The Obedient Bride - Mary Balogh

LOVE WAS NOT PART OF HER MARRIAGE BARGAIN

Miss Arabella Wilson knew perfectly well that the handsome, dashing Lord Geoffrey Astor was marrying her only out of a sense of duty. She knew she could be only grateful to this man who so generously offered her a life of aristocratic privilege. Surely she could not imagine she could ever claim his heart as well as his hand. Surely she could not object to his mistress, the ravishingly sensual Ginny Cox.

Surely she should be content with the attentions of the gentlemen of the ton who swarmed around her.

But Arabella had committed the most scandalous of sins. She had fallen in love with her own husband...

After a few less than wonderful Baloghs here's one that I truly enjoyed. The Obedient Bride is a "MOC" story; both the hero and the heroine marry out of a sense of duty. Him because he is helping the last Viscount's family and she because she will be able to help her family if she does.

The way they approach the marriage however is very different. The hero sees it has something he has to do but that it won't disrupt his private life, he will continue to keep his usual mistress and doing his usual activities with the exception that now he will accompany his wife to social functions and will present her sisters to society. The heroine, however, is determined to make the best of her marriage and be the perfect wife. In part because she feel he is entering a bad bargain as she is not as beautiful as her sister.

They do adjust well to married life and in fact Bella, the heroine, likes her new social life so much that she becomes a vibrant young woman always surrounded by friends and admirers. However, one evening she hears that her husband is keeping a mistress and decides to confront him about it.

I loved how Bella was so very hurt and disappointed but managed to hold on to her her dignity while making it very clear how mad she was. Geoffrey really couldn't see how his actions could be seen as wrong (which I suppose was accurate for the time and type of marriage) but he felt her displeasure and decided to change. He ended things with the mistress and worked on gaining Bella's trust again. Mind you he did not change overnight, in fact his first reaction was to get very angry that Bella should think and speak in such a way with him. But when he decided to reform he did his best to please her and I felt he actually won her over.

There's a subplot with Bella's sister and a rake that I felt was a bit unnecessary unless it was to show how noble Geoffrey was in contrast. In the end I found this a very nice little story although readers with strong feelings about adultery should probably stay away. I always feel Balogh has more original/outrageous plots in her earlier titles than in the more recent ones and this is the perfect example!

Grade: 4/5

THE TEMPORARY WIFE - MARY BALOGH

The Pernicious Proposal

Miss Charity Duncan had no illusions when she said yes to the marriage proposal of Lord Anthony Earheart. This arrogant aristocrat made it painfully clear what he wanted of her. Would Charity agree to be the wife he needed to enrage the father he hated? Of course. Would Charity then depart from his life in return for the money she and her family desperately needed? Of course. Was Earheart as heartless as he was handsome and as remorseless as he was rich? Of course.

It was only when Charity entered into this mockery of a marriage that she discovered that things were not as simple as they seemed. For when the libertine lord took her in his arms, it was not only her marriage contract that threatened to be broken--but her heart as well...

Where do I begin?! Why is it so hard to write a review about a great book? I know I won’t be able to make it justice, but I shall try nonetheless… Because this is one of my favorite books ever, one of those Desert Isle Keepers, like our friends from *all about romance* use to say…

This is, first of all, a story about 2 people falling in love in a marriage of convenience. Yeah, not so original, but me thinks this is one of the best attempts on making work a relationship of two people who have just met and have to share their lives. The hero, Anthony Earheart, Marques of Staunton, heir to a dukedom, a young man who 8 years ago chose to leave his home and family because he couldn’t live any longer in his father’s house, makes an advertisement in the papers that he looks for a governess. His real reason for it is to choose a very insipid, plain and boring wife from the list of “to be governesses” in order to spite his father who, finally, has summoned him home. He is the typical arrogant, cold, cynical *don’t believe in love*romance hero. The heroine, Charity Duncan, comes from a large, impoverished family, she chooses to work in order to help her brother to pay for the family’s needs. She is also very used to managing her brothers and sisters lives, to speak her own mind and also to care for the people around her. So, as destiny would have it (or just the author :)), she applies to the hero’s ad for a governess, is chosen because of her *brown mouse* appearance and accepts to be his temporary wife for a few weeks, in exchange for financial security. Together they go to the hero’s home, where he can flaunt, in front of his father, his lower born wife.

And now the magic begins…

We enter the world of a very unhappy family, caught at a very difficult moment and we meet His grace, the duke of Willingsby, the most cold, arrogant, toplofty duke from Balogh’s ever-growing list, and by far, the most interesting character of this book. Maybe because he remains almost an enigma throughout the book, maybe because he first appeared as the villain who caused the hero’s pain, or just that the human nature will always have more shades of gray instead of the simple black and white of good or bad characters, the Duke impressed me a lot.

The hero is another interesting character, after 8 years he returns home and has to deal with serious problems, some of them caused by youth folly, some by immaturity, some by miscommunication, and all that is added to the fact that he falls in love with his heroine, a process that is quite visible throughout… Another interesting thing about the hero is the fact that, although 28 and quite independent from his family, he still has a lot to grow up, especially emotionally and in terms of accepting his family ties and his heritage.

And now the heroine… I usually don’t like main female characters, they are either too stupid for their own good, or too sassy, or they try to appear independent, or are portrayed as wounded souls, etc., etc. But in this case, Charity is a charming person, very level-headed, decided, correct, taking everything that happens at it’s face-value, but most of all, she is a very nice character, who’s impossible not to love.

No matter how much or how little I say about this book, I will never make it justice… This book just has to be read, especially if you like good family stories, great characters, a wonderful love story and why not, drama and hurt made well until the end.

Grade 5 / 5

Lord Caliban - Ellen Fitzgerald

THE DREADFUL DEBT

Lord Rodger Colbourue had saved Clemency's life one terrifying day when she was trapped in a collapsing tower; and he came to her rescue.

