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

Beguiled at the Wedding by Deb Marlowe, Jane Charles & Virginia Heath

On By TracyIn Anthology, Author Collaboration Series, Georgian Era (1714-1837), Novella, Regency Era (1811-1820), Tracy's ReviewsLeave a comment

Beguiled at the Wedding (A Summer Wedding at Castle Keyvnor Book 2)Beguiled at the Wedding by Deb Marlowe

Tracy’s rating: 5 of 5 stars

Series: A Summer Wedding at Castle Keyvnor, #2

Release Date: May 22, 2020

This anthology was another delightful addition to the fabulous Castle Keyvnor series!

Miss Penneck & the Pixie Poem by Deb Marlowe – 4 stars – A sweet romance between a bookshop owner and a progressive printer, aided by a book loving Pixie. This well written, fast-paced novella opens with Puff, a young Pixie who loves stories and who is still trying to figure out her magic, fifty years later she still hasn’t figured it out, but has attached herself to the local bookshop, owned by Miss Lowenna Penneck. Lowenna hasn’t been in Brocka Morrow long, she learned of the empty shop and leased it from the Earl at Keyvnor Castle. She has settled in with her widower father, who is still grieving the loss of his beloved wife. Lowenna hopes the shop will be the fresh start they both need. Ruan Trevellick arrives in Brocka Morrow looking to make a fresh start too. He is a printer and was invited to set up shop in the village by the Countess. Imagine his surprise when he finds a bookshop in his space! A trip to the castle confirms that they were both promised the space and the Earl and Countess promise to make things right. In the meantime, Lowenna offers to let him set up his press in her back room – an offer he gladly accepts. Things progress quickly between them and seem to be going well, until Ruan’s past catches up with him and he may have to give up the woman he loves to save her! It will take the help of a Pixie to give these two their HEA. A completely wonderful story with cameos from previous characters, Pixies, sweet kissing love scenes, a nasty villain and a wonderful HEA.

A Spirited Courtship by Jane Charles – 4 stars – A sweet second chance love story featuring Diana Vail and James Bryant, the Earl of Somerton. Diana has fallen in love with James and believes he loves her too, until she overhears his friends speculating about his relationship with Diana – they are sure he is just using her to keep his matchmaking momma at bay, they also hear that James slept with Diana’s widowed mother!! Diana is so distraught by this news that she finds James, slaps him and tells him she never wants to see him again! Months pass as they meet again at the wedding of Lady Gwyn at Castle Keyvnor. James hasn’t gotten over Diana and has no idea why she was so upset, he was going to let her go, but seeing her again stirs up his feelings and he wants answers!! Throw in a trio of ghosts that need to break a curse by helping a maiden find true love and you have a very fun story! This novella was well written, fun read with kissing only love scenes, a stubborn heroine, meddling ghosts, witches, gypsies, a pixie or ten and a nail biting ending.

Written in the Stars by Virginia Heath – 5 stars – Of the three, this second chance romance was my favorite. Five years ago Cecily Grimshaw and Spencer Tremayne were madly in love and on the brink of marriage when Chaos wreaked havoc on their HEA. Cecily sees a woman leaving Spencer’s house in a wanton display of dishabille and she imagines the worst – she writes a letter breaking with him and quits her job as governess to get away from him. He is stunned and heartbroken, he had planned to marry her and practice law, but in his despair he gives up his dreams and joins the military – keeping them apart for five long years. The Powers that Be need to set this couple back on track and only have two weeks to do it – Serendipity assures Destiny, Luck, Cupid and Reason that she has it well in hand – she has set her plan in motion to reunited the lovers, they are not convinced until they learn that she has them set to meet again in Brocka Morrow and Castle Keyvnor and with a little help from a fairy – Serendipity is sure she will prevail – after all, she hasn’t missed a deadline in 10,000 years!! This was such a sweet story, with wonderful characters, magic, witty banter, touching flashbacks and a sweet HEA.

This is an ongoing series of interconnected stories, but they can all be read as stand alone novellas and I promise if you read one, you will want to read them all!!

*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC that was provided to me*

Masquerade at Middlecrest Abbey by Abigail Wilson

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

Masquerade at Middlecrest AbbeyBarbara’s rating: 4 of 5 stars

Series: None listed
Publication Date: 5/26/20
Number of Pages: 336

This is my first book by Abigail Wilson and I’m wondering how I managed to miss her first three books. This was a wonderful read! The mystery was outstanding and the suspects were many and varied. While I loved the mystery, I didn’t really see enough interactions between the couple to see the romance. Perhaps that is because the book is written in first person, so we only see one person’s perspective on the interactions. One thing that puzzled me was that it isn’t listed as being part of a series, but it obviously is. I enjoyed this book so much I went back to see what books she had written previously – with the intent of buying those to read as well. As I read the descriptions of those previous books, I realized that those same people were mentioned in the book I’d just read. You can definitely read this book as a standalone, but I would have enjoyed knowing it was part of a series and perhaps reading the earlier books first.

Miss Elizabeth Cantrell was used and tossed aside by the father of her child. More fortunate than most, she had found refuge with some family members. However, her baby is eleven months old and it is time for her to be on her own and make a life for herself and baby Isaac. She is in a coach headed toward a new position as housekeeper — Then – a highwayman attacks – the coach crashes – she is injured and unconscious – and awakens in a room at an inn – with the highwayman sharing the room as her husband. Uh-Oh. Then – he offers her a marriage of convenience. Say What!

Baron Adrian Torrington has been a widower for almost twenty years and a spy for the Crown for nearly that long as well. When he is sent to stop a coach carrying a message to the French, things go terribly awry and the coach crashes injuring a lovely young woman. With her unconscious and people approaching, he does the only thing he feels he can do – he removes her from the scene and takes her to the nearest inn – as her husband. Besides – she was conscious long enough to see his face and recognize him. In order to protect himself and her, he offers her a marriage of convenience.

Has he just brought danger into his own home? When threatening notes appear and death happens, it appears the answer is yes. Or – was the danger there all along and he’s just brought an innocent young woman and her babe into it? Adrian and Elizabeth grow closer as they work together to solve the murder, find the spies, and thwart the French mission. As you learn the backstories of Adrian and Elizabeth you come to admire them and the way they’ve managed to overcome the adversities and betrayals in their lives. I really liked both of them and was glad to see them find each other.

This was an entertaining read, and I will definitely be purchasing this author’s earlier works and reading them as well. Then, I can’t wait to find out what the next book will be. My only issue is that I didn’t really see the romance – it was just suddenly there. They had few interactions, and those were short and all ‘business’ rather than personal – yet, they were suddenly madly in love. Again, I think some of that is lack of page time for the romance and the lack of perspective from Adrian’s side because it was written in first person from Elizabeth’s point of view. I believe Adrian was the first to be totally smitten, but we never actually got to see that part. I deducted one star because the romance portion was just not quite what I like to see.

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