals despite societal expectations and political pressures. Occasional repetition slows the story, but the romance and mystery are good enough to pull the reader through. Agent: Jenny Bent, Bent Agency. (Nov.)