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

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

Lessons In Love - Ellen Fitzgerald

A most shocking proposal. Miss Diana Forsythe was prepared for almost anything but this from Sir Sabin Mallory. Her heart had melted at her first meeting with this handsome lord newly arrived in London, and she was prepared to be his guide in the ways of the world and society. Now he asked her to be still more. He asked her to help him win the heart and hand of Lady Aurora Marchant, the most irresistible and haughty beauty in London. As a young lady of breeding, Diana could not bring herself to refuse Sir Sabin's heartfelt request. But as a young woman of feeling, she had to find a way to cure the lovesick lord of the folly of loving anyone but herself.

Another interesting and different traditional regency. This one is centered the heroine, Diana, the daughter of an actress who knows next to nothing of her father, is determined to be a proper young lady and work as a governess. She hides the fact that she is the daughter of an actress and probably illegitimate from her employers although she does love her mother and visits her at the theatre.

On one of those visits Diana meets Sir Sabin, a gentleman newly returned from America who has his heart and his head in the right place but lacks a certain town polish. Sir Sabin is a friend of Diana's employer and they eventually meet again and he tells her how in love he is by his friend’s older sister (and sister to Diana's charges) and asks for her help in teaching him to dress, dance and every other detail needed to impress in polite society. Diana find a young man to help him but agrees to go with him to some dances so he can practice, although this allows them to spend some time together and get to know each other better it's also a danger to Diana's reputation and they have to keep it a secret. But the lessons pay off and soon Sir Sabin manages to impress the young lady he is love with. Unfortunately she is not exactly a nice person and when she suspects that there's more to Diana's relationship to Sir Sabin than what is proper she is summarily dismissed.

The second half of the book is quite interesting and filled with new developments regarding Diana's life. However I felt the book lost a bit with the fact that this second half is mostly devoted to the heroine. Seeing that this is a romance one can expect more emphasis in one character than the other but especially in the first half. This way we lacked the development of their relationship.

Diana is at first miserable for having lost her job and because she has recognized her feelings for Sabin but she finally discovers who her father is and that in fact she is not illegitimate which naturally makes her happy. Unfortunately for her Sabin sees her with her father and believes him to be her lover and treats very badly. Nonetheless Diana is determined to enjoy her father's company and if needed be forget Sir Sabin so she agrees to go live with her father, an Earl, at his estate. It is obvious that Diana's parents still love each other and some sort of misunderstanding kept them apart all those years.

Not everything is perfect though and Diana starts being pressured by her father to marry the son of a cherished friend which Diana refuses to do. Part of the action is devoted to her trying to get away from said young man, who was not a nice person, and she ends up being rescued from that betrothal her father wants her to enter by her mother and her fellow actors who put up quite a performance. And Sir Sabin, who has in the mean time, realized his true feelings for Diana and the awful Aurora's true character finally arrives so that the misunderstanding can be solved.

Although the story seemed original I think it lacked more interaction between the main characters. More time devoted to the growth of their relationship. People interested in the theatre world might find this one interesting.

Grade: 3.5/5