vintageromancereader: (Default)
2030-12-31 11:59 pm

About Me


Historical romance is my first love when it comes to fiction. I've read it for most of my life. My gateway in to the subgenre was Julia Quinn's now-famous Bridgerton series; from there, I went on to read her entire backlist and other Avon authors, before expanding out into the wider world of mass market paperbacks and romance imprints. I slowly expanded into other subgenres as well, as I found more and more auto-read (and auto-buy!) authors.

Over the last five to ten years, modern historical romance has started moving in directions I don't particularly care for (namely, leaving out the actual "history" aspect), so, aside from a clutch of favorite, trusted authors, I've started looking back in time for my "new" reads.

In 2018, I started treating myself to a monthly haul of new goodies from Harlequin. Because modern Harlequin books only have one print run, and because I am an old-school completionist collector, I started looking for my favorite authors' backlists in print on the secondhand market. Quite a few of these authors wrote for other imprints, and I quickly rediscovered traditional Regency romances. Bumping into these again made me realize how much I missed reading this subgenre, which has all but died out in the 21st century. 🙁

One of my favorite hobbies is scouring secondhand stores and library sales for old series titles and discontinued imprints, like the Zebra Gothic line. I've found some true vintage gems as well, novels from the 1940s or even earlier. I've amassed over 100 vintage romance titles over the last couple of years, and I wanted to share these lovelies with the world.

I read a wide variety of books these days, and am active on Goodreads, but I wanted to collect my vintage romance reviews to showcase separately. I also need some incentive to jump back into romance after the 2020 pandemic turned my world completely upside down and wrecked all of my reading plans. Curating this blog has definitely reignited that spark for me! 😍

A few notes on my reviewing habits:
[+] I have no set reading schedule, and tend to follow my reading muse wherever it takes me, so updates may be sporadic.
[+] I am a huge supporter of libraries and digital books, so I don't own all of the books I've read and reviewed. I see no distinction between books I've borrowed and books I own when it comes to reviewing.
[+] The covers in the posts are the original covers of the books unless otherwise noted, usually with [year reprint].
[+] I don't have a set reviewing style, so you will find everything from venting to pro/con lists to traditional summaries-and-thoughts rambles.
[+] I rate on the 5-star system. Reviews without a star grade are DNFs (did not finish).
[+] I don't mark for spoilers here.

If you are interested in seeing all of my thoughts on reading, I am on Goodreads here.

Think you'd love a book I didn't? I put my non-keepers on Paperback Swap. You can browse my bookshelf here.

Want to sneak a peek at my ridiculous Mount TBR? Take a gander at my LibraryThing.
vintageromancereader: (Default)
2025-06-02 04:42 pm

Bonus Post: Miss Lacey's Last Fling


The Mouse That Roared

Rosalind Lacey is a woman with a mission. Having sacrificed her youthful opportunities to family obligations, she's ready to make the most of her long-postponed London Season. Unlike most single ladies, Rosalind isn't husband hunting. She intends to enjoy all the attractions of the city - but on her own terms, for her own reasons. And her free-spirited Aunt Fanny is just the woman to show a girl all the nice - and naughty - things London as to offer...

Max Devenant has reached the top of his profession - if rakehood could be considered a calling. But he's grown bored with his dissolute lifestyle. His friend Fanny's niece, Rosalind, seems an unlikely cure for his malaise, as she's certainly the mousiest of women. Only one day after her arrival, however, Rosalind is transformed into the most attractive and vivacious creature Max has ever encountered. He cannot know the cause for the change, but its effect is undeniable...


Original Publisher: Signet
Original Year of Publication: 2001
Page Count: 213

Rosalind Lacey, eldest daughter of Sir Edmund Lacey of Wycombe Hall in Devon, is indeed on a mission. She believes that she has inherited her mother's terminal illness and thus, only has a few months to live. She has taken stock of her life: she is a 26-year-old spinster who stepped into her mother's role at 14 and has pretty much raised her siblings ever since. Her two sisters are married, one brother is off to university and the youngest boys - twins - have been settled at Harrow. It's time for her to have a chance to do something for herself, and she knows just what she wants to do. She wants to go to London, during the Season, and experience all of the sights, sounds, and delights to be had. She wants her father's sister Fanny to accompany her. Fanny has long been the black sheep of the family; she has lived an extroverted, extravagant life as a wealthy widow with a string of titled lovers. If anybody can show Rosie what the Season is all about, it's Aunt Fanny.

Fanny has not been close to her brother since his marriage, and is not looking forward to the arrival of a meek little country mouse. As the novel opens, she is complaining of her plight to her friend Max Devenant, a 36-year-old rakehell who is utterly bored with life. He is so bored, in fact, that he is seriously considering taking the self-same route as his best friend, Freddie Moresby, who killed himself earlier in the year. Max keeps Moresby's suicide note tucked into his waistcoat as a reminder that there is a way out of a life not worth living.

Max is the son of Fanny's one true love, Basil Devenant, and they have known each other for years. Max is a younger son dangling at loose ends. His parents are gone, his siblings are married and/or busy with careers, and he has no especial interest in anything. He supports himself by gambling, and has focused on pleasure for the vast majority of his life.

Neither Fanny nor Max are impressed when Rosie arrives, dressed in dowdy shapeless brown, but Max immediately senses there's something beyond country mouse when he makes an outrageous pass at Rosie and she does not swoon in fear in response. Indeed, after Max leaves, Rosie tells Fanny exactly what her plans are, and that the first thing she wants to do is make herself over.

