The Rags-to-Riches Governess is the first in Janice Preston’s Lady Tregowan’s Will series. Miss Leah Thame is summoned to a solicitor’s office with the promise she will miss the opportunity of a lifetime if she doesn’t show up at the appointed time. Two other women arrive shortly after Leah does, and the solicitor announces he will be reading…
We all know Historical Romancelandia has a surfeit of dukes. However, never has that fact hit me so hard as while reading this anthology. The stories are set in different eras (the earliest is Georgian, the last is late Victorian), but it’s not the idea that these dukes might exist simultaneously that causes the problem….
Mimi Matthews’ The Lost Letter is a sweet second-chance romance that is very readable, but also trope-heavy and predictable as a result. It’s still worth your time, especially if you’re a fan of this author or just looking for an historical romance that’s solid if not spectacular. Sylvia Stafford, an impoverished gentlewoman, works as a…
a Retro Review originally published on July 2, 2002 I’ve been a bit worried about European historicals lately. In the past year or so I’ve run across far too many featuring ridiculously contrived cutesy plots, heroines for whom the TSTL designation is unquestionably an understatement, and, of course, that oh-so-familiar cardboard “rake” with the macho…
I’ve got a bit of a soft spot for master/governess romances – probably a result of my long-time love for Jane Eyre – so the synopsis of Julia Justiss’ The Temptation of the Governess caught my eye. It proved to be a charming, character-driven romance featuring two likeable characters forced by circumstances to make big…
Craving some historical romance comfort food? Then look no further. Unlaced by the Highland Duke, the second book in The Lochmore Legacy linked series of novels, features a widowed pair resigned to a lonely future without love or passion, suddenly surprised to discover their soulmate is someone they met (and dismissed) years ago. The principal…
In The Governess of Penwythe Hall, life circumstances force a young woman to return to the community she previously fled. The first in Sarah E. Ladd’s new Cornwall series, this Regency era gothic combines a light mystery and sweet romance, delivering a tale sure to please the author’s many fans. Delia Greythorne’s first marriage ended…
If you’re a fan of Olivia Drake, or if you’re just looking for a good book to while away a quiet afternoon, you can’t go wrong picking up The Duke I Once Knew. As the first book in the new Unlikely Duchesses series, it’s easy to jump into, and the reunited lovers theme is a…
Have you ever really wanted to like something, only to have an onslaught of evidence slowly chip away at your feelings until you have to accept that you can’t like it? That’s how I felt with Governess Gone Rogue. Amanda Leighton and Jamie St. Clair, the Earl of Kenyon, are both desperate. Amanda is a…
I know this will shock you all, but this is a marriage of convenience story. I know! Harlequin is usually so cryptic with their titles! All kidding aside, this is one of those delightful books that does exactly what it says on the tin, but does it so very well. Our story opens in the…