Category: Regency Era (1811-1820)

The Regency in Great Britain was a period when King George III was deemed unfit to rule and his son ruled as his proxy as Prince Regent. On the death of George III in 1820, the Prince Regent became George IV. The term Regency can refer to various stretches of time; some are longer than the decade of the formal Regency which lasted from 1811–1820.
Preceded by: Georgian era
Followed by: Victorian era
Monarch: George III, George IV, William IV

The Ghost and Miss Miranda by Jane Charles

On By TracyIn Georgian Era (1714-1837), Historical Paranormal/Fantasy, Novella, Paranormal / Fantasy, Regency Era (1811-1820), Tracy's ReviewsLeave a comment

The Ghost and Miss Miranda (Magic and Mayhem, #4)The Ghost and Miss Miranda by Jane Charles

Tracy’s rating: 4 of 5 stars

Series: Magic and Mayhem, #4 (Previously published in Wicked Liaisons Anthology)

Release Date: March 16, 2021

When Wesley Claxton, Marquess of Epworth first met Miss Miranda Vail, he assumed she was a silly girl because she believed in ghosts, but in time he realized that he was wrong about her and the two formed a strong friendship, but Wesley longs for a deeper connection and has spent the last three years trying to court her without actually declaring his intentions. Finally, an opportunity to test the waters arrives when they both attend a wedding at Castle Keyvnor. He finds Miranda alone by a wishing well and when she makes her wish, she stumbles – he saves her and initiates a kiss. He is sure she returns his feelings and makes her promise to meet him later at the ball and asks her to save a waltz for him. But when she doesn’t show and her family makes lame excuses as to why, he assumes she was turned off by his kiss and decides they aren’t meant to be, so despite breaking his heart, he vows to stay away from her.

Three months later, Miranda still can’t understand why she hasn’t heard from Wesley. They shared a passionate kiss and she thought he might return her feelings – she was disappointed that her wish to meet a ghost at Keyvnor turned ugly and the ghost forced her to leave the castle grounds immediately under the threat of death. She knows Wesley doesn’t believe in ghosts, but the entity she encountered was pure evil and she knew if she didn’t leave, the ghost would kill her. Still, she hoped that he would call on her and give her a chance to explain, but he doesn’t and she believes that she was mistaken about his intentions. She vows she will forget him and tries to concentrate on her sister’s upcoming wedding.

Wesley still hasn’t gotten over Miranda but refuses to attend her sister’s wedding, that is until his father says he can’t go and his grandmother insists he goes in his father’s stead. He both dreads and longs to see Miranda again – but their reunion is marred by a shipwreck and the threat of revenge between their villages and his refusal to believe Miranda’s reason for not attending the ball. It appears that HEA is not in the cards for these two, despite being in love. But thanks to interfering relatives – both dead and alive, these two may get their HEA after all.

This was a well-written, nicely-paced story with a large helping of the supernatural. The book has ghosts, both benign and evil, witches, sea gods that need appeasing, heartache, a lot of miscommunication, erroneous assumptions, kissing, and a HEA with an epilogue that is both sad and sweet. Personally, I felt the lack of communication between Wesley and Miranda dragged on a little too long and got to be a bit tiresome, but it all works out in the end and overall I felt the story was very good, interesting, and a little bit spooky. This is the fourth book in the series and has ties to the Castle Keyvnor anthologies (it was also previously released in the Wicked Liaison Anthology) – but it can easily be read as a standalone title without issue.

*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC that I requested and was provided to me by the publisher. All opinions in this review are my own.*

To Have A Highland Thief by Lori Ann Bailey

On By BarbaraIn Barb's Reviews, Regency Era (1811-1820)Leave a comment

To Have a Highland Thief (Wicked Highland Misfits, #1)
Barbara’s rating: 4 of 5 stars

Series: Wicked Highland Misfits #1
Publication Date: 3/16/21
Number of Pages: 297

Flora MacGregor has a heart as big as the sky. Her first thought is always of helping or doing for someone else. She is also a thief. She doesn’t want to be a thief; she just doesn’t have any alternative. Family is everything to her and while hers isn’t one of blood, they are still as important to her as if they were blood. She’ll do whatever she has to in order to protect them. With one of her older ‘brothers’ in danger and all of them facing eviction, she knows she has to come up with a great deal of money. Boy did she ever luck up – she just made a huge score off the English dandy whose pocket she just picked. At least, she thought she was in luck until the dandy tracked her down and dragged her back to his hotel room to force her to tell him what she’d done with his treasure.

Isaac Nathaniel Hamilton, 7th earl of Dunbridge, has just earned back the fortune his uncle lost at cards. He’s spent years tracking down the man who won the fortune and now he’s in Scotland and has just won it back. He’s so pleased with himself that he’s walking down the street with a wide self-satisfied smile on his face. Even better, the most ravishing woman has just bumped into him and their touch lingered. What a good day! Well – it was a good day until he realized that the box with the deeds and jewels is missing. Why that thieving little minx! He’ll just track her down and make her return it all.

After he finds her and brings her back to his hotel room, he tries to coerce her into showing him where she has hidden his property. She’s not quite as easy to coerce as he would have thought. She’s beautiful and the attraction is strong – but she’s also stubborn and determined not to return his property. She’s convinced he doesn’t need it and she knows she does need it to save her family. As the danger to Flora rears its ugly head, Isaac knows he has to keep her safe – even if it means dragging her out of Aberdeen and off to a house party among members of the ton.

They have a strong attraction that turns into love. She wants to protect him – and he wants to protect her – so maybe they can protect each other. Of course, she also wants to protect her ‘brother’ and that brings danger to all of them.

I enjoyed this story and I’m glad I read it. I do think it is highly improbable though. A thief, raised in the streets of Aberdeen, still manages to be clean, neat, and smell like strawberries. That just doesn’t seem possible. Then, she attends a house party among members of the ton and finds acceptance. Her manners, speech, etc. must have been so far afield that both of them would have been asked to leave. None of that kept me from enjoying the story – it was just incongruous for the time (1811).

I’m looking forward to the next book in the series, To Covet a Highland Criminal, because it features the ‘brother’ who was in need of saving – Bran. I hope you enjoy the read.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.