The transformation is complete in under a week, and Rosie is so pleased and excited with all the possibilities that she considers herself to be playing a role, of the dashing Rosalind, doing all the outrageous, Society-breaking things that prim and proper Rosie would never dare attempt. She is an instant hit, with her scarlet red dresses, fashionably cropped hair, and her will to try absolutely everything in sight. She even has a list of things she wishes to accomplish before she dies, and it includes driving a sporting vehicle, visiting the great museums, attending every kind of event available (both fashionable and not), and being thoroughly kissed by a rake.

Fanny is a proud mother hen as she parades Rosalind all around town, and Max finds himself just as smitten with her as the rest of the population of single men. Rosie throws caution to the wind and makes a spectacle of herself, but she could care less - she's about to die, what good is it to constrain herself to Society's ridiculous rules? And Max is everything she could ever want: kind to her, but handsome and funny as well, with a wicked wit and practiced wiles. After being thoroughly kissed, she decides she wants more - and she gets it, in one perfect evening that she will never, ever forget.

Everything is going so beautifully that not even the appearance of her university-bound brother (or her odious uncle) can stop her momentum. Rosie has told no one of her medical condition, but does consult a London physician when a few troubling symptoms begin to reappear. Only then does she learn that she does not have her mother's fatal illness - that she isn't going to die - and suddenly everything she has done over the last few months comes crashing down around her. If she's going to live, can she live with the idea of thumbing her nose at everything and everyone, of bringing shame upon herself and her family? She decides she can't, and flees back to Devon to confess everything to her father and beg his forgiveness.

Sir Edmund has taken a bit of stock himself since Rosie has been in London, and realizes that he has been a horribly neglectful parent, lost in his own grief for his wife these last twelve years. He's put so much on Rosie that he never meant to, and when Rosie tells him of her fears of dying like her mother did, he feels even worse for keeping his wife's condition a secret from the children. Edmund is a pretty spectacular father here, because he does not shame or scold or do anything other than beg Rosie's forgiveness for his own transgressions, and tells her that she deserved to have the happiness she did in London.

Rosie is beside herself with shame, however, and retreats into her country mouse shell. Even after Max finds out why she left (he was so hurt and upset, thinking it was something he did to drive her away), chases after her, and begs her to marry him, she refuses. She doesn't believe she can be the wild and devil-may-care Rosalind that she was in London, not without the death sentence hanging over her.

Edmund and Fanny conspire to bring Rosalind back to London and reconnect her with Max, believing that if they put the two back in proximity to each other, the rest will fall into place. It is a dangerous plan, but it ultimately works. Remember that suicide note that Max carries around? He accidently drops it, Rosie fears that he is the one who wrote it, and rushes off to stop him from killing himself. If he ever tells her the truth about the note (that it was written by his friend), it happens off page. This was the only bit of the story that I didn't like.

Otherwise, I found this absolutely delightful! Rosie was determined to live every day as if it were her last, and she inspired Max to realize that life could be worth living - with the right person at his side. Even Aunt Fanny seizes the day and consents to marry her own lifelong admirer at the end.

I really enjoyed the way the characters were drawn: bright, vivacious, full of life. Rosalind in London did things and said things that so many others could only dream of doing; she got to see everything she wanted and even though she was not looking for a husband, she managed to find one anyway. Rosie and Max were nicely balanced; even though Rosie was a touch too stubborn, she didn't really spend a lot of time wallowing in her shame on page. Aunt Fanny was an excellent "chaperone" and very interesting in and of herself. Rosie's dash off to London made a lot of people realize a lot of different things, and I liked that the whole family was reconciled at the end.

The prose was airy and light, events moved along at a really nice clip, and the romance was, indeed, very romantic for a trad Regency.


⭐⭐⭐⭐
vintageromancereader: (Default)
2025-05-29 06:41 pm

Miss Billings Treads the Boards


Playing a Perilous Part

Miss Katherine Billings was cast in a most unlikely role for a vicar's daughter. But beautiful Kate was an impoverished orphan - and her only escape from a lecherous employer's embraces was to go upon the stage. It was dangerous enough that a charming French playwright wanted her as his leading lady, and an ambitious impresario demanded she bare her charms to an eager audience. But when a magnificent marquess, Lord Henry Grayson, proposed that she join him in a masquerade of mating in a mock marriage, Kate found that putting on an act in public could be even more perilous in private...if the act was an act of love...


Original Publisher: Signet
Original Year of Publication: 1993
Page Count: 223

That summary is certainly a mouthful, and is rather misleading. Miss Billings had more than a one way out of her "predicament" of taking a job as a governess to a known lecher, and the head of the traveling troupe of actors she falls in with is hardly a forcible lecher himself, as is implied. But that's getting ahead of things.

The book actually opens with Henry Tewsbury-Hampton, 5th Marquess of Grayson, who is pondering a rather bleak future. He is 35 and single; a former soldier who was held in a Spanish prison for years during the war, he's lived a life of idleness for the last half decade and is now running to fat and thinning hair. He despises his heir, his nephew Algernon who is a mincing dandy who constantly overspends his allowance and begs for advances to cover his bills. He isn't too fond of his valet, either, who treats him like a naughty child. Henry finds himself facing a summer house party at his supposed best friend's estate in Yorkshire. He's dreading it, however, as he knows full well he will be pushed towards his BFF's spinster sister, whose charms he has never favored. He basically takes stock of his life in the first chapter and decides its time for a change.