Now he had come to claim that life he had saved, as he proposed marriage without a promise of love, and demanded she trust him even though he filled her with fear

There was no one to save her now--not Damian, who had stolen her heart and then vanished... not her beautiful cousin Beatrix, who had vanished, too, in a disquieting cloud of mystery... not her parents, who wanted only that Clemency be wed at last.

Clemency knew that debts had to be paid-- but she trembled to discover how high the price would be...

Ok, so it's not every day that I get really annoyed with the characters of a book I'm reading, so annoyed in fact that when I finished reading their story I almost wallbanged the it. I usually like Ellen Fitzgerald’s stories so this one was a very unwelcome surprise.

I don't mind stories with villains, I don't mind the characters being fooled by the bad guy but when a simple conversation would be enough for everything to be uncovered, when people tell the heroine about what a bad character the villain is and she still doesn't believe them... well, sometimes it gets a bit too much and it starts seeming like the characters are too naive to be real. And that is exactly what happened here!

I really felt the story had much potential at first. Clemency met Rodger when in saved her for falling from a tower in ruins but she was in love with her friend Damian. Unbeknownst to both he predicament was arranged by her cousin Beatrix who wanted to see her dead so that she could be the young lady of the house. In time Damian leaves to fight in the colonies and Beatrix elopes with one of his friends. When Damian is thought dead in battle Clemency and Rodger decide to marry since they are friends and could have a happy life. And so they are falling in love with each and living happily till Beatrix returns to live with them and Damian comes back from the dead.

I could accept that Rodger's uncertainty and jealousy over his wife's feelings about Damian were easy to explore by Beatrix but that they stop talking and use Beatrix to carry messages for them, thus allowing her to plant the seeds of doubt in both their minds was a bit too much. And Clemency even abandons her husband still believing her cousin was a good woman! I'm afraid that was all a bit too much for me...

Oh and the blurb above? Is completely wrong, Clemency liked Rodger, she never feared him after she met him and he definitely did not come to "claim" the life he had saved...

Grade: 2/5

The Marriage Mart - Norma Lee Clark

EXCESSIVE EXPECTATIONS

Lovely, auburn-haired Georgina Fitzhardinge knew what was expected of her when the Earl of Trowbridge proposed:

Society expected her to revel in the respectability of this superbly suitable match.

Her family expected her to use the Earl's fortune to give them the help they badly needed and fervently desired.

The Earl himself expected her to be a charming hostess, an efficient household manager, and, in time, to produce an heir to his title and estates.

But when Georgina became the Earl's wife, it soon became dismayingly apparent that this handsome, virile, worldly man wanted far more than she ever expected to give, and Georgina would have only herself to blame if she didn't make it perfectly clear to her lordly husband that she had her own list o expectations--some of which might very well conflict with his...

I had never read Norma Lee Clark before but I am terribly fond of Marriage of Convenience stories so I decided to give this one a try. It was a complete surprise and I mean that in a good way. If, in the beginning, the heroine felt a bit cold and non-engaging in the middle of the story I was completely fascinated and I couldn't stop reading.

Our heroine, Georgina, is about to accept the Earl of Trowbridge's marriage proposal when the story opens. He is marrying for the usual reason, an heir, but also because he felt he could eventually love Georgina if what he senses about her character is true. Georgina, however, although not repelled by him mostly thinks of her duty towards her family. One must marry to have a proper place in society and if one can catch an eligible party and so help the family all the better for it.

Trowbridge has high expectations for his marriage but he is confronted with Georgina's apparent coldness and reserve. Unbeknownst to him she has been sadly neglected has a child, first abandoned by her mother and then not cherished by her father, and she has learned the hard way to always maintain her composure and not display any strong emotions.

This is no light romance novel, Georgina and Trowbridge must first get to know each other before reaching any kind of agreement and although she had thought herself immune to Trowbridge, Georgina can't help feeling hurt and betrayed at thoughts of his infidelity.

The story is told from a feminine view point, there is much made of the fact that all women should aspire to marriage because that is the only fate open to a young lady and that the kind of husband one gets can make or destroy your happiness. While we get to know Georgina - who needs to deal with her past hurts and trust her husband and accept her emotions - we also get to know her three sisters whose expectations and marriages couldn't have been more different. One is the society lady with loose morals, caring only for her happiness and flirtations and that happily cuckolds her husband another is the boring, and sometimes annoying, perfect miss who ends up with a husband that beats her but from whom she can't even run away without being brought back by her father, and the last one is sensible young lady who ends up finding happiness with a vicar despite an early heartache.

Although this is a romance and, naturally, there is a happy ending, there's much to be said about the lot of women in society during that period and I felt that this story reflected just that. In the end Georgina reflects on how happy she is and how lucky she was to get Trowbridge as husband as they really did not know each other in the beginning and instead of growing up and overcoming her fears she might as easily have continued trapped inside herself or abused at the hands of a less worthy man.

Grade: 4.5/5

A Makeshift Marriage - Sandra Heath

When lovely young Miss Laura Milbanke was asked for her hand in marriage in romantic Venice, the irresistibly handsome Sir Nicholas Grenville was at death's door. He had fought a disastrous duel to defend Laura's honor, and now he would defend her from poverty by leaving her his estate when he died.

But Sir Nicholas did not die. He lived to bring Laura home to King's Cliff manor. Waiting for him was the fabulously beautiful Augustine Townsend, whom Nicholas had long adored and who would be his - if only Laura did not stand in the way.

Should Laura try to fight this ravishing rival? Or should she give her husband his freedom by giving herself to the temptingly attractive Daniel Tregarron, who offered her all the love Sir Nicholas denied her? Never did a young bride find herself in a greater dilemma - as a marriage that broke all the rules threatened to break her heart . . .

