Years ago, Saturday Night Live had a faux commercial for “Bad Idea Jeans.” The person wearing them would come up with an extraordinarily foolhardy scheme, like: “Sure, I hardly know the guy, but I have two kidneys and he needs one…” and then you’d hear the “Bad Idea Jeans” voice-over. This commercial popped into my…
I really wanted to like this book. I mean, I really did. With the opportunities to read newly published Traditional Regencies dwindling, I really wanted to be able to recommend this one. Unfortunately, I cannot. Hugh Brooks, the Earl of Rayfield, is trying to catch a traitor who is supporting the Luddites in the North…
It is time for Michael Winslow, the Duke of Fairfax to marry, and though he has always wanted to marry for love, he is not very hopeful about doing so. Other than his title, there is not much to recommend him: “ordinary,” “average,” and “unremarkable” are words used to describe him. He is also bookish…
Lady Silence has an interesting premise, a very busy plot, and a hero and heroine lacking in chemistry. The opening chapter grabbed me instantly, but the book never regained momentum. When Damon Farr is about to leave and join the Army, his butler comes to him with a problem. A pretty young girl has come…
Her Perfect Earl is a very good debut Regency Romance with strong parallels to Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre, complete with a plain-Jane governess, a broody – though nicer – Rochester-like widower with first wife problems, a manipulative would-be next wife Blanche Ingram-type, and a whole host of estranged Adeles/children. I’m a sucker for governess stories,…
The Captain’s Castaway is a fairly tepid offering from Signet by debuting author Christine Scheel. It features a shy sea captain who rescues a nearly-dead American girl on the open seas. Love and romance – of a sort – ensues. It has some interesting moments, and the premise isn’t bad, but the execution leaves something…
Word on the street is that Regencies are a dying breed, which is too bad, especially now that publishers have finally given them some really nice covers. This book has a lovely cover. But it also has a self-absorbed hero who decides to hurt someone else to make himself feel better. Oh, dear. Maybe the…
I’m of two minds about Once Upon a Sofa’s cover. On the one hand, it’s really fun. It’s the first cartoon cover I’ve seen on a Regency, and I like cartoon covers. It signals an interesting new direction in the formerly stale world of Regency cover art, and it’s a change I welcome. On the…
Once Upon A Sofa is a light Regency Romance like so many that clutter the shelves nowadays. I like a light Regency well enough, but I didn’t like this one. The storyline moved in fits and starts and the characters were either silly or bland. It was not a fun read. Isabel, Lady Ashby is…
Another day…another Regency. In a multitude of ways, The Marriage List is just like many other romances. For instance, it features the stereotypical older, evil villain who has his eye on the sweet and unappreciated heroine in need of being saved. And though the story is familiar, there are glimpses of depth to be found…
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