So he visits his solicitor. He's going there to cut off his mincing dandy nephew, but relents at the last minute. However, his solicitor does have a favor to ask: another one of his clients is a newly orphaned woman who is in possession of a rare Giotto sketch. The solicitor mistakenly told her it wasn't worth anything, and thus wishes to correct his mistake - Miss Billings could sell the sketch and make a tidy sum and thus, wouldn't have to enter service. She is the daughter of a vicar, a man who travelled all through Europe and collected lots of art, most of it forgeries and fakes.

Grayson sees an opportunity for an adventure and agrees to convey the message to Miss Billings. He is given instruction to meet her at Wakefield, where she is travelling towards a post as a governess, and he does just that. He returns home, summarily dismisses his valet, closes up his house, and sets off.

Meanwhile, Katherine Billings is travelling on the mail coach. She enjoys the ride, for the most part, until her fellow passengers warn her that her prospective employer is a handsy lech who bothers all the women on his estate. Katherine has been through a lot in her twenty-six years and figures she can handle him. She needs the money; selling off her father's art collection only just allowed her to escape his debts.

Unfortunately, she gets off the coach in Wickford instead of Wakefield, not realizing her mistake until her expected ride doesn't show up. A gorgeous man does arrive and heads straight for her, having mistaken her for an actress he is to pick up. The two realize their mistakes on the way to the traveling acting troupe, and Katherine decides she'd rather take her chances with them than show up late at the lecher's estate. The gorgeous man is Gerald Broussard, a Frenchman who aspires to be a playwright.

Kate meets the Bladesworths, the family who makes up the majority of the troupe. She agrees to fill in for the missing actress, but only for one night - especially when she realizes they want her to play the "lusty widow" in The Taming of the Shrew. She unexpectedly enjoys herself, though, and becomes fast friends with the Bladesworths. They are a poor, traveling group out to entertain the rustics in their barns, though they have been squirreling away money to buy a ramshackle theatre in Leeds so they have a permanent home.

While Kate is playing her role, Grayson is on the road to Wakefield, and is suddenly confronted with a supposed highwayman. He thinks he recognizes him, especially after said cloaked man shoots him and gives a squeak. Grayson briefly loses consciousness and comes to in Algernon's arms. His nephew explains that he and the valet had cooked up a plan to "rob" Grayson on the road so Algernon could sweep in and save him. Grayson is not injured too badly; the shot grazed the side of his head and he's bleeding profusely, but is otherwise all right. He sends Algernon off for help, but when said nephew doesn't return, Grayson drags himself up and down the road. He finds the Bladesworths' wagons and crawls into one of them, and thus he meets Kate and the troupe.

The group agrees to keep Grayson with them, to take him to their next stop on their way to Leeds and care for him as best they can. When they arrive at an inn, Grayson and Kate enter together, and thus enter into a 'farcical' marriage. Grayson gives his name as Hal Hampton and pretends to be one of the actors who was injured while striking sets. Once word starts to spread about the missing - and possibly murdered - marquess, who left his horse and a bloody coat on the road and then vanished off the face of the earth - Grayson makes a choice: he doesn't want to be found and dragged back to his boring old life. He asks to stay with the Bladesworths and Kate, delivers his message to Kate about her Giotto sketch, and they agree to keep him in their circle, especially once a Bow Street Runner shows up and starts sniffing around.

The group go to Leeds, where the Bladesworths learn that their local partner has lost all their money and they won't be able to buy their theatre after all. Kate sells her sketch and impulsively decides to buy the theatre for the family, considering they have nowhere else to go and their non-family members have abandoned them. So Kate buys the theatre, the whole group sets out to put it to rights, and the runner continues to hang around because he knows Quality when he sees it.

Because the runner is still dogging their every move, Kate and Grayson continue to pretend to stay married. This is much to Grayson's delight and Kate's consternation. Grayson has fallen head over heels for Kate and her lovely soft bosom; she fears that he is merely larking about and will leave them once he tires of his charade. She doesn't understand why Grayson doesn't dump them and return to his rich, idle life posthaste.

Meanwhile, the Bladesworths and Gerald are hatching a plan: Gerald will write an original play for the troupe that's left and they will use that as their opening act at the newly refurbished theatre. Grayson, Kate, and even the runner, Will, are all roped into playing parts. Everyone wants to the theatre - and the play - to succeed, for various reasons, even as they continue to come up against barrier after barrier.

This is a lighthearted story, more of a farce than a comedy of errors, with lots of playacting and 'trading lines' of Shakespeare. We get to see the development not only of Kate and Grayson's feelings for each other, but two side romances for the eldest Bladesworth daughters (with Gerald the Will the runner, respectively) and everything they go through to open the theatre and make a profit from their hard work.

I really enjoyed the Bladesworth family: patriarch Malcolm; matriarch Ivy; daughters Phoebe and Maria; son Davy. They are actors through and through, and use their various skills to great use as they put the theatre back in order and rehearse their play.

I was a little less enthralled with our leads, Grayson and especially Kate, who was stubborn to a fault. The third act mess of matters was pretty much all her fault, especially once she turned her back on Grayson and refused to listen to him or read his letters. Once they actually talk, they realize they have no issues between themselves, and even a common goal. The third act also contains a kidnapping and an elopement to Gretna Greene, so it was all a bit too much action packed into the last third of the book.

This was pretty much the epitome of a "meh" read for me. Ms Kelly is an extremely talented writer, but I'm not sure she can really pull off farce as well as she does with quieter stories. There was too much frame (Gerald's play is a story within a story, so at times it's like there's 3 of the same plot going on all at once) and not enough attention paid to the main romance. I feel this one is for completionists only; newcomers to this author's work are best served starting elsewhere.