This book had no magic, unlike my previous read by the author,  and I liked it a lot better for it. It features a marriage of convenience in which both the h/h believe he will die. They marry so the heroine can have finantial security and since he survives she decides to bring him back to England to recover.

As soon as they arrive it becomes clear that Ausgustine, Nicholas previous fiancee, is determined to separate the newlyweds and gain back her status after an annulment. She starts turning Nicholas' mind against his wife and unable to tell him the truth due to doctors orders, Laura decides to implement in the property some changes that Nicholas wanted to bring about, knowing they won't go well with Augustine and the neighbours. Feeling lonely Laura strikes a friendship with Nicholas' doctor and friend that will end up ruining her reputation and damaging her marriage.

I thought this had the potential to reach keeper status but in the end it didn't. I felt Nicholas was too easily manipulated by Augustine and Laura kept seeing the doctor (and getting into trouble) when she should have realized that that was only making things worse. And even if Laura was the wronged party it was she who ended up making the first steps to the reconciliation. Too much heart ache and not enough happy moments was my final take on the story.

Grade: 3.5/5

The Devil's Bargain - Karen Harbaugh

THE ENDANGERED INNOCENT . . .
Lovely Eveline Seton knew that she could never be a proper match for Lord Richard Clairmond. The devastatingly handsome blueblood would never dream of taking a merchant's daughter as a wife. Why then did he whisper words that made her heart beat faster? Why did he gaze at her with a heat that melted her to the core? Eveline feared her ardent suitor was hiding something.

THE IRRESISTIBLE RAKE . . .
Not for nothing did the Viscount Clairmond keep a list of ladyloves that testified to his supreme skill as a seducer. But it was not as a wife that this reckless gambler wanted Eveline. To be relieved of embarrassing debts and a certain future of pauperism, he had sold his soul-and Eveline's virtue-to Satan. And unless this extraordinarily persuasive young woman proved an equal match for him in the thrust and parry of his campaign of conquest, she most surely would become his all - too - willing victim. Or he hers . .

I've been in the mood lately for stories featuring nobility and the so called Cit's. The merchants and tradesmen who became rich enough to save a title from ruin.

That's why I picked this one to read and it didn't disappoint me in that, it had nice and interesting characters who behaved in a believable way. Especially Eveline who seemed a fairly level headed woman, not the one to go into hysterics but in fact to make the best of her situation and indeed believe in who seems to have betrayed her. I had more trouble believing Clairmond who lost his money in a foolish game, believes his neighbour is harassing his sister just because the devil tells him so and then proceeds to ruin Evangeline when he could just have married her and used her money.

My main problem was the "devilish" side of the plot. I prefer my historicals without paranormal or supernatural elements and have the Devil struck a bargain with the hero that he would ruin the heroine and in exchange win the money he badly needed to restore his estate was a bit too much for me.

I think the story would have been perfect without that, it had all the elements for a nice marriage of convenience story and at least for me it would have worked better.


Grade: 3.5/5

The Soldier's Bride - April Kihlstrom

A Marriage of Convenience

Lisbeth Barlow has never much cared for the notion of marriage--all duty and appearances and submitting to one's husband. But when Lord Thomas Kepley arrives one morning to ask for her hand, he has none of those conventions in mind. He wants only to evade the marriage his father has arranged for him. And for her help in this matter, Lisbeth can enjoy all the benefits of marrying quality without suffering any of the bother--as Lord Thomas will be off to rejoin Wellington's army in Portugal the next day.Kepley's father, the Marquess of Aylsham, hasn't the slightest patience, however, with Thomas's defiant behavior, and when Lisbeth bears a child who does not have the Kepley birthmark, Aylsham believes he has more than sufficient reason to discredit her. But the more the marquess tries to break them apart, the more Lisbeth and Thomas learn how much trust, love, and happiness can be found in their all too practical union.

Lisbeth Barlow's has a special magical locket where the women of the family look and that shows them the face of the man they will marry. That is why she is not surprised when Lord Thomas asks her to marry him all of a sudden and she happily accepts. However Thomas wants to marry right away not because he loves Lisbeth but because he wants to avoid the marriage his father planned for him.

He quickly leaves for the battle front and stays away for many months during which his parents do not accept his marriage or the baby that Lisbeth gives birth to and she has to leave in his old and ruined estate sewing clothes to make ends meet.

When Thomas finally returns he also refuses to accept that the baby is his and believes Lisbeth played him false. Despite that he wants to make the marriage work and only asks her to tell him what happened and why she betrayed him. Lisbeth has a hard time understanding what is happening and feels rightfully wounded that no one believes her. Unfortunately the lack of a birthmark that all male babies of her husband's family bear prevents her husband from believing her.

The story seemed to be stuck at this point with both of them stubborn and determined to maintain their view of events. It is clear that they do deal well with each other but since they are determined not to bend the HEA seems difficult. But the author does manage to solve this with a plot twist that I have to confess I did not see coming. It's always nice in this sort of book to be pleasantly surprised and just because of that I'm going to grade it a bit higher than I initially thought of...

There's a subplot involving Thomas being a spy and another about Lisbeth's aunt but I have to confess I didn't feel they added much to the story.

Grade: 3.5/5

Once Upon A Sofa - Myretta Robens

WILL A MINOR INDISCRETION

In a mad moment, Lady Isabel Ashby surrenders to a passionate kiss from the earl to whom she is betrothed. Then the door flies open and the rest of the party guests stumble in--and Isabel finds that she has kissed not the earl, but his brother! Major Sidney Chamberlayne is a dashing younger son without a feather to fly with, but he'll have to marry her now.

Still, it was an honest mistake and the room was very dark...can Isabel be blamed?...LEAD TO MAJOR HAPPINESS? Sidney is too much of a gentleman to do that--but they must marry in haste, though they know very little of each other.

