Play of Hearts - Corinna Cunliffe

A MISTRESS OF MAKE-BELIEVE--IN A MARRIAGE OF LET'S-PRETEND

Miss Perdita Chase had been rescued from the scandalous world of the London theater, where her father reigned as king of actors. The wealthy parents of her well-born mother took her in hand and raised her to be the most proper of young ladies.Little did the lovely Perdita dream that she would have to play a role that would daunt any actress, in a real-life drama surpassing any on the stage.

For when the handsome and gallant Sir Jeremy Dole took Perdita as a bride out of duty rather than desire, she had to pretend to the world that her marriage was as perfect as it seemed. But behind her show of wedded bliss her secret heart cried out for the happy ending that only love could provide. It was clear to Perdita that she had been cast in a play that drastically needed a change of
direction....

I have realised this past few weeks that traditional regencies are my comfort reading material. Whenever I feel down this is invariable the genre I turn too. Although there are less stories being published there are still a huge number of authors and stories for me to discover. This was my first read by this author Corinna Cunliffe and while it wasn't a favourite it had some attractive points and I want to read more by her.

Perdita Chase has been raised by her aunt since she was a little girl, her mother died when she was young and her father is an actor and so considered unsuitable to raise her. She has grown up surrounded by her cousin and 2 of the neighborhood boys, Sir Jeremy Dole and his brother. Perdita is secretly in love with Sir Jeremy and always has been but always feels overwhelmed and tongue tied in his presence.
One day, while out walking alone, she is kidnapped by mistake by ruffians who believe her to be a great heiress. Sir Jeremy proceeds to save but they end up having to spend a night at an Inn where a gossipy old Lady sees them and reaches the wrong conclusions. To protect Perdita's reputation Jeremy pretends they have married and the next day proposes to her.

It is clear from the beginning that Perdita and Jeremy do love each other. However they both believe the other loves someone else. Acting on that presumption they are cold and distant with one another and the misunderstanding just grows bigger and bigger till Jeremy, after behaving awfully towards Perdita decides to stay away.

Unable to conquer him Perdita, who has found her father, decides to join the theater company and perform in the play she herself wrote and that reproduces somehow her problems with her husband. It will take the handiwork of friends to bring Jeremy to watch the play and finally realise the truth.

While I always appreciate books full of heart ache and this one certainly has a lot of that going on I never felt immersed in the story and in the characters to the point where I was suffering along with them (which I like!). They felt believable and interesting but somewhat cold to me. There is a secondary love story that develops that I enjoyed too although we see little of it and it also contributes to the problems between Jeremy and Perdita. Their main problem was one of communication and I would certainly have liked more dialogue between them. The only thing that sounded to me a bit unrealistic was that Perdita would take to the stage so well and without fear of creating a possible scandal. Wouldn't that be odd in that period?

But I did enjoy the book as a whole and thought it well written and am now curious to read more (I have another one in the TBR pile). The ending seemed a bit rushed after all that heartache though.

Grade: 3.5/5

Yuletide Match - Margaret Westhaven

No Place for a Lady

Caroline Percival was born and raised a lady--but family financial disaster forced her to take the unsuitable position of governess in the hellish household of the odious Brangley clan, and the coming of Christmas made her position especially impossible. Even this low rung on the social ladder was threatened by the amorous intent of the lascivious Lord Marchton. Caroline was willing to pay the price to repel this offensive rogue--but his half brother, Mr. Guy Constant, posed a far greater danger to her defiant pride. Where Marchton used his title and brute strength, Constant used wealth, good looks, and charm. And while Marchton had the power to make her lose her post, Guy Constant had the presence to make her lose her head and her heart...

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Although of good birth, our heroine Miss Caroline Percival has been forced to work for her living after her father died and left her penniless. At the start of the book, she works as a governess and suffers the advances of Lord Marchton a visitor of the Brangleys whom she works for. In true regency novel fashion, she is of course blamed by Mrs Brangley for the incident and is fired. That was an inauspicious beginning for me as I really don’t like the martyr heroine type. However the book rapidly improved after this with a change of plot and setting. Our heroine goes to Bath to stay with her mother while looking for work. There she meets by accident Mr Guy Constant who happens to be the guardian of a little girl, Harriet, who was staying with the Brangleys, and to whom Caroline was genuinely attached. Mr Constant also happens to be the odious Lord Marchton’s elder half-brother. Seeing her in Bath after the incident with his brother, Mr Constant assumes she is after all a lady of loose morals, following him to Bath to extract money from him, in return for her silence about Marchton’s behaviour. So their first meeting in Bath does not go well. However he soon finds out that Caroline is in Bath to stay with her mother, and realises he accused her unjustly.

