The Persistent Earl is Major John Allen Jameson, the Earl of Devenham. He has come to the home of his friend, Sir Edward Allington, to recuperate from his war wounds. Devenham has a notorious reputation, and Edward’s wife Judith isn’t at all sure she wants him in her home, especially since her widowed sister, Lady…
I’ve only read a few Regencies, but I’ve long since had a mental block against them. The picture I always get in my mind comes from a classic I Love Lucy episode where Ricky has refused to star in a play set in Cuba, so Lucy re-writes the play, setting it in England, for Ethel,…
Oh, those tormented heroes and heroines. Life is just so darn hard for many of them that it takes a whole book to end the torment. Even one lead character spending the entire book in deep mental anguish is frustrating for me as a reader – but both, well, let’s just say that I’m not…
Wow, was this a tough rating to give. Carola Dunn has written some of my favorite Regencies – gentle books full of humor about people and situations that are just a bit extraordinary, no vicious back stabbing, no hurtful or domineering heroes or wimpy, overly giving heroines. In short, she writes books that are perfect…
Regency romance. Lords and Ladies. Elegance, glitter and the haute ton. Been there, read that. Not if it’s a Carla Kelly Regency you haven’t. The Lady’s Companion flouts the conventions of a regency romance and tells a wonderful story in the process. Susan Hampton is waking up in a bare, cold house. Her father, Sir…
Since Mary Balogh is no longer going to write traditional regency novels, Carla Kelly is now the regency author whose books I am going to prowl the stores for. Whenever I hear anyone sat that romance novels are nothing but tripe, I feel like giving them a copy of With This Ring and saying, “Read…
Delightful, simply delightful! This charming tale is what Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice would have been like if Miss Lizzy and Mr. Darcy had decided to defy convention and touch each other, alllll over. The storyline is a favorite: A stuffed-shirt gentleman fights falling for a nice, but poor, country girl. She may just be…
To paraphrase a famous country song, Mary Jo Putney was writing tortured heroes when tortured heroes weren’t cool. When I first came across this gem about seven years ago I was knocked off my chair by its brilliant characterizations. To call Reggie Davenport a “rake” is almost an understatement. He is a drunken cad who,…
Mary Balogh’s The Famous Heroine is an amusingly lighthearted Regency romance. The author manages to imbue her witty writing with some surprising and moving emotional intensity and has written wonderfully well-rounded characters to boot. The author gives the hero and heroine elbow room to define themselves and their growing feelings for one another. There are…
I’ve always liked Whitney, My Love. But recently, it has become a very guilty pleasure – kind of like buying a pint of Ben and Jerry’s and eating it in one sitting. In the years that I have been on line, I have seen it discussed countless times, and it comes up every so often…