Fortunately, his darling Isabel seems eager to learn everything she
can...especially when it comes to love...

I usually dislike cartoonish covers in books and I think that's why it took me so long to pick this one up. It just doesn't look like a traditional regency and I had never read Myretta Robens so it's been sitting there for a few months now.

I'm glad to say that overall it was a nice and funny story, definitely on the light side. Isabel Ashby doesn’t start as a very sympathetic character; in fact I had the idea that she might be a villainess being redeemed as she begins the story by planning to be caught in a compromising position with a man so as to force him to marry her. Things don't go according to plan because the man she entraps is not the one she wants but a penniless officer, albeit from a good family, that has just returned from the war.

I think the weakest part of the story is how they are forced to wed. Since Isabel is a widow it’s not like she is a virginal debutante with a reputation to maintain (especially as there are already rumours about her) and since Sydney doesn't hold a prominent place in society he doesn't really need to care about a scandal. And it is quite obvious to everyone that Isabel planned it so... why would he want to marry her? But so he does... it is unclear if he fell in love a little bit or if he feels it’s the gentlemanly thing to do or both but it seemed a bit too weak a motive for a life changing decision as is marriage.

Isabel accepts his proposal but only after her aunts convinces her that it is the best thing to do. She comes across as cold and selfish in the beginning and I was wondering where Robens would go with her character. In fact for much of the beginning of their marriage Sydney and Isabel remain strangers, and while his mother accepts her Sydney's brother is another matter altogether. As they spend more time together Isabel starts appreciating her husband's qualities and realising that she actually likes him and comparing him in a favourable light with the shallow youths she usually keeps company.

Unfortunately the past has a way of catching up with people and one of the fortune hunters that used to surround Isabel decides to pursue her sister-in-law which leads to trouble for Isabel. I didn't particularly like this part of the story and I felt the author had just introduced it to create conflict between the pair so has to bring them together. I really liked the parts just with Isabel and Sydney and so I think the HEA could have been achieved without (especially as Sydney's sister became a really annoying character) but in the end it didn't bother enough to keep me from enjoying the story.

Grade: 4/5

An Unwelcome Alliance - Ellen Fitzgerald

The Mistaken Mismatch
Beautiful Lady Belinda Deveraux and handsome Lord Gerald Courtenay were passionately in love when they were married. Unfortunately they were not in love with each other. Belinda's heart belonged to Lord Anthony Furneaux, whether or not he chose to accept the rest of her. Meanwhile, Gerald was totally devoted to the ravishing Felice D'Aubigny.

Though bride and groom vowed to remain faithful to their own true loves, they were surprised to find that marital duty led to unexpected desire - as their marriage of convenience became something entirely different!

The premise was good - a couple forced to a marriage of convenience who slowly develop feelings for each other. They were both in love with someone else in the beginning and I was looking forward to know how they would deal with that change of feelings and with getting to know each other.

I found that in the end none of that was really explored, the heroine just had a childhood attraction to another man and the hero had a mistress that he gave up when he found himself in love with his wife. There was no big analysis of their feelings and in the end I wondered why he fell in love with her, and why every other man seemed expected to do the same. She was bit too impulsive and naive which led to some bad decisions when she discovers the husband's mistress. After that I was hoping for some confrontation where they would bare their feelings but I didn't even get that as the husband is hurt in a duel and when unconscious speaks in his dreams and proclaims his love for his wife which is enough for her.

I was much more interested in her friend Cornelia who seemed a level headed young woman and fortunately also has a happy ending of her own. The author seems so determined to give happy endings to all that even the husband's mistress gets one. In the end I found too neatly wrapped and not emotional enough.

Grade: 3/5

Second Thoughts - Sandra Heath

Although Lord Carismont is dashing enough to take any girl of the ton for his wife, the widower has only his daughter's best interests at heart. When Carismont interviews Kate Kingsley for the position of governess, he believes he's discovered a suitable mother for his little girl and readily offers Kate more than she ever expected: a marriage of convenience.

A charming young widow with a son to care for, Kate hesitantly accepts Carismont's proposal and all the security that comes with it. But when she arrives at his castle off the coast of England and learns that someone—or something—is determined to keep them apart, she begins to have second thoughts about their union that only the magic of true love can put to rest.

I have greatly enjoyed some of Sandra Heath's books in the past but I seem to have some trouble with the ones that have magical elements.

In this one a young widow agrees to a marriage of convenience to help an orphaned little girl. But from the beginning she starts to see things, namely a cuckoo determined to help her. When they arrive at her husbands estate it soon becomes obvioous that there is a world of magic from which his first wife came and she not only is still alive in that other world, but keeps wanting to come back to join her lover. To accomplish that she will have to convince her daughter to go to that other world and there's a struggle between the h/h trying to keep the child safe and coping with falling in love and the villains.

Bigger fans of magic and paranormal will probably enjoy it more than I did as that is the most important part of the story. The widow agrees too readily to the marriage of convenience and then they proceed to fall in love too quickly and I really couldn't see the attraction.

Grade: 3/5

Lord Dragoner's Wife - Lynn Kerstan

JUST ONE NIGHT

Six years ago, Delilah was wed to Charles Everett, Lord Dragoner, a man she'd loved from afar. But after only one night, he fled England for France, and was gone from her life... Now the handsome lord has returned, surrounded by scandalous rumors. Although he cloaks his explanation in wit and laughter, Delilah discovers her husband was forced into their marriage by cruel and manipulative parents - and soon understands why Lord Dragoner wants to cut his ties with the past...He assumes his estranged wife wants the same. But Delilah has other plans - for she truly loves her husband, and dreams of a life together, if he could give them a chance at happiness. Only two things stand in their way - Dragoner's bitter past, and his present occupation, which promises danger for them both....And when Delilah resolves to face that danger beside her husband, a fragile chance for love begins to bloom...

