The Earl’s Untouched Bride by Annie Burrows is a prime example of a whole that is less than the sum of its parts. This romance uses many ingredients I really like, but still the overall result, in my eyes, was no more than average. In the wake of Napoleon’s defeat, Charles Fawley, Earl of Walton,…
Poor Emma Cheney! She is much too sweet and unassuming a girl to be saddled with such dreadful writing. Even worse, her hero, Peter, played her like a fiddle. All she wanted was to see a mummy and do a little drawing and she ends up exhausted, confused and used. The pity I felt for…
There’s nothing better for December reading than a traditional regency romance set during the Christmas season. Thank you Signet for re-printing several of the beloved old favorites including Father Christmas, by the wonderful mistress of regency humor, Barbara Metzger. Leland Warrington, Duke of Ware has an heir and a spare as well, just not his…
I picked up A Regency Christmas II because it contains one of my favorite Christmas stories of all time: Sunshine for Christmas. I reread it, delighted in it, and then read on. I realized this collection also includes excellent stories by Carla Kelly and Mary Balogh, and even the other two, by authors less well-known…
I am very fond of traditional Regencies, and I think it’s great that Harlequin has taken to reissuing two older Mills & Boon books each month, even if they are only available through the Harlequin website. That said, I was less than delighted with The Devil and Drusilla by Paula Marshall. It is a traditional…
When I read a few entries in the author’s Simply series about a year or two ago, I was underwhelmed by Mary Balogh and haven’t read anything by her since. However, I very much enjoyed the reprint of this 1991 book and will be giving her backlist another look. Miles Ripley, Earl of Severn, is…
The premise of The Fortune Hunter is simple: the de Lacys are a respectable family, but dreadfully poor. The eldest daughter is too plain to possibly attract any wealthy men, and the youngest is, well, too young. It is up to the beautiful middle daughter, Amy, to ensnare a rich husband to support her family…
The RITA-award winning Deirdre and Don Juan is a sweet read. When he was twenty years old, the Earl of Everdon – nicknamed “Don Juan” for his rakishness and his exotic looks – married for love. Shortly after, his beautiful wife left him for another man and shattered his dreams of true love and happiness….
Robert Hale, an English publishing house, is reissuing old Traditional Regencies in hardback form. Joan Smith’s Valerie was originally published in the States by Ivy in 1981; its heroine, and her unique voice, holds up very well. Valerie is invited for an extended visit with her eccentric widowed Aunt Louise at her home, Troy Fenners….
Although Amanda Grange has written traditional Regency romances for British publisher Robert Hale for years, she has become more widely known for her Jane Austen point-of-view stories like Mr. Darcy’s Diary, retelling Austen’s novels from the hero’s viewpoint. I have read some of these and found them better than most of the other Austen-inspired tales….
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