Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Welcome to our 1st Blogiversary




An Evening at Almacks turns 1 year old today! One year of posting reviews and articles about traditional regencies. As we mentioned in the beginning we started this blog to talk about one of our favourite genres, although it's not one of the most fashionable trends in todays literature the traditional regencies had once a big following and we are glad that we managed to chat about them with our visitors. To celebrate this one year of blogging we would like to give away a few of our spare copies. Please note that these are all second hand books, so no pristine copies, but we hope they'll find a nice home and will be appreciated. Without further ado the books we have to give away are:

Nadine Miller - The Barbarian Earl
April Kihlstrom - Miss Timble's Folly
Alison Lane - The Notorious Widow
Diane Farr - Once upon a Christmas
Katherine Kingsley - A Natural Attachment
Vanessa Gray - The Lost Legacy
April Kihlstrom - The Soldier's Bride

Please leave a comment telling us which is favourite traditional regency or if you're new to the genre and we will select the winners on Nov 26. If there's a book you already have do let us know so we can enter you only for the others.

Monday, November 16, 2009

The Merry Chase - Judith Nelson


AN IMPOSSIBLE MAN!


That's what independent and beautiful Drucilla Wrothton considered her new neighbor, Mr. Pettigrew. And she felt sure her equally free-spirited Cousin Mathilde would share her feelings. After all, Crandon Pettigrew had already criticized Dru's forward manners and insulted her favorite horse!

Madcap Cousin Matty was prepared to go along with any wild scheme Drucilla might have. But neither young woman counted on the sudden appearance of the charming and eligible Duke of Ratchford--or that Mr. Pettigrew would have as little respect for the proprieties as the ladies themselves.

He would stop at nothing to get the woman he desired, even if it led to a merry chase across the land and a tangle of heartstrings Cupid himself would have to undo!

I had no expectations when I started this book, I traded for it a couple of years ago just because there was nothing of interest in the other trader's pile and I forgot it at the bottom of the TBR pile till this weekend when I decided to pick it up.


I was a pleasant book as it is quite a funny story about Drucilla Wrothon, a young lady almost on the shelf, who despairs of finding a husband and stop her annoying cousins to stop coming to visit as they believe themselves to be the next heirs to the place if she doesn't marry.

Taking matters in hand Dru's aunt decides to promote a ball at their house and Dru decides to ask her cousin Matty to visit. But all doesn't go well has Dru makes the acquaintance of her disagreeable neighbour Mr Pettigrew and not even his friendship with the very nice Duke of Ratchford can make her like him.

But then Matty arrives and the cousins start spending more time in the company of the two gentlemen, especially after Matty takes a fall and as to spend a night at Mr Pettigrew's house. The story is full of witty dialogue and little jokes that are quite funny and things even better when they all go on the merry chase mentioned in the title across the country.

I really enjoyed it, found the characters funny and interesting, especially Matty and Pettigrew. Dru and the Duke were more according to the regency norm but still nice and those cousins they kept trying to kick out of the house added more humour to the whole of it. I'm now very curious about the author's other novels.

Grade: 4.5/5

Friday, November 13, 2009

A Regency Christmas III - Anthology


I'm not much of an anthology reader except at Christmas. Ever since I found the Signet Christmas anthologies I've been collecting them and reading a few every Christmas. This one has 5 stories by well known authors.

In Sandra Heath's MISTLETOE AND FOLLY a pair of young lovers meet again after 5 years. The hero had his heart broken by the heroine when she left to marry another and now that they meet again he is engaged to be married. A rival for the affections of his current fiancee creates a misunderstanding to have their engagement broken which leads to an explanation of what really happened 5 years earlier. I liked this story, it had an unusual plot, a bit more mystery than you usually find here and an unexpected ending for some of the secondary characters. A 4.

In Mary Jo Putney THE CHRISTMAS CUCKOO a misunderstanding leads the wrong man to be invited to spend Christmas at a farmhouse by the heroine. Although misunderstanding plots are always easy to believe in I really liked this one. Not only it worked well as the main characters were really likeable people. A 4.

In Mary Balogh's THE BEST CHRISTMAS EVER a young child, mute since her mother's death, wishes for a new mother for Christmas and believes she got it when the heroine arrives to the house party the next morning. The hero and the heroine have a past together and it will take them a while to solve things between them. I found the thoughts of the child regarding her mother very emotional. An 5.