I had read Lord Dragoner’s Wife a few years ago but I had never reviewed it so as I found another copy I thought I should reread and write about it. Plot wise it has two of my favourite themes – it’s a marriage of convenience and a marriage in trouble story.

Six years previously Delilah, a tradesman daughter, and the present Lord Dragoner were married. He appeared on church drunk and disappeared right after the wedding night. For five years, Delilah has waited for him to come back so they can form a relationship but when he returns is to speak of a divorce.

While Dragoner believes theirs was only a marriage of convenience, trading a title for money that his parents immediately managed to spend Delilah had in fact examined several candidates and decided to choose him because she was attracted to him. It’s with considerable distress that she finds what he plans when the only thing she wants is to start a family.

It seems divorces are much easier to come by in France and that’s where Dragoner has been living so he assumes it will be as easy in England. When he sees it is not so he lets Delilah persuade him to postpone a decision. While he goes back to France where he performs undercover work for Wellington she decides to follow him and see if his bad reputation is well deserved and if she should indeed forget him and any chances of saving their wedding. But she is welcomed with open arms in Madame de Stael’s salons and given a lot of information on her husband as well as a makeover.

What follows is Dragoner still trying to do his job as a spy but finding his wife in the middle of the action. Delilah is quite a strong and determined woman in her own way and tries her best to help him even if some wrong assumptions do lead to some funny and unexpected scenes. And of course, in the end Dragoner can’t help himself and does fall in love with his wife.

A very enjoyable story where my only complaint is that Delilah was a bit too good, too kind, too intelligent, a business genious… but I still liked it very much!

Grade: 4/5

A Prudent Match - Laura Matthews

A Marriage of Convenience

Desperate to settle a debt regarding his estate, Baron William Ledbetter marries Prudence Stockworth in a hasty ceremony. The wealth she inherited in the wake of her fiance's death is enough to mend his financial affairs. But even if he didn't need the money, he finds himself entranced by her innocent beauty... Prudence remains brokenhearted over the death of her fiancé, but knows the time has come to marry rather than die a spinster. Although she is aware that Ledbetter has wed her only for her money, his forward advances frighten her pure sensibilities. And it will take all of her courage to trust this man whose passion knows no bounds--and find a
love that is the greatest fortune of all...

I found A Prudent Match a very interesting story, not something extraordinary but a solid story to spend an afternoon with.

Following a quick courtship of just two week Prudence and Baron William Ledbetter are married. He needs the money her dowry brings him and Prudence feels it’s time she marries as she is 22 and had been engaged for a few years to a gentleman who, after dying in India, had left her his fortune.

When the story opens, the marriage is already happening so we don’t really get to know them before that. We do however follow them as they start to know each other. Prudence does seem to have a bit of a temper and, what surprises William even more, she is very shy about her body and in fact pretends to be unwell on her wedding night just to avoid him.

Even if this is a marriage of convenience, William is determined to have a good relationship with his wife and after confronting her about her fears proposes a plan to help her overcome her fears. They will sleep together in the same bed but nothing will happen until she is used to him and decides to do it. I thought this was an interesting plot for traditional regency because there’s usually no sex, or very little of it, and this time sex was spoken of all the time as William tried to convince Prudence that it was a very normal thing and that their bodies reactions were just what they were supposed to be.

There was also a mystery subplot about why William’s late mother had left instructions for a huge organ to be bought for the local church and about who the young organist who looked so much like William was but the main story was about William and Prudence and their relationship.

Apart her fear of the bedchamber Prudence is quite a sensible woman and in fact she seems to be able to do everything from organizing a house party, delivering a baby and solving the mysteries, I previously mentioned. My only complaints with the story was that there didn’t seem to be a particular motive for her fears and it seemed just like a convenient excuse that they had met each other at her come out 4 years ago and been attracted to each other. At least it seemed unlikely to me that four years on William would have felt compelled to look for her and offer marriage.

Grade: 4/5

The Second Lady Southvale - Sandra Heath

GAMBLE ON LOVE

Miss Rosalind Carberry defied all warnings when she accepted Lord Philip Southvale's proposal. Her father distrusted the breathtakingly handsome, fabulously wealthy Englishman. Rumors ran riot about his persisting passion for his beautiful first wife. And war fever was rising between his country and Rosalind's America. Nonetheless Rosalind believed Philip's warm words and her heart's ardent answer. Alone she set sail to England to join with him in wedlock. It was only when she landed that she discovered the awesome odds against her--as she faced a rival who seemed to hold all the cards in a game of love with no rules and all risk...

Miss Rosalind Carberry met Philip, Lord Southvale at a ball at her parents’ house in America. They fall in love at first sight and despite her family’s fears that Phillip might not have forgotten his first wife, dead at sea a year earlier, she decides to have faith in him and accepts his proposal. However just a few days before the wedding Lord Southvale is forced to return to England and they decide Rosalind will meet him in London for a Christmas wedding. But the war is very close and Rosalind decides to depart a bit earlier to join Philip before the boats stop crossing the Atlantic.

On arrival, she stays at an Inn in Fallmouth where she knew he had friends. Her maid is sick but they are very well received and in fact the inn keeper’s wife doesn’t hesitate to tell her that Phillip’s first wife was not the paragon he thought and that he was the only one who couldn’t see it. Rosalind eventually continues to London but she finds Philip away from home and if she is civilly received by his aunt and sister the same doesn’t happen with, Celia’s, the dead first wife brother, who thinks she is a fraud at first and then proceeds to tell her that Phillip will never marry her.

