Like Carla Kelly, Allison Lane’s Regencies are dark forays into human drama. But where Kelly explores class boundaries and moral dilemmas, Lane primarily stays within the human psyche, exposing society’s seamy underbelly and celebrating those who remain true to themselves. Kindred Spirits is an extreme example of that kind of exposition, featuring two psychically wounded…
When I first started The Rake’s Mistake, I wasn’t sure I was going to like it at all. It begins with one of my least favorite premises – the hero who sees an attractive woman, hears rumors about her, and decides she’ll make a great mistress. As I read the opening pages, I thought I…
It is a rare Regency Romance indeed that can tackle adult issues while still maintaining the usual light, spirited Regency tone. With only a few caveats, The Storybook Hero does just that, giving me another author to add to my glom list. Octavia Hadley is penniless, and rather than foolishly turn her nose up at…
The Captain’s Secret is smoothly written, and the characters are nice enough, but reading it was like looking through the pages of La Belle Assemblee – pretty, but oh so lifeless. When Susannah Lacey was 16, she met Captain Winston Jeffries. She did not know him long, but immediately fell in love. He was off…
Second Thoughts is a well-written story with unbelievable plot elements. Given that the book is a paranormal/gothic Regency, that is fine, except that these unbelievable plot elements are really unbelievable. But with that said, I liked the hero and heroine and the secondary characters were also surprisingly well-drawn. That there would be no story without…
Every year Signet offers Regency readers a Christmas present in the form of an anthology of short stories by some of the line’s most popular authors. You’re not going to find the literary equivalent of coal or onions here, but none of the stories gives quite the thrill that, say, a gift out of the…
Jo Manning’s first traditional Regency was titled The Reluctant Guardian and involved, you guessed it, a ward/guardian plot – familiar territory to most Regency readers. With her second novel she’s expanded her (and our) horizons and written the book so many of us wish for. The result is chock full of original ideas that sadly…
The gradual awakening of the heroine, a girl who makes a doormat seem uppity, is the most interesting aspect of Cupid’s Choice. Less interesting are the other characters and the plot. Guineveve Holland is a twin whose brother has just become an Earl. She, her brother and her mother are in town prior to the…
This past summer has brought a favorite aphorism of mine to mind: “Just because you can get it on, doesn’t mean it fits.” Another dictum on that theme might be: “Just because you can string some sentences together doesn’t make you a writer.” Lord Nick’s Folly is proof of that. It is a terrible book,…
like to try traditional Regencies by debut authors whenever I can. As the Mary Baloghs and Diane Farrs move on to single titles, I can’t help hoping that someone will step up to fill their shoes. A Scandalous Journey isn’t that break-out, “wow” book I was hoping for, but it’s not bad either. For a…
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