In Melinda McRae's HOME FOR CHRISTMAS a man returning from America finds his parents house empty except for the servants and the children's governess. This was a sweet story but the weakest of all as there is not much back story or explanation for the characters feelings. A 3.5

In Edith Layton's THE DARK MAN a young lady newly betrothed has doubts about her fiancé's feelings and ends up breaking up with him. It will take him a while to discover his true feelings and go after her. I did like this story that had a really nice set of secondary characters like the heroine's parents and the hero's friend trying to matchmake. The Duke of Torquay is mentioned briefly and that was a nice touch. A 4.

Grade: 4/5

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

The Game of Love - Edith Layton



Francesca Wyndham knew the folly of gambling. She had seen her father, Lord Wyndham, lose the family fortune, forcing her to become a plain chaperone to an empty-headed young Miss.

But now Francesca was taking a gamble even her father would have blanched at. She was falling in love with the irresistible Arden Lyons, a gentleman who was clearly anything but a gentleman when it came to winning what he wanted, whether a hand of cards, a test of strength, or a lady's favours.

She knew nothing about this man except that she wanted him from the moment she saw him...and though his past was a dark mystery, his motives for choosing her over other seductive or wealthy young beauties were even more mysterious. Still, Francesca dared to pit her innocence against Arden's expertise -- in a game where passion took all...

My favourite thing about this book was the hero - Arden Lyons. When Arden meets Francesca she is working as a companion to a rich tradesman daughter. A place her father, a notorious gamester, found for her since he lost all his fortune and couldn't support her. We soon realise that Arden decides to court the said daughter in hopes of being closer to her companion. However he believes her to be a widow and 25 when in truth she is single and 21.

With a harsh past behind him Arden believes someone older and experienced would be ideal for him and confronted with Francesca's inexperience he feels she deserves better. But he doesn't want to abandon her, as her father does to run away from debtor's prison, and offers friendship and transport back to London instead. Francesca feels more attracted to him the better she knows him and to totally ruin her good image of himself, he decides to take her on a journey of discovery of his past. From his noble biological father to the slums of London where he spent sometime doing all sorts of jobs till he became king of the underworld and decided to leave that life behind. We get to know him at the same time has Francesca and there's a lot to be said of a man who protects and loves a heroine enough to want the best for her and so wants to give her a safe future without him or the eventual threats of his past.

There's a mystery subplot about who tries to kill Arden that is at the same time a plot device to allow Francesca and the reader to see how beloved he really is by everyone in the criminal world. Although that really borders on the cliché somehow Layton pulls it off and we end up with a nice little sweet story.

Grade - 4/5

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

The Ungrateful Governess - Mary Balogh


Another one of Balogh's traditional regencies. No matter how much I enjoy her european historicals I approach these little books with an even greater expectation. This one was no different.

When the Earl of Rutherford tries to seduce Jessica Moore in her employer's library one night, she is blamed and loses her job. Rutherford offers her a position as his mistress, but instead Jessica enlists the aid of his own grandmother and sets out to teach him a lesson.

Jessica Moore, a young ladies governess, is dismissed after having been caught, barefoot and in her nightgown, with the Earl of Rutherford in the library, even if she has just refused his advances.

When he meets her on the road feels partially responsible for her predicament but at the same time sees it as the perfect opportunity for her to become his lover. Although at first she agrees Jess finds she cannot go through with it and Rutherford ends up sending her to his grandmother so she can find her a new position.

It is with evident surprise that he sees how his grandmother introduces her to society as a dear friend's granddaughter. At first he believes it to be a lie and still wants her to be his mistress and after knowing better to be his wife.

What I liked in this one was that it had a real feel. For instance Jessice first accepts to be Rutherford's mistress because she knows the situation she will face in London will be even darker. And when she cannot go through with it there's still some basic goodness in him to send her to his grandmother instead of just abandoning her. This is another story where a compromised young lady refuses to marry because there's no love involved, however and on the contrary of many other stories that does work here (no one else knows...). Jessica feels Rutherford would only use her and so they are constantly at odds. Their love is never expressed because they are always too busy fighting. The tension between the two grows and as the book reaches it's climax without them ever having confessed their feelings to each other there's material for a big misunderstanding to occur, fortunately it's not overly done.

What leads to this is that Rutherford changes his atitude throughout the book but never mentions it and Jessica is a bit too inflexible not allowing such confidences and that was what stopped me from grading it higher.

I also enjoyed the secondary characters. The grandmother was indeed a great lady and Hope and Godfrey were nicely done. I'm glad they had their happy ending even if Hope seemed a bit too naive.

Grade: 4.5/5

Friday, October 30, 2009

The Convenient Marriage - Georgette Heyer


THE KNOWING BRIDE

When dazzling Horatia Winwood married the powerful Earl of Rule, she was saving her sister from a loveless match, rescuing her family fortune, and providing herself with a life of ease. Hers was a marriage made not in heaven but in the coolly logical mind of a very self-possessed young beauty.