Rosalind is always very composed and tries to understand the odd fact that Philip doesn’t seem to have mentioned her to anyone of his family. She spends some time with his aunt and sister and the ladies do get along very well. So well that the sister soon tells her that Celia was an evil woman who ruined her relationship with a young man just to get her revenge on an imagined slight.

When Philip finally comes home his first reaction on seeing Rosalind is quite disagreeable. He had written her a letter saying he couldn’t marry her after all but she left America before the letter arrived so she is quite surprised by this turn of events. While at first Philip doesn’t want to explain anything and just wants to send her away he eventually tells her that Celia is still alive and that’s why their relationship is impossible.

But with all that she has found out about the other woman Rosalind and Philip’s sister eventually find a way to prove Celia’s infidelity and provide Phillip with the motive for a divorce.
I did like Rosalind for the start and found her a very levelheaded heroine, I could see where the story was going but it was such nicely told but I didn’t mind it at all. I think the main weakness of the story was that everyone knew Celia was an egocentric and selfish woman who had never loved her husband nor been faithful. Had she been less of a black character I think we would have felt that Rosalind’s place was more threatened and that would have made for a more poignant read.

Besides we are told several times that Philip was completely blinded to her faults and believed her the best woman on earth. However, when he explains to Rosalind that Celia is alive we see that he finally sees her for who she is, but we never find out what made him change his mind. I think that would have been interesting and made for a more intense read.

Grade: 4/5

The Emerald Necklace - Diana Brown

A tragedy of errors. The first error was one of pride - pride that made Lady Leonora spurn the loving attentions of her commoner husband for the frivolous company of her aristocratic friends. The second error was one of vanity - the kind of vanity that made a beautiful young woman an easy victim for the flattery of an all-too worldly admirer. The third error was one of loyalty - loyalty to a father who would sell anything, even his daughter's honor, to save his own. For Leonora and Etienne Lambert, those were just the opening errors in a battle royal of willful misunderstanding that would give the word marriage a whole new meaning.

Lady Leonora Fordyce is a young lady sure of her place in society. She spends her days in leisure with her friend Penelope Oliphant and her brother Francis, to whom she imagines being married in a near future. After an exciting day in the park with her beau, she arrives home to find her father in deep conversation with an unknown man. Immediately she sees he is not from her class and dismisses him as a commoner and certainly someone without much interest. To Leonora’s deep shock, some days later, her father announces her that she is to marry the young man, Etienne Lambert, so he can help him with his heavy debts.

A convenience/forced marriage to help the family is not really an uncommon theme in traditional regencies, but this one was written with mastery. The first (and biggest) problem here seems to be the heroine, her father and even her dearest friends. All insufferable snobs filled with deep scorn for anyone who isn’t from their class. Leonora repeats many times how unworthy Lambert is of her. When she learns about her marriage, her first thought is that her father certainly refused the offer since it was unthinkable that someone like her would marry a tradesman. But in the other hand, it is completely acceptable for her father and other society members to be indebted to their necks and accept money from those they despise.

It’s impossible to like this little chit in the first 200 pages. She is everything I hate in a heroine: narrow minded, arrogant, stupid and selfish. I was so mad with her that I even thought of drowning her in the Tames several times. It’s not often I feel like this about a character, but I rarely stumbled upon someone so annoying. But then, with time and thinking with a bit more logic (which is not always easy while listening the heroine burping so many silly things), not everything was her fault. It’s true she was a brat, but she was bought by a man and forced into a marriage she never wanted, no matter her reasons. Her father and her husband never really tried to know her feelings about it.
Lord Fordyce was mostly interested in paying his debts and getting a monthly allowance from his son-in-law, while completely forgetting about Leonora’s happiness; and her husband was not really better. What was he thinking to buy a bride like this and expecting her to immediately love him without any suspicions and even some hurt pride?! Etienne was not always honest with his wife and despite their differences and their quarrels; the responsibility for their failed marriage was not solely Leonora’s.

After months of obstacles and misunderstandings, they finally take their separate ways, after a very dramatic situation, and, I must confess, I completely understood Leonora’s attitude and cheered her up. This girl was finally taking some action and making a life for herself. A new Leonora is born and I can’t help but admire her. She takes refuge in Yorkshire and there she builds a life for her. It’s the turning point of the story. Not only we actually see her changing, but it’s clear she wants to become someone different too. She becomes involved in the local activities and she impresses her neighbors and even her servants and workers with her interest for her estate affairs and even her wisdom.

It’s not often you follow a character grow like in this book. Slowly, and sometimes painfully, the spoiled brat becomes a strong woman, someone who knows what she wants, even if her relationship with her husband is still on the rocks and it’s climbing towards the unthinkable – a divorce. From a profound dislike for Leonora in the beginning of the story, I ended up suffering for her (and even Etienne) and the agony of some moments was quite powerful.

Etienne St. Clair Lambert was not an easy man. Born in the wrong side of the blanket, his upbringing was not a conventional one and he is a tough self-made man who never stops until he gets what he wants. In this case it was Leonora. He saw her once and it was all that it took. He marries her and never really expects to fail his conquest. We know he loves her but, at the same time, he never trusted her and there was absolutely no intimacy or even a desire to share his life with her.

As I said before, both characters had their flaws but he was a very guarded man. The only time he seems to loosen up was in company of another woman or when Leonora was not around. Each time she was present, he acted like he was expecting the worst from her. Nonetheless, he was the one who started to give Leonora’s some well deserved lessons about money and responsibilities. Something she knew nothing about since her father was not a good role model for anyone…

I spend the last 200 pages of the book holding my breath, dreading for the worst and ended up with a slight pain on my chest but a big smile on my face. I really must say I was very surprised with Diana Brown’s The Emerald Necklace which goes immediately to my Top 10 list of Best Traditional Regencies.