With the initial misunderstanding resolved quite quickly, Guy and Caroline’s relationship progresses and blossoms without further mishaps. I quite liked the fact that there were no contrived obstacles, misunderstandings and difficulties. So there is no much drama and emotional upheavals in this book. Guy and Caroline get to know each other better in Bath, and are both involved in taking care of little Harriet, who is an engaging little girl, not at all spoilt or annoying (another plus of this book).

All in all a very enjoyable read, with very likeable characters, light, refreshing and sweet. But if you want lots of drama, tormented characters, anguish and pain, then maybe the book is not for you. Otherwise, I heartily recommend it.

Grade 3.5/5

A Highly Respectable Marriage - Sheila Walsh

THE OFFICER’S DAUGHTER

Lovely young Pandora Carlyon was the daughter of a gallant colonel--but now her father was dead, and Pandora was left unprotected in London, far from the battlefields of Europe where she had been raised.

It was up to Pandora to map out a campaign of survival for herself and her two brothers in this strange and scandalous world of English society. It was also up to her to defend her reputation and honour with every weapon at her command when the maddeningly handsome, shockingly notorious Duke of Heron proposed a most unthinkable alliance.

Pandora was about to learn that in love as in war, all was considered fair, every move was fraught with peril, and surrender could be so very tempting...

This book features a young and outspoken heroine and an older jaded rake. It's not that I don't like these types of stories but sometimes it seems to me a bit unbelievable the love story between such different people.

Pandora is an orphan and lives with her brother in the house of her half sister. They are treated like a charity case and since her young brother is always in trouble there's talk of sending him to a severe school. To avoid that Pandora decides to find employment . After a conversation with her godmother, she decides to visit the Duke of Heron who is apparently looking for a governess for his charges. Heron has no idea what Pandora is talking about and thinks she is proposing to become his wife thus creating a misunderstanding and some harsh words are spoken. On learning the truth he finds Pandora and starts to feel attracted to her. His attraction is almost immediate and maybe that is what made it a bit unbelievable to me.

Pandora was a nice girl, very trusting, naive and wanting to help everyone around her while Heron is the consummate rake. In a way I felt he rushed her a bit towards marriage and she might need more time to adjust to marriage, to him and to her new station.

Grade: 3.5/5

Mrs McVinnie's London Season - Carla Kelly

MISCHIEF IN THE MARRIAGE MART

Jeannie McVinnie was young and lovely-but she was also a widow with no intention of marrying again. And if she ever did, it certainly would not be to the high-handed, hot-tempered Captain William Summers.

The swashbuckling Summers was a naval hero who found himself at sea in the London social swim and demanded that Jeannie help his pretty niece take the plunge into the London Marriage Mart. With her innocent charge in tow, Jeannie sailed into action--trying to steer a safe course in a whirlpool of romantic intrigue… and trying to keep herself from being swept away in a wild storm of love...

Although I came late to appreciate Carla Kelly, I did love the latest books I read by her. I was naturally eager to read this Mrs. McVinnie but I'm afraid I had a hard time with the heroine.

Jeannie McVinnie receives a letter inviting her to move to London and play nanny to the niece and nephew of captain Summers. Although she knows that the letter is not in reality for her but for her father in law's sister (who has died) she sees it as a way to stop being a burden to her father in law and she thinks she can play nanny as well as the original Jeannie McVinnie.

Of course, things don’t exactly go smoothly and as soon as Jeannie arrives, she is confused with a seamstress and when the truth is revealed not only she has reached the conclusion that she doesn't want to stay but also the captain is furious at the deception.

Jeannie eventually decides to stay, the captain is in obvious need of a hand to help him (and control his temper), his niece and sister in law are frivolous and snobs, his nephew is craving attention and a young illegitimate child that lives in the house doesn't even speak.

Although a Scottish countrywoman Jeannie eventually manages to teach everyone a lesson about what's important in life. She manages to be a success with Beau Brummell despite a trick Larinda and her friends were planning, she transforms Edward into a healthy young boy, takes him about in London, and with her Clare finally starts to speak. In addition, in the middle of it all she and the captain do fall in love.

I think my main problem with this book was that I found the heroine too perfect for my tastes; she never had a bad word about anyone, never a less than pleasant retort (except for the captain) despite Larinda being very deserving of one. It was too much perfection, I love flawed characters and despite her early deception Jeannie McVinnie is a candidate for sainthood except when she is with the captain or with Brummell.

One thing that Kelly usually does well is to show the hardships of daily life. In fact I think she even favors that over any accuracy matters. Her characters are usually found bending much of the rules of polite society ( Summers and Jennie spend much time together alone in the middle of the night...), unfortunately my lack of interest in Jennie stopped me from enjoying her attempts to make everything right for everyone and I wasn't even very moved when her past problems were revealed.

Grade: 3.5/5