Not until Horatia was deep in dangerous intrigue with her husband's vengeful rival, the dashing and arrogant Lord Lethbridge, did she suddenly find -- to her own tremulous surprise -- she had fallen deeply in love with the man she had married for money. But was it too late, now that she was but a heartbeat away from betraying both him and herself?

This was one of the first books I read by Heyer and it has remained one of my favourites ever since. I reread it recently and since I had never written a review I decided to do it this time. I'm happy to say that I enjoyed it as much as the first time.

The Earl of Rule has decided it's time to marry and for his bride chooses Miss Winwood less from inclination then from her impeccable bloodline. But Miss Winwood already has a beau and the Miss Charlotte Winwood is determined not to marry so the youngest of the family - Miss Horatia Winwood decides to take matters into her own hands and offer herself as prospective bride. It is fun to see how Rule is instantly charmed by the plain, stammering Horry and not only agrees to the change of bride as to becoming the patron of Miss Winwood's beau.

Like other Heyer novels The Convenient Marriage is full of witty dialogues and interesting conversations between the characters. Horry and Rule have a big age gap and she tries to be as adult as possible, keeping out of his way and his affairs but it is quite obvious from the beginning that Rule likes her as she is and is determined to be patient and considerate with his wife.

Horatia gets herself in various degrees of trouble, especially by befriending one of Rule's old enemies, and things aren't helped by Rule's cousin trying to make mischief between them. I was also quite amused by Horry's brother Pelham, the inveterate gambler who run through the family fortune but has a high sense of propriety and can't understand why Rule doesn't have a heavier hand when dealing with his sister. And in the end it is lovely to see Rule save Horry from herself... Although she is sometime too childish and immature he is a wonderful wise hero who totally makes up for it.

This is a fun Georgian romance that I highly recommend!

Grade: 4.5/5

Monday, October 26, 2009

Victoire - Clare Darcy

A Delightfully Impudent Impostor


Sparkling young Victoire Duvernay made her first appearance in Regency England posing as her cousin who had been shamefully wronged by the dashing, devastatingly handsome rake, the Marquis of Tarn. But soon she emerged under her own name as the leading light of the London season, with the hot-blooded, hot-tempered Tarn dancing attendance upon her, and a host of gallants, fortune-hunters, and rogues swarming around her.

Victoire seemed such a defenseless innocent in this sophisticated world of elegant snobbery and cruel deception. But Victoire had no intention of becoming anyone's pawn or prey. Instead this captivating young lady was determined to give the most arrogant gentleman in all the realm an unforgettable lesson in love!

I have been curious about this author ever since Ioanna wrote a review of one of her books. So when I had the opportunity to read one I was quite happy. I did like the book although I felt the type of story asked for more banter, more witty and humorous dialogue to really work out.

Victoire is a french young lady, daughter of an officer in the Napoleon Wars, who, after her father dies and her mother remarries finds herself shipped to England to live with an Irish relative. Unfortunately the relative is not entirely comme i'l faut and leads Victoire to pretend to be her cousin Nancy, recently deceased, so they can blackmail Lord Tarn's relatives by telling he has broken a promise of marriage. The success of such ploy is based on the fact that Tarn is supposed to be out of the country and can't unmask her. But he does unexpectedly return and after a few adventures that include the relative kidnapping Tarn and Victoire saving him, the Marquess of Tarn decides that he owes a debt of gratitude to Victoire and to pay it he offers her marriage.

Now it maybe be because I recently read Heyer's The Convenient Marriage but I did feel that there were some similarities between the two stories - namely the older heroes who let no emotions show and the young and sometimes naive heroines who are constantly getting into trouble.

Being this one a regency romance we know that they are on their way to a happy end, however that path isn't always smooth and in this case several people are interested in breaking them apart. One of Tarn's cousin's and his portuguese mistress who both set different suitors on Victoire just to make trouble. Since Tarn and Victoire both are hot tempered and don't run from a good fight this could have been the perfect opportunity for showing some tension and their emotions towards one another but it is never fully explored. Even when Victoire is kidnapped in the end and Tarn rushes to save her I felt his proposal was a bit bland. I wanted more emotion in their courtship to make me believe that Tarn really had fallen for Victoire. As it was I felt it was a nice story but that it could have been better.

One detail that annoyed me was that Portuguese's mistress had a spanish name and spoke spanish instead of portuguese. Most of you wont probably notice it but for a native portuguese speaker it's totally distracting.

Grade: 3.5/5

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