A little note, the book is written in the 1st person, which is something it often puts me off. Here it worked perfectly well, even if sometimes, I would have liked to know other characters perspectives of the story.

Grade: 4.5. / 5

You can also read Ana T.'s review of this book here.

A Double Deception - Joan Wolf

I've read some books by Joan Wolf and on the whole I enjoyed the regencies more than the european historicals so when the opportunity arised to read one more I didn't hesitate.

After one terrible marriage, Laura Dalwood had sworn never to be duped again. But how could she refuse the proposal of handsome Mark Cheney? What could she do when, as his bride, she discovered how much she could love a man . . . and how much she could fear him?

A Double Deception seemed to have the ideal plot for me. A marriage of convenience story where both the hero and the heroine had troubled pasts with unhappy marriages. I actually did like the idea and how Wolf developed it. It starts with their first marriages and then jumps forward in time. Mark is a widower with a son and departs for the sea leaving the boy in the care of his nurse. Laura is a widow but without children and through her godmother she goes to live and raise Mark's son. When Mark returns they spend a few days in the same house without a chaperone and therefore marriage is the best solution to stop the gossips. Not only do they have to get to know each other as Laura has to face the rumours that Mark murdered his first wife and when a series of accidents start to happen those rumours start again.

It becomes obvious that there's a secret regarding Mark's first marriage and his wife's death. A also that someone is trying to hurt Laura to put the blame on Mark. This could have been interesting if the villain had been a bit stronger and if there had been a confrontation between them. Instead we are told what really happened and who was behind the accidents but there's no sense of closure. Another weak point is that we are told from the back blurb that Laura feared her first husband but it seems he ignored more than mistreated her. I would have liked more background on her because she was such a sensible and nice girl.

Grade 3.5/5

The Chadwick Ring - Julia Jeffries

It was no secret that Ginevra had a rival for her husband. All of London knew that Richard Glover, the Marquess of Chadwick, kept Amalie de Villeneuve as his mistress-and every rake in town smiled at the idea of a chit of a girl like Ginevra competing with the red-haired love goddess of the demi-monde. But Chadwick also had a rival. Bysshe, his own grown son, was head over heels in love with Ginevra-and passionately determined to free a stepmother young enough to be Bysshe's mate from a husband old enough to be not only his father but hers. When Amalie and Bysshe formed an alliance to smash once and for all the crumbling Chadwick marriage, the feuding couple had to decide if they should stop fighting each other-and start fighting for their lives together.

Another romance with a very young heroine. Although I have nothing against that and in fact have enjoyed some stories with this plot I don't think this one worked all that well. Mainly because it mixed it with a big misunderstanding and for the first half of the book Chadwick was not a very sympathetic character. Not only that but Ginevra had first been promised to his older son, who died, than she marries him and his younger son falls in love with her. It was a bit too many family connections for my taste.

I like the older heroes I read about to be sensible people, who can guide and protect their heroine when need be and love her as well. Chadwick unfortunately doesn't really live to those expectations, getting mad at Ginevra instead of explaining her what's to be expected. Their lack of communication makes it easy for other people to create conflict between them and for Ginevra to feel rather self conscious and inferior. Things do get better but in the end I liked Ginevra and all her naiveté more than I did Chadwick.

Grade: 3.5/5

A Natural Attachment - Katherine Kingsley

THE SHOCKING LORD SEATON
Miss Eliza Austerleigh was a retiring young lady, living quietly on her country estate. But she knew all too well what manner of man Lord Edward Seaton was.

She had met Lord Edward only once, but that was enough to learn how dangerously handsome he was and how vulnerable she felt in his powerful presence. London gossip had told her still more about this insatiable and shockingly successful womanizer.

But nothing prepared Eliza for the appearance of Lord Edward on her doorstep. And she found no way to refuse the utterly outrageous proposal of this man who made no pretense of propriety and promised anything but love...

This was my first Katherine Kinsgley story and although it had some interesting parts it also had a couple of flaws that made me give it a lower grade. I liked the middle but I found the beginning a bit forced.

Lord Edward needs to get married. He believes he is currently unable to father a child and since he finds out he has a natural son and wants to make him legitimate he needs a wife who will admit to have secretly married him in the past. This was ok but the only reason for him to have chosen Eliza was because she had spent time in the same caribbean island he did around the time the baby was conceived. I thought he went to a lot of trouble to find and convince Eliza when he could have found some anonymous woman and and have her lie about it. It's not like anyone could say he and Eliza had spent time together then...

She at first mistakes his proposal for something else but eventually accepts to play the part of his wife. Edward is totally mistaken about who Eliza is and what are her interests and she sets out to show him she is a total air head and completely silly thus annoying him to no end. This part was interesting and funny because everyone else could see through her ruse and she really wasn't anything like he believed her to be. Eventually he finds out the truth, that she is a level headed woman that manages her farm with competence besides being a renowned author. Although Eliza has already been in love with him for sometime, it's just then that Edward realises he has feelings for her.

There was a paragraph near the end that totally jolted me out of the story though, Edward refers to Eliza's breasts as udders. She really likes animals, especially cows but somehow that comment seemed totally inappropriate and really modern (weird)sounding.

Grade: 3/5

The Emerald Necklace - Diana Brown

A tragedy of errors. The first error was one of pride - pride that made Lady Leonora spurn the loving attentions of her commoner husband for the frivolous company of her aristocratic friends. The second error was one of vanity - the kind of vanity that made a beautiful young woman an easy victim for the flattery of an all-too-worldly admirer. The third error was one of loyalty - loyalty to a father who would sell anything, even his daughter's honor, to save his own. For Leonora and Etienne Lambert, those were just the opening errors in a battle royal of willful misunderstanding that would give the word marriage a whole new meaning.