⭐⭐ 1/2
vintageromancereader: (Default)
2025-04-08 07:00 pm

Enchanting Samantha


Samantha sympathized with the problems of the elderly Dutch woman who was admitted to the hospital where she worked.

But she didn't realize that her encounter with Juffrouw Boot's employer, the striking Giles ter Ossel, would bring her so much heart-searching. Perhaps one shouldn't get involved with one's patients? Yet...


Original Publisher: Harlequin
Original Year of Publication: 1974
Page Count: 188

Pretty much what it says on the tin. An old lady who doesn't speak English is rushes to Clement's hospital in London with badly burned hands, because the only word the emergency services could understand was "Clement's." Samantha Fielding, the staff nurse on night duty, is assigned to the case, and everyone is curious to see who will come find this little old lady, for she was picked up at an exceedingly fashionable address. As it happens, she is an old family friend/housekeeper for the prominent Dutch physician Giles ter Ossel, who sees patients at St Clement's; hence the mixup. Giles seems mostly bemused by Samantha; he is good friends with the consulting physician at Clement's, Sir Joshua, and they keep a close eye on Juffrouw (Klara) as she is recovering.

We learn a bit about Sam's normal routine. She lives in a small flat with 3 other nurses; they are friends and share chores, as they all work different shifts. She was raised by her grandparents, whom she still returns to visit in Weymouth during all of her off days from work. She is surprised when Giles shows up in Weymouth, as the guest of the local squire; she can't quite decide if she likes him or not, as she finds him at times patronizing and mocking.

When she returns to work, the ancillary staff at Clement's have gone on strike, leaving the household duties to the nursing staff, on top of their regular duties. Sir Joshua and Giles show up one day, sleeves rolled up to pitch in, much to the nursing staff's surprise. Giles is also fairly solicitous about Sam, making sure she eats and gets home all right, with enough time to sleep between shifts. Sam decides that she likes him now, but fears their acquaintance is tenuous, as Klara has returned to health and left the hospital.

Samantha is especially assigned to her next patient (which is uncommon): a teenage girl named Antonia van Duyren, who is suffering with jaundice. Antonia is young and beautiful in spite of her sallow coloring, and she takes to Sam very quickly. Antonia is the younger sister of Baron van Duyren, from Holland, who just happens to be a close personal friend of Giles ter Ossel. Sam is disconcerted to see Giles when he visits Antonia, instantly believing that they are betrothed basically because they are friendly with each other.

Sam is asked to accompany Antonia back to Holland, the trip arranged by the Baron and Giles, and she reluctantly accepts. Her feelings for Giles means that she's constantly suffering when she's around him, as she believes he's constantly mocking her. Giles arranges for them to spend a day together exploring the country before she leaves, which Sam both enjoys and hates, because now she's sure its the end of the road for them. She returns to London and decides to quit her job and move to Brazil, where she will have slim to no chance of running into Giles, now that she's convinced he's to be married.

There is a small misunderstanding, as Sam neither outright asks Antonia OR Giles if they are getting married, and Antonia doesn't tell Sam who she *is* marrying when she announces her engagement, but once Giles gets wind of all this, he's racing back to London to correct the mistake and win Sam over for good. He calls her "enchanting" several times throughout the book, hence the title.

I seemed to have picked two frustrating female leads in a row, which is never fun. Samantha Fielding is obstinate throughout the entire book; she's so convinced that she's plain and dowdy that no one will ever look at her, and she spends a lot of time convincing herself that Giles is either (1) mocking her, or (2) being pity-nice to her for some unfathomable reason. Girl, this man rolled up his sleeves to wash dishes during an ancillary force strike at a hospital that's not even his, he takes you to breakfast, guides you home, makes you tea, irons your uniform, makes excuses to see you, kisses you a lot, whisks you off to his homeland on a fairly flimsy pretense. That is not pity - that is adoration. Why he adores you so much, I have no idea, because you are stubborn, obtuse, a bit of a martyr, and you decide that moving halfway around the world is the best way to get over your feelings. My eyes can't roll far enough back in my head for this.

Of course, we only get one scene from Giles's POV, and its at the end, so there's not much help from that quarter. These older vintage romances that are completely opaque on one half of the OTP are sometimes frustrating to read.

I can't really go higher than 2 stars for this one. Giles is actually pretty lovely, but Sam is dumb as a box of rocks for basically no reason other than angst. Bleh!

⭐⭐
vintageromancereader: (Default)
2025-04-02 01:35 pm

Crimson Roses


Alone in the city, Marion struggles to survive. Desperate to find a small bit of happiness, she impulsively spends some of her hard-earned and terribly meager money on a season ticket to the symphony.

On the night of the second concert, something wonderful happens. There, on Marion's seat in the concert hall, lies a beautiful, dark crimson rose! And every week after that, she finds yet another beautiful rose waiting for her at the concert hall! Marion is torn between joy at receiving the beautiful flowers and worry at not knowing who could be sending them.

Then, suddenly, Marion's mystery flowers lead her into the confusing world of a wealthy man - and make her the target of a society beauty's dangerous envy...


Original Publisher: J.B. Lippincott
Original Year of Publication: 1928 [1992 reprint]
Page Count: 236


As the book opens, Marion Warren is sitting at her father's deathbed. She's spent the last five years nursing first her mother, then her father, through terminal illnesses. She has always been especially close to her father, so this is particularly hard on her. They had great plans for her life, including college and possibly a teaching career, which was all sidelined when her parents took ill.

