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

Taming A Christmas Wallflower by Tammy Andresen

On By BarbaraIn Barb's Reviews, Novella, Regency Era (1811-1820)3 Comments

Taming a Christmas Wallflower (Taming the Duke's Heart Book 7)Taming a Christmas Wallflower by Tammy Andresen

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Series: Taming the Heart #7
Publication Date: 12/4/18
Number of Pages: 90

This is a delightfully romantic short novella. The story is excellently told. Being a short novella, you might think that you’d feel as if you were missing a part of the story, but you don’t. You feel as if you get to know the characters and can understand their connection. We actually got a romance and a half, so I’m hoping that we get the other half in a later novella. Otherwise, I’ll be sad to have missed it.

Lady Amelia Chase is a wallflower because she is very shy and very, very intelligent. She spends her time reading books and she tends to quote facts from those books when she is nervous in a social situation. When she does that, eyes glass over, people glance around and soon find an excuse to leave her company. So, she is happy to spend her time against the wall conversing with her friend, Lady Ethel Stark, who has a physical deformity from a childhood illness. Both ladies are lovely, well dowered and they come from excellent titled families – yet, nobody seeks them out.

William Maddox is the oldest son of a very wealthy shipping company owner. He hadn’t been thinking of marriage, but he has been thinking that some of his activities and friendships need to change since they are getting stale – particularly his friendship with Lord Riley. He might even have to re-think his friendship with Michael Wayne unless his attitude changed.

Will and Michael are attending a house party near Will’s country estate for some Christmastide entertainment. Will let himself get suckered into a bet with their friend Lord Riley and regretted it as soon as it happened. However, it was done and he’d keep his word – at least he thought he would before he met the lovely Lady Amelia. The bet was to manage to get a kiss from either Amelia or Ethel.

Will is immediately drawn to Amelia and Michael is drawn to Ethel. As Will and Michael spend time with the ladies, they find that they want more than just winning a bet. Will the bet come back to haunt them? Can they court and win the ladies of their choice? It is a really delightful and romantic read.

I thoroughly enjoyed the story, but, as always, it is filled with errors of one sort or another. The author also uses a monetary (or other) term that I just don’t understand. The wager was for one thousand galleons. What is that? Surely it isn’t a wager for ships – that would surely be a whopper of a bet. So, is it some kind of money? I don’t know, but it just jarred me a bit every time I read the word.

I hope you will enjoy the story.

Please check out my reviews at:
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“I requested and received this e-book at no cost to me and volunteered to read it; my review is my honest opinion and given without any influence by the author or publisher.”

The Desperate Duke by Sheri Cobb South

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The Desperate Duke (Weaver Book 4)The Desperate Duke by Sheri Cobb South
Barbara’s rating: 4 of 5 stars
Series: Weaver #4
Publication Date: 12/15/18
Number of Pages: 180

This delightful addition to the Weaver series is excellently written, well-plotted and the characters are fully relatable. I adored our hero’s growth toward maturity and responsibility and fully appreciated Sir Ethan Brundy’s hand in making that happen. Oh! And lest I forget, the book has one of my favorite things – an epilogue. This epilogue is really, really special, so you’ll have to be sure to read that – because I’m not going to tell you about it.

This is the fourth book in the series and I have not read the first three so I can tell you that it can easily be read as a stand-alone. However, reading this one just made me want to go back and read the earlier books – especially the first one, The Weaver Takes A Wife. The heroine in that book is the sister of the hero in this book and she and her husband make appearances in this story.

Theo is the typical spoiled, and aloof aristocrat who has no clue how the world works. He just knows that his every need and want is met – like magic. He never has to give a thought to how that happens or who provides it. He’s twenty-three, handsome, charming, and the heir to the Duke of Reddington. While his father is a bit of an ogre, Theo doesn’t want to lose him. However, that is exactly why he has been summoned from London – his father is dying. Theo doesn’t believe it because his father has pulled that stunt before only to be perfectly fine when Theo arrives. This time though, it is different – the doctor says that his father really only has a short time to live. Theo is in no way ready for that to happen.

After his father’s death and the funeral, Theo basically runs away. He is totally and completely overwhelmed by the demands of the dukedom. The estate steward goes over interminable lists of crop yields and repairs needed. Theo can’t handle it and heads for his horse and London – and the beginning of his troubles. He spends too much and gambles too deeply – and loses – and then discovers that he cannot touch a dime of his inheritance until the estate is totally through probate. How is he going to pay his debts? Well, luckily for him, he has a rich brother-in-law and Theo just knows that he will loan him the money. When his brother-in-law first says a flat-out NO, Theo is aghast. Finally, his brother-in-law agrees but puts a very tough stipulation on the loan. Can Theo meet those terms?

Miss Daphne Drinkard’s family is not titled, but she was born and raised as a gentlewoman. At least she was until her father died just before her Season and they discovered that the dedicated, loving, laughing, happy family man they thought him to be wasn’t real. He was a deep, hard gambler – cards, horses – he didn’t care. Except he usually lost. When he died, everything except their home had to be sold off to pay the debts. Daphne went from happily awaiting her Season to working with her mother in the boarding house they had to open. It distressed Daphne to see their lovely home turned into a boarding house and to have to give up the bedroom she had decorated herself. They were making do, but life wasn’t easy and there were certainly no prospects for a good marriage.

When Theo arrived at the boarding house he was in disguise as just a plain cotton mill worker. He was in second-hand clothes, but he was still handsome and the other boarders took to him right away. He and Daphne are drawn to each other, but he doesn’t have time for a relationship with the number of hours he’s putting in at the mill and Daphne’s mother won’t let her have anything to do with a common millworker.

Something is afoot with the workers at the mill, but Theo doesn’t know what. Whatever it is, it isn’t good and Theo knows that he must handle the issue because Sir Ethan isn’t answering his letter.

It was delightful to see Theo grow up and come to respect the lives that others lead. The shift in circumstance was so drastic – from privilege to millworker – that you could almost feel sorry for Theo. However, he handled it well and learned how to be a good human being and not just another wastrel aristocrat.

I thoroughly enjoyed this sweet, clean romance and I hope you will as well.

Please check out my reviews at:
Blog: https://flippinpages.blog/
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/flippinpages…
Twitter: https://twitter.com/FlippinPagesRev
Twitter: https://twitter.com/BarbBookReview

“I requested and received this e-book at no cost to me and volunteered to read it; my review is my honest opinion and given without any influence by the author or publisher.”