Regency Romance

I like bluestocking heroines. I also like kind, decent heroes who appreciate them. Read Carla Kelly’s Miss Grimsley’s Oxford Career for a good example of a story of this kind. The The Baron and the Bluestocking has characters like these, but it is plagued by one of the densest heroines I have ever encountered. If…

I read another Nadine Miller book several years ago, and though I wracked my brain trying to come up with a title or a plot, I couldn’t remember a thing about it. I had a vague impression that the book was okay, but it was (quite obviously) forgettable. In another couple of years, my thoughts…

Allison Lane brings the story of the Seabrook family to a close in The Purloined Papers. For a short book, there’s a lot going on – lots of characters, complex relationships, and a murder sub-plot as well. This plot-heavy story results in the romance being somewhat marginalized, but the characters and the storyline were interesting…

Donna Simpson’s latest release combines a quietly touching love story, a likable heroine, and a decidedly flawed hero in a sweet but not altogether satisfying tale. Despite a few problems, I enjoyed this, my first Simpson Regency, quite a bit. Lawrence Jamison is the Earl of Hardcastle, better known as “Hardhearted Hardcastle,” and the shoe…

I have read several traditional Regency Romances by June Calvin and for the most part, I have enjoyed them very much. She has been missing in action for a time, and when I heard that she had a new book out, I asked for it. I read A Lord for Olivia, and closed it feeling…

Fortune’s Lady is an average Regency offering. It has some interesting moments, but most of them will likely be forgotten as soon as the last page is turned. Lady Althea is stunningly beautiful, and she’s a duke’s daughter. That makes her the catch of the season, and everyone likes to call her “the Incomparable of…

There are two kinds of books, plot-driven and character-driven. I’m still trying to figure out which Amanda McCabe’s latest, Lady Rogue is. It can’t be plot-driven, if only because there’s no actual plot. Things happen, usually very predictably, but it’s all quite meandering and aimless. But it can’t be character-driven either, because that would require…

The Banished Bride is the story of a husband and wife who barely set eyes on each other at their arranged wedding, separate, and years later meet under very different circumstances. What happens when they fall in love without knowing each other’s true identity, and the fall out when they do discover who the other…

Ever take a sip of champagne that’s gone just a little flat? It looks right, it smells the same – but the bubble, the sparkle, the excitement are missing. That’s what this book was like for me: all the ingredients for a good story were there, but there was just enough that didn’t work to…

There are some Regency Romances that are pleasant to read without being very exciting. This is one of them. Elisbeth Barlow and Lord Thomas Kepley are both very nice people. Kepley defies his family to marry Elisabeth, then goes off to war. When he is reported missing in action, the young lord’s family tries to…