While she's at her father's side, her sister-in-law is downstairs in the study, hiding a copy of the father's will. Jennie (said SIL) just knows Mr Warren is going to leave the family home to Marion, instead of leaving it to her husband, Tom, the eldest child and heir of the family. Jennie is very headstrong and wants to move back to the country with her husband and children, and would just love to have single, spinster Marion along as the maid of all work, governess, and companion. Jennie figures that what no one knows can't hurt them, or sideline her own plans.

Mr Warren dies, Tom feels obliged to care for his sister, but Marion wants to re-start her own life. She's 23 and determined to return to her education. Tom pressures her into giving up her share of the money from the sale of the family home, but Marion is determined to stay in the city, so she goes out one day and finds a small room and leans on a friend of her father's for a recommendation for a job. She does all of this very covertly, and thus Tom and Jennie are stunned when she tells them that she's not going with them. Jennie is furious, but Tom just figures that he has to let Marion have her head, and that she'll be begging to come to them soon enough, once she learns how hard it will be to be alone.

Marion starts her working life at the ribbon counter at a department store. She goes back to the family church and tries to make the acquaintance of her old school chums (including Isabel Cresson), but they shun her. The five years she's spent shut up in her family home caring for her ailing parents, Isabel and the other girls spent going to college and moving in society. They sneer at Marion's drab, unfashionable clothes and then proceed to ignore her. Marion is so intimidated that she retreats to the church kitchen to wash dishes!

She feels even more out of place at the department store, where the other working girls are fashionable flappers, with their bobbed hair, cheap jewelry, loads of makeup, and "indecent" clothes. Marion eschews makeup, drinks milk, and studies the fashions in the French department, because of course she's especially skilled in needlework and can rework her own clothes at least into modest fashion. She learns from a customer about tickets to the winter symphony season and decides to save her pennies so that she can attend. She's slowly starting to take up courses as well, and feels that being able to attend professional concerts each week will enhance her education, as well as bring her pleasure.

Marion buys a season ticket for a cheap seat in the balcony, and is surprised when a crimson rose is left in her seat at the second concert. She's certain that it's not meant for her, and feels guilty for keeping such a lovely object, even after no one comes to claim it. She even tries to turn it in to an usher at the end of the concert! Roses continue to appear in her seat each week, and she is confused but secretly pleased. She has no idea of where they are coming from, but they are a welcome little gift and she enjoys them - and the music - thoroughly.

At the next church social, Marion is introduced to Jefferson Lyman, a local boy made good whose grandparents helped found the church. Lyman takes special interest in Marion, even abandoning the fashionable crowd to speak to her, which rouses Isabel's jealousy. Lyman is the most eligible bachelor in town, and she has her eye on him as a potential husband. They are of the same social set, after all, whereas Marion is a little working girl. Isabel is so outraged at Lyman's indifference towards her that she actually shows up at the department store the next day and gives Marion an earful about how everyone is talking about her, being so shameless as to throw herself at Lyman and demand his attention, etc. Isabel makes a scene in front of customers, basically making a complete ass of herself, but Marion is mortified. What if Isabel is right? How dare she speak to someone who is so obviously her social better?

Isabel goes further, tricking Marion into accepting a ride to what she believes is a Christian Endeavor Society dinner, when in actuality it's a bunch of Isabel's coarse friends who kidnap Marion and take her to a roadhouse/speakeasy and basically assault her. Jefferson Lyman rides to her rescue (quite literally), which both infuriates and chastens Isabel.

Marion is torn about spending more time with Lyman, as she is acutely aware of their differences, but he is such a kind, attentive gentleman - plus, he's also a season ticket holder for the symphony! They spend a lot of time discussing the music, the orchestra, etc and she is in heaven with the lively, intelligent discussion. Between this, her roses, and her promotion at work to making silk flowers, all is going well!

The symphony season ends, and Marion feels this will be the end of both the roses and her acquaintance with Lyman, but he surprises her by inviting her to a special concert given by renowned pianist Jan Paderewski. She hesitantly accepts, vowing to starve herself so she can afford the alterations on a new dress so that she is elegant enough to attend in Lyman's presence. She is shocked when two dozen crimson roses are delivered to her at work on the day of the concert, but is so pleased that she shares her good fortune with her co-workers. She vows to enjoy this last concert with Lyman and then tell him who she *really* is, and how she's completely unworthy of his time or attention.

The two attend the concert, and then have a lavish dinner at the most elegant restaurant in the city. Marion stumbles and bumbles her way through her "explanation" of who she is, and Lyman basically laughs and tells her that he's known all along; he's heard stories of her generous father, and of course they attend the same church. He already knows she's a working girl, and confesses not only to visiting her counter (she didn't recognize him), but also that he's been the one sending her the crimson roses. He was standing behind her in line to buy the season tickets to the symphony and fell in love with her at first sight, and has been trying to woo her from afar because he wants to marry her. Marion is absolutely shell-shocked by these revelations, but agrees to marry him. The final chapters of the book detail their wedding plans and the start of their married life, including an excellent comeuppance scene with her brother and sister-in-law, who are absolutely stunned by Marion's sudden elevation in the world. She's a rich man's wife, but she's still the same Marion.

I enjoyed this story a great deal; I love anything that involves music, and have a soft spot for secret admirers. Unfortunately, Marion is frustratingly stupid for about 2/3s of this. She is built up as an independent, if timid, woman at the start, and she makes pretty darn strong strides to assert that independence after the death of her father. She goes into her working life with open eyes, determined to make the best of things, and actually finds her father's will after Tom and Jennie move out of the family house. She is heartsick, but also determined not to hold a grudge. Her brother didn't know about the will, so she can't blame him for doing what he believed was best at the time. She actually burns the will without ever showing it to him!

