As Good As Any Other - Paperback

Lydia Manning is well aware that it is a girl's job to be either rich or handsome, and few are blessed with both. She happens to be the former. Upon her mother's death in 1785, she is determined to secure her own future by finding a husband - though she wouldn't be upset if she were able to matchmake a few of her friends along the way. When her brother's old schoolmate, Henry Jennings, comes to stay with her family for a time, Lydia finds has his own opinions on romance, and they tend to directly contradict with hers. The idea that love might come before marriage, and should even be a deciding factor in it, is utterly baffling.

Fortunately, the attentions of another suitor seem to prove Lydia's view - one man truly is as good as any other. But as she and Henry nevertheless grow closer, Lydia's brother becomes increasingly restless, her beloved father sinks deeper into grief and drink, and her best friend's family loses their fortune. Lydia begins to realize just how high stakes of a game marriage can be and wonders whether, in the end, Henry's standards for measuring romance are more accurate than her own.