Living in Australia it is very difficult to obtain regency romances and it is therefore doubly disappointing when a book is as poorly written as this one.It started well enough, with a tall misunderstood heroine and a clearly delineated hero, tantalisingly in absentia for several chapters. Small solecisms such as calling a lady of quality a 'bird of paradise' (slang for a courtesan), whilst annoying, are minor details. From there on it goes downhill.Character development is minimal, unlikely situations abound and the continual bandying of bad-tempered words gives a disagreeable tone to the whole story. Oddly enough, considering that the heroine's flaw in the eyes of society is her height, another unlikeable character is continually ridiculed for her weight. Regencies need an underlying good humour and light touch to succeed and this one was tedious indeed. It went straight into the charity bin.