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Despite the scandalous blemish on the family name of his 18 year old bride, Lord Giles Cardross is convinced beautiful Helen cares for him. When newlywed begins to fill her days with fashion and frivolity, her husband has to wonder whether she really did marry him for his money, as his family so helpfully suggests. He thought they were marrying for love, but as the bills and extravagant debts begin to mount up, Giles begins to suspect that perhaps his adored wife isn't as innocent as he supposed. Especially since, as of late, she's been unable to look him in the eye...

Impetuous Lady Helen Cardross had collected quite a basket of little white lies in her efforts to help those less fortunate than herself. There were, for example; her own dashing, debt-ridden brother, and her husband's love-sick, youthful sister. But to her adored (and adoring) lord and master, there could be no dissembling of integrity, honor, or truth. One faced up to grim reality -- unless one were Lady Helen.

When his family's priceless jewels disappear, Lord Cardross is aghast at the idea that his lovely new wife might be the culprit, but he soon discovers the truth about Lady Nell's situation. And between his concern over his wife's spending sprees, rescuing her impulsive brother from one scrape after another, and attempting to prevent his own half--it's no wonder the much-tried earl can't see where he's gone wrong. And now owing a shocking amount of money, Nell doesn't dare tell him the truth--that she's loved him from the first, and thought he'd married her for convenience. ( )

This is a good example of how the challenge like the Bingo card lead to new reading. I needed a book with a month in the title and wasn't excited about my original choice. I browsed Libby and found April Lady by Georgette Heyer. I have been meaning to read Heyer but somehow never got around to her. She did not disappoint as she crafted her tale of the Cardross's: Gile with the fortune who married for love despite his family's disapproval and Helen, who also married for love, but seems to be more interested in the money as she amasses a pile of bills. In a way, she reminded me a bit of Ida Mae from Moonshine, Money and Misery with her schemes to keep the extent of her debt from her husband.

It was fun and frivolous and a window into the Regency world. I will be reading more!

Maybe I've just read too many Heyer novels in too short a time, but this one didn't quite ring the same bells for me. Still very enjoyable, to be sure, but the characters here just seemed a bit flat. ( )

Despite the farfetched misbehaviour of Letty, Nell's sister-in-law, I enjoyed the characterization of both Nell and Giles (Lord Cardross). The relations between Nell, the new bride and her older groom, were probably typical of the day. However, I'm not sure it was credible to have her be so frightened of her husband, to the point she couldn't immediately return with the mislaid debt notice from her dressmaker. Nell's brother, Dysart, is a complete scamp and added some fun to the story.

I've re-read this novel several times over the years and have come around to believing that Heyer needed to tone down the frequency of Letty's juvenile behaviour. Yes, she was a spoilt heiress and a beauty too much conscious of her ability to wheedle to get her way, but several passages of such behaviour rendered the prose tedious. ( )