But after the initial setup, Marion proves to be a weak character. She is acutely distressed by her 'lower' social class, and spends a lot of time angsting about this - not only when comparing herself to the glamorous, wealthy Isabel and Lyman, but also with her flapper colleagues at the department store. She is also completely unaware of the origin of the crimson roses, even after Lyman shows up at her counter and asks her to make silk roses that are the same color! She doesn't believe him when he tells her that he was the admirer who was sending them the entire time. It's like - girl please, you cannot be that obtuse. It makes you look like a moron. I had little patience for all her angsting about how she wasn't good enough for Lyman, so I'm glad that the marriage proposal and wedding weren't especially drawn out for this reason.

The final chapters of the book are excellent, as Marion surprises her brother and sister-in-law by visiting them with her new husband after the wedding. They have such low opinions of her that they are sure she married a loser who wants to mooch off of them, so what a surprise they are in for when they meet the glamorous Lyman! He doesn't rub their noses in it, but Jennie has a complete comeapart, to the point of breaking down and confessing about hiding Mr Warren's will way back at the beginning of the story. Marion forgives her, of course, and Jennie is so grateful that she starts treating her like a human being.

Between this, and Isabel Cresson's wedding gift to the couple of "a paperweight in green jade in the form of an exquisitely carved little idol with the countenance of a Chinese devil," the novel ends on a high note.

⭐⭐⭐ 1/2
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2025-03-19 07:32 am

Still Waters


Determined to face her fear of water, Maddy Gordon signed up for beginner swimming, and found herself surrounded by seven-year-olds! And why did her instructor have to be golden-muscled Olympic swimmer Zach London, whose grin still gave her goose bumps? Stunned by the emotions Zach aroused in her, Maddy sought refuge behind her puppets. Perfect for her work with children, they also helped keep other people at arm's length - a barely safe distance where Zack was concerned! Zach knew Maddy had to face what scared her before she could return his love, but would she trust him enough to conquer her ghosts?


Original Publisher: Bantam
Original Year of Publication: 1986
Page Count: 183

The March 2025 #TBRChallenge is “Rizz,” which is apparently slang for “charisma.” I had no idea this word required slang, but here we are. I have been in something of a meh reading rut, so I chose to go to my Loveswept collection for this month's prompt.

This book certainly looked intriguing enough, with its former-Olympic-gold-medalist swimmer hunk of a hero, and a heroine who used puppets in her work. As it happens, she is a social worker with the county, and uses her puppets in her work with traumatized and abused children. She has empathy for them on many levels, as she herself has some unresolved issues about her body, her place in the world, and of course her fear of water. I thought Maddy had a lot of potential as a heroine, lots of interesting facets to explore, but unfortunately the truncated category length stifled much of this.

Maddy, like every other girl her age (25 at the start of the book) worshipped the golden boy Zach London, who was competing at the Olympics when she was a mere tween. He won some medals and lots of fame/celebrity because of that, up to and including the proverbial Wheaties box. We're never really told how old Zach is, but apparently enough time has passed that he isn't instantly recognizable anymore and can teach swim classes at the local public pool without groupies crowding around to swoon.

Maddy gathers her courage and signs up for beginner's swim class, but a mistake means that she's put in a children's class. She feels even more awkward than usual because she's so tall, especially next to a bunch of "babies." She finds instant comradery with the kid closest to her, a little girl named Theresa who clings to her with shyness. Zach tries to send Maddy away, thinking she's a child's mother, which only embarrasses her further. She manages to get into the pool with the kids, but faints fairly quickly, necessitating her removal from the pool and the class. Zach takes her into the office, she realizes who he is, they trade some fairly cute banter. Realizing there isn't an adult beginning class at the pool, Zach offers to give Maddy private swimming lessons - and who is she to turn down private lessons with an Olympian?!

The two further bond over Theresa, who has some telltale signs that maybe all is not right in her world; indeed, at the next lesson, Zach summons Maddy to the pool because Theresa is sporting a black eye and an angry parent hurrying her along to the car. Both Maddy and Zach inexplicably fall in love with this child and decide to rescue her; they report the abuse to the county DHS and each want to adopt her, even though they are both single and have no other children of their own. Maddy resents Zach's desire to adopt Theresa, believing he will have a better chance at winning custody because of Who He Is (how we can tell it's 1986: a single man wanting to adopt a strange little girl would not fly in 2025), but does she tell him? No.

The two have some ~sensuous~ time in the water in the guise of lessons, and both vie for Theresa's attention (she is a remarkably well-adjusted child, considering her parents are dead and her aunt/uncle don't want her and readily relinquish her to be a ward of the court). They are also Fighting Pants Feelings because this *is* a Loveswept book, after all.

Maddy has to face her fear of water, and Zach has his own somber memories to move past (his wife and child are dead before the book opens). It's a very sweet story, but ultimately feels rushed. Maddy's reasons for avoiding water are finally uncovered, and she basically overcomes it in two? lessons. Zack seems to understand that he can't push Maddy too much, but damned if he doesn't spend a good part of the second half of the book yelling at her: for canceling her lessons, for avoiding him, for Doing Stupid Things and Causing Him to Worry. This is supposed to show that he cares for her and wants to protect her, but it really goes over like a lead balloon for me, unfortunately. He also proposes to Maddy because he believes being married will give him a better chance of adopting Theresa (how romantic). He also loves Maddy, but does he bother to tell her? No, of course not, he just lets her believe the worst.

