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

How the Lady was Won by Shana Galen

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

How the Lady Was Won (The Survivors, #7)How the Lady Was Won by Shana Galen

Tracy’s rating: 5 of 5 stars

Series: The Survivors, #7

Release Date: February 11, 2020

Lady Daphne has not seen or heard from her husband, Colin FitzRoy in seven years, as he went off to war shortly after their very lackluster wedding night, even though he has been back in England for over a year. She was angry and hurt by his desertion and is not thrilled that her mother the Duchess of Warcliffe has harassed him into helping her out of her current spot of trouble.

Colin FitzRoy is known as the Pretender in the Survivors, he is able to blend in anywhere, a trait he is using to its full advantage as he watches his wife at a ball. Daphne is a lovely woman and is revered in the ton as one of the three “suns”, a trio of very popular and influential women. She is dangerous to his peace of mind, so Colin’s plan is to solve Daphne’s problem as quickly as possible and then disappear again. It isn’t that he dislikes his wife, in fact the problem is that he does and that she makes him feel things, she stirs up feelings that he doesn’t was to think about or feel. So the sooner he can help her, the better. But Daphne isn’t going to make it easy and when you throw in a duchess hell-bent on seeing her daughter settled, a Scotsman on the hunt for a wife, fellow survivors insisting on discussing feelings, an aging pug, a very nasty villain and a sassy street urchin, it is clear that Colin’s life is never going to be the same.

This was a well written, fast paced, fun read. I loved Daphne and Colin, they were both likable and intelligent, I loved that even though Colin’s first impulse was to bolt, he tried to consider Daphne’s feelings, even though “feelings” clearly terrified him. It was amusing watching Colin convince himself that he wasn’t in love. And Daphne was a delightful heroine, she is not perfect, but she is forgiving, patient and kind. I love that she didn’t give up on Colin, but neither did she turn into a doormat or waste away pining for him, and while she was angry and hurt, she didn’t become petty and hurtful in return. I also liked that she wasn’t stupid enough to think that she didn’t need Colin’s help, but it was her problem, she owned it and while she would accept help, she wasn’t going to let him push her aside to take care of it. This was a great book with witty dialogue, steamy love scenes, great secondary characters, kidnapping, a heroine who can hold her own and finally a very HEA. This is the seventh book in the series, but it can easily be read as a stand-alone title. I loved this book and I happily recommend this entire series.

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

For The Sake Of A Scottish Rake by Anna Bradley

On By BarbaraIn Barb's Reviews, Regency Era (1811-1820)2 Comments

ForTheSakeOfAScottishRakeBarbara’s Rating: 5 of 5 Stars
Series: Besotted Scots #3
Publication Date: 2/18/20
Number of Pages: 320

This was an enjoyable, but perhaps perplexing read.  I enjoy the author’s writing style and I liked the premise of the story, but I didn’t care for the resolution.  I LOVED that we got three romances for the price of one.  I didn’t feel that the two additional romances detracted from the main romance at all since they mostly took place in the background.  You knew they were happening, but they weren’t “in your face”.

We first met the Ramsey family in the final book of this author’s Somerset Sisters, More Or Less A Temptress.  Three siblings, Lachlan, Isla, and Ciaran had to flee their home in Scotland when Lachlan was falsely accused of murder.  At that same time, their mother told them that they had a brother, Finn, in England – and he is the Marquess of Huntington.  As she lay dying, their mother urged them to flee to England and find their brother.  Since then, we’ve seen Isla find her HEA in The Wayward Bride, and now, finally, the match I’ve been waiting for, Ciaran.

Of the Ramsey siblings, the one who was most affected by having to leave Scotland was Ciaran.  In the year since they left, he has only half lived.  He’s been listless, restless, bored and unhappy – especially since his siblings wed and they now have lives of their own.  Ciaran longs to return to Scotland and to see if he can reunite with his betrothed who jilted him before Ciaran had to leave.  His siblings have just encouraged him to accompany a couple of older ladies to Brighton to assure their safety.  Little does he know that his life is about to be turned upside down.

Lady Lucinda (Lucy) Sutcliffe is the daughter of the Earl of Bellamy.  Her father developed a neurosis after his wife was killed by a highwayman and everybody thought him mad.  Basically, he walled himself and Lucy off from the world.  Lucy had lived in isolation until her father passed away and she transferred into the care of her Uncle Jarvis.  Lucy isn’t wild, exactly, she’s just exuberant to be out of isolation and to be able to enjoy the world.  In her enthusiasm, and naivete, she finds herself in a couple of situations that lead someone else (read that Ciaran) to believe that she needed rescuing.  She didn’t, she had a plan, but you can’t argue with someone who is the size of a house.  And, actually, she does need rescuing, she just doesn’t know it yet.

I loved their first meeting.  It was entertaining and funny and sets the pace for many of their interactions.  I loved how smart and resourceful Lucy was – with one minor blip when she did the required TSTL action.  However, she soon overcame that and was back to her resourceful self – and rescued herself.

What didn’t I like?  Well, as I mentioned earlier, I didn’t like the resolution.  There was a very, very, vile villain – I mean despicable (just wait until you read all he does) – and he gets absolutely no, none, nada, zip, zilch punishment.  Actually, it felt to me as if he were rewarded.  At the very least he could have had to flee to the continent – but – I would have preferred that someone hang him upside down from a tree with his nose in a red ant bed – then dribble him with honey and let the ants take care of the rest.  Sorry, did I mention he was vile?

The thing that perplexed me was how Jarvis came to be her guardian.  Her father was an earl, and whoever inherited the earldom would have been her nearest male relative.  So, why wasn’t the new earl her guardian?  Jarvis didn’t inherit the earldom, so how could he be her nearest male relative?  Jarvis could have been her mother’s brother I guess, but, still, things just don’t run through the mother’s side.  If nobody inherited the title, the estate would have reverted to the crown, so how would she have inherited Bellamy House?  Maybe Bellamy house was a smaller, unentailed property, but it was where she and the earl lived, so I can’t imagine it being unentailed.  It was just that that particular scenario didn’t make sense to me.  No real explanations were provided.

All-in-all, it was an enjoyable read with delightful characters, witty moments, tense moments, and a lovely romance – or three.

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