Another very emotional story this one starts with a marriage of convenience between a wealthy cit and a ruined nobleman’s daughter. Leonora is married against her will to save her father from debts to a man she dislikes. One sees from the beginning that Etienne, her husband, is very much in love with his wife and tries to please her but Leonora is a childish and selfish young girl and is unable to find any contentment in her marriage despite the fact that she does have an attractive and attentive husband. She keeps being influenced by her snobbish friends and can’t seem to think for herself. Although Etienne is very patient with her it comes to a point where she disappoints him so many times that he decides to give up. Unfortunately for Leonora one of the friends is only snob till she finds herself attracted to Etienne and Leonora finds herself unprepared to deal with that situation. We only see her grow up in fact when she runs away and has to fend for herself. Unlike other romance heroes Etienne, the husband, doesn’t follow her when that happens but seems to realize that maybe his wedding will never be what he wanted to.

This leads to a long separation between them and offers Leonora the possibility of growing up and make up her mind about what she wants. Since we see how Eleonora has changed and matured it is double hard to see her apparently betrayed by both her friend and her husband. Unfortunately the actions of both of them are coloured by the bitterness and distrust from the beginning. Even more than in The Sandalwood Fan, Brown does make her characters suffer either by their own actions or by easily explained misunderstandings. It’s a rollercoaster of emotions reading this story and one gets almost to the end without knowing how a HEA will come about. If there’s a complaint I have is that the ending was wrapped up too quickly and we deserved a better developed one.
Grade: 4.5/5

DANCING WITH CLARA - MARY BALOGH

A Lady Without Illusions

Miss Clara Danford had no illusions about Frederick Sullivan. She knew that this magnificently handsome gentleman was a rake whose women were legion and whose gambling debts were staggering. She also knew why he wished to wed her. It was not for the beauty and grace she did not have, but for her fortune, which would rescue the dazzling wastrel from ruin. Should she refuse and lose her one chance to have such a splendid mate? Or should she accept a proposal made with lips that lied as skillfully as they kissed? One thing was sure. Clara might have no illusions to lose--but she would have to be careful not to lose her heart.

I have to begin by saying that I really love this book, it still amazes me, after having read it a few times, that from such poor premises – Poor Little Plain Cripple Rich Girl meets Best Rogue in Town Prince Charming, they get Married, and Every Problem / Character Flaw is solved and they live Happily Ever After. I honestly didn't believe a book like that could work, and I only read it because it was written by Mary Balogh and because the heroine was crippled – something not so often encountered in romances.
But hey, this time I was proved wrong! The heroine did NOT inspire pity and the hero did not abandon his rakish ways after spending 5 minutes in the heroine's sainted company.

So, the heroine, Clara, is a girl who spends all her time in a wheeled chair because of a grave illness that left her with very little power in her legs. The lack of knowledge at the time about this type of affliction caused an aggravation of the problem, and she is presently incapable to walk. On top of it, she doesn't boast of the best of looks, she's very pale and ill looking. Not a beauty. But lucky for her, she has money. So, when the very beautiful rake of a hero comes her way, she takes the opportunity and accepts his proposal of marriage. She knows he has not even warm feelings for her, he is a gamester, a drunkard now and then, he is even lying in her face when proposing, there is nothing to recommend him except for his looks. But this is exactly why she wants him, she wants a little beauty in her life, she is conscious of her needs as a woman and intends to act upon them by marrying this handsome man. That's something I really liked in the heroine - she treats all this like a fair trade: she gives the money he needs for his debts and she receives a little of his time and company.

The hero is not quite such a blackguard as we are let to believe. I could not see him as a villain even in “Courting Julia”, but it's true that he does not behave in a gentlemanly way, he sort of knows it, and he's ashamed of it. I think this is the central drama of the book, and the story is more about him, than about the heroine (despite the title). He was once just a careless youth who started living a little too wild, started having many debts, and tried to solve his problems by doing something he should not have (can't write about it, it would be a spoiler for “Courting Julia”). And now, because he is basically decent at heart, he suffers for it, thinks of himself as a villain, and keeps living in a wild way. So I see the story as the classical plot – Redemption of the Rake, but done in a very nice, believable way. Freddie is in a deep pit, and the process of redemption is quite slow, and evolves in a credible way. He does not abandon his ways at first sight of the heroine, and not even after they get married, he keeps drinking, playing cards and he is even an adulterer (which by the way, seems to be quite a taboo in romances, and I don't why since extra conjugal sexual relationships were in full bloom in that period!). But he does get better eventually, and to witness it step by step is truly a nice reading experience.

Grade: 4.5/5

The Ideal Wife - Mary Balogh

Just after the Earl of Severn has vowed that if the plainest, dullest, most ordinary female in England were to be set before him he would marry her without further ado, Abigail Gardiner calls on him at his town house. The strong-minded Abigail is a distant cousin of the earl's and has been driven, much against the grain, to seek his aid. To do so, she has decided to dress as plainly as possible and to act the part of a dull brown mouse. The inevitable inevitably happens!

I must say I enjoyed it very much. First of all it's a marriage of convencience story and I just can't resist those. And then it has a really nice hero! To flee the marriage project his mother and sisters have for him Miles decides to marry the first plain and quiet woman that he finds.

And that is exactly what he does! He soon finds out that his wife is nothing like he thought and in fact all his plans end up upside down. But as he falls in love with his wife he is such a caring and attentive husband that nothing, not even the troubles she gets into, makes him change his atitude.

Their relationship evolves troughout the book but it's mostly about Abigail revealing her true personality and Miles acceptance of it even if it's not what he was expecting.

Although Abigail has some secrets in the closet ( and some tendence for sacrificing herself in the name of the family)this makes for a light and easy read with a very sweet romance.

I can't resist mentioning that I much prefer these traditional regencies to some of Balogh's later books. These characters feel so much more true to their time...

Grade: 4.5/5.