Other problematic elements include the whole subplot to adopt Theresa and how easily it resolves - I mean, I am not someone who generally comments on ~privilege~ in fiction, but it just reeks here. Two strangers, who meet Theresa at a public swimming lesson, end up being able to adopt her via a private transfer of custody in less than 30 days, basically because they are young, white, and affluent. Yay for happy endings, I suppose, but it is pretty cringe-inducing nonetheless.

Still, problematic elements aside, I enjoyed this book. It's pretty quiet and sweet, which is a pleasant surprise for this particular line. I'd definitely read this author again. I also wouldn't be surprised if I discovered that she eventually pivoted to inspirational and/or women's fiction.

⭐⭐⭐
vintageromancereader: (Default)
2025-02-19 06:54 pm

Bonus Post: Dream of Me (Night World #2)


Theron, undying creature of the Night World, knew everything about making love. But though he was an incubus, a bringer of carnal dreams to sleeping maids, he had grander ambition. He plotted to step into the mortal world and rule as king.

The beautiful Lucia was imprisoned in a fortress atop a mountain. Her betrothed, Prince Vlad of Wallachia, wanted her purity intact; but when the prince broke his vow, nothing could keep her safe. In the name of vengeance, Lucia would be subjected to Theron's seduction; she would learn all his lips might teach.

A demon of lust and a sheltered princess: each dreamed of what they'd never had. They were about to get everything they wished...and more.


Original Publisher: Dorchester Love Spell
Original Year of Publication: 2004
Page Count: 352

The February 2025 #TBRChallenge is “Previously, in Romance...” If this book choice is a surprise to anyone, you haven't been paying attention, LOL.

I absolutely loved the first book in this duet; unfortunately, this one did not live up to its predecessor's glory. It was always going to be a hard sell for me to make Theron a hero after his behavior in the last book, and the rehabilitation didn't quite hit the mark for me.

As we know from Come to Me, Theron had Samira give Dragosh of Maramures a revolting nightmare about his younger sister, Lucia, in order to break the betrothal between Lucia and Nicholae of Moldavia, in order to pave the way for an alliance between Lucia and Vlad Draco instead. Theron did this as part of a bargain he struck with Vlad: he'd deliver Lucia if Vlad would allow him to inhabit his mortal body for 3 days.

Vlad, of course, reneges on the deal, and it takes Theron six years to come to this realization. Once he does, he decides that he's going to destroy Lucia's purity and innocence, the two qualities that Vlad prizes most in his young bride-to-be. He seeks Lucia out, finding her at an abandoned castle on top of a mountain, surrounded by disinterested women and wearing an amulet that has kept incubi at bay. Once he realizes that the key to his plan is getting Lucia to remove the necklace, it's game on in his mind.

Meanwhile Nyx, the Queen of the Night, has decided that she wants to add Theron to her harem of lovers. Theron doesn't want this - he wants to be mortal, and matter in the world - so he bargains for 30 days to "say goodbye" to his old life, in which time he will really work on his plan to gain control of Vlad's body as he was promised all those years ago.

This story just didn't work for me on a bunch of levels:

1) I didn't really like either main character. Lucia is 20 years old but has been kept ignorant of the world. She knows nothing of sex or reproduction (thus keeping her "pure" for her murderous, rapist fiancé) or life, in general, even though she has a sixth sense and can basically stay lucid while dreaming. She saw Theron briefly when she was 14 and the original nightmare had been given to Dragosh, but even her curiosity about him is limited. Apparently she is completely devoid of hormones as well as being made to feel deeply shameful about various impure thoughts and body parts. She's also very stubborn in her stupidity; the entire book is about her figuring out what sex is and what it's for and where babies come from, which was just hard to swallow coming from an otherwise healthy adult female. Worse yet, Theron hones in on her feelings of shame and plays into them as he works his wiles on her in her dreams, so a lot of the sex play is based on shame, the thrill of shame, and bodies betraying themselves. Ugh. This is not my cup of tea at all.

Theron spends most of his time deep in his fee-fees about being so old and insignificant. I suppose this *gestures to the world in general* time isn't the greatest to be reading about some poor insecure male who craves power above all else. I had zero sympathy for him, and even less when he realizes what a putrid, evil asshole Vlad Draco is and still longs to inhabit his body, because he's such a powerful military ruler who could someday consolidate his power. By the end, I wanted to shake him and tell him to find another body already but the pursuit of Vlad was extra gross, heaping onto all the shameful sex stuff. Double ugh!

Vlad goes without further comment. He is depicting as raping his way across the country, and says some super vile things about what he wants to do to Lucia when he finally bothers to retrieve her.

There's also a couple of mad religious figures (Gabriel, Vlad's opium-addicted brother who is sent to capture Theron in a jug; Theresa, the half-mad ancient nun who was charged with Lucia's education) that don't add much except distraction.

2) The magic of the world no longer makes sense. Theron is supposed to be a being who has no heart, no soul, and no feelings, yet somehow he nurses this grudge against Vlad and falls in love with Lucia, thus growing a soul and making the deus ex machina ending (where he takes over Vlad's body forcibly, which should've killed him instantly but doesn't) possible. This was the worldbuilding falling around its ears in service of this plot, which was really disappointing.

3) All of the sex stuff is rapey and/or cringeworthy, both in "real life" and Lucia's dreams. If I never hear the words "crotch monster" again, it will be too soon.

4) The epilogue brings us the birth of Vlad Dracula, aka Vlad the Impaler, aka Dracula the vampire, so does that really count as an HEA? 🤔

This was readable, but not convincing, especially when read in such close proximity with the first book. A disappointment, for sure, but not enough to put me off this author's work.

⭐⭐
vintageromancereader: (Default)
2025-01-18 03:06 pm

Foolish Fancy


The Irresistible Earl

Miss Frances Dean, known to friends and family as Fancy, had very firm ideas about a woman's rightful place in the world. As far as she was concerned, a woman should be educated, independent, and never, ever bow to the tyranny of a man.

The Earl of Wychfield was everything that Fancy mistrusted in a male. He was dazzlingly handsome, fabulously wealthy and superbly self-assured, with all that it took it win any woman he wanted. Fancy would only be happy that he could not possibly want her when the stunning Lady Celeste Standon made herself so very available to him. Because though Fancy told herself she was fully prepared to resist the advances of this man armed with so many weapons of attraction and snares of seduction, she trembled at what might happen should she be put to the test...


Original Publisher: Signet
Original Year of Publication: 1997
Page Count: 236

My last read was so awesome I wasn't sure what I wanted to follow it up with, so I eventually pulled a random number generator out on part of Mount TBR and chose this. While it started out fairly promising, it went downhill fast for me, and I couldn't wait to be finished with it.

That blurb is incredibly misleading. Fancy is of the "marriage is legal prostitution" radical feminist bent, and she doesn't hesitate to say so directly to the Earl the very first time she meets him - which, considering this is a marriage of convenience book (as well as battle of the sexes), means we're off to somewhat of a rocky start.

Unfortunately, Fancy lives up to her titular moniker, because she is incredibly foolish for the entire story. She is obstinate, sullen, and disdainful the entire time; when the earl proves himself to be competent and caring (he was a second son who made a military career before returning to take up the reins of the earldom), she only gets more and more angry with him. How dare he not meet her prejudiced expectations of what all aristocratic men are? The only way she knows to channel and/or express her feelings is to pick fights with pretty much everyone she knows, and this gets incredibly tedious incredibly quickly.

It's especially bad because Wychfield is so laid-back and easygoing. He rarely rises to her bait, which only makes her even madder, and honestly I had no idea what he saw in her. She is so immature, yet he feels she is the perfect person to take control of his unruly family of younger stepsiblings. This is probably because every other woman is his life is vain, selfish, and empty-headed, but still. I can't imagine *wanting* to spend your entire life bickering with your spouse, but I suppose it takes all kinds.

Lady Celeste is not much of a villain/other woman, considering she is Wychfield's sister-in-law, and had in fact dumped him for his brother in the first place. That doesn't stop Fancy from believing that he's really love with Celeste but doesn't want to admit it. Because this woman doesn't have enough to battle against, she has to make things up, too.

Ugh. This gets one star for Wychfield, who honestly deserves better, and half a star for the writing not being absolutely terrible, even if the heroine is. I'd be willing to give this author another try, but this one is going on the PBS pile.

⭐ 1/2
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2025-01-15 07:37 am

Bonus Post: Come to Me (Night World #1)


Samira is the lowliest creature of the Night World: a mere succubus, a winged spirit bringing dreams of passion to sleeping men. She knows every wicked wish that lurks in their hearts, and yet she has never felt the touch of a man’s loving hand. Nor has she wanted to . . . until now.

Shattered by war and banished to a crumbling fortress, Nicolae turns to the dark arts. He plans to use Samira as a tool to find a means to oust the invader from his lands and regain all that he’s lost. When she arrives on his doorstep in human form, his long-sought vengeance is lost. What happens next will change their worlds forever.


Original Publisher: Dorchester Love Spell
Original Year of Publication: 2004
Page Count: 326

The January 2025 #TBRChallenge is “New Year, Who Dis?” I went for a triple crown to start this year’s challenge: new series, new author, new subgenre – and this book does not disappoint!

The year is 1423. In the heart of Transylvania, 3 families are warring for supremacy: Dragosh of Maramures, Bogdan of Moldavia, and Vlad of Wallachia. Samira is a succubus (a female dream demon), known not only for her expertise in giving men pleasurable dreams, but also well-regarded for her ability to induce sexual nightmares. An incubus (male dream demon), Theron, has requested that Samira give an especially horrible dream to Dragosh. Samira doesn’t know why Theron has requested this, but she goes along with it, even though by dabbling in the dreams of princes, they are breaking all of the rules of the Night World which they inhabit. She doesn’t realize it at the time, but Samira gives Dragosh an especially cruel nightmare about his beautiful young sister, one that inadvertently changes the course of history.

Six years pass, during which Samira is wary of her status in the Night World. Succubi and incubi are children of Sleep, and grandchildren of Nyx, the Queen of Chaos. They are lowly demons, soulless beings with humanoid bodies and black leathery wings who serve mortals by giving them sexually pleasurable dreams to help slake repressed or rejected lust. Succubi and incubi have no feelings, no hearts, no real notions of morals; they reflect what their humans are thinking and dreaming about; they can see into the mind and pick out greatest wishes or worst nightmares, depending on what that person deserves to experience. Samira knows that she crossed the line with her dream to Dragosh, not only because of his royal status but because she sensed that he didn’t deserve what she gave him. If she’s caught by Nyx, she will be destroyed.

One night, she spies an especially strong strand of lust emanating from a small island in the middle of nowhere. She descends, curious, and finds a brutally scarred man asleep over a heap of books. She dives into his unconscious and tries to give him a pleasurable dream, but he seems to know that she’s there and that she’s a succubus, and thus he resists with all of his might. Samira is concerned; humans are not supposed to know that they are visited in their dreams by her kind. She notices a crude drawing of a succubus in one of the books and her concern trebles.

She leaves, but can’t quite leave it alone, mild curiosity about the man with such strong repression and dark thoughts. The next night, she is actually summoned by the man and trapped by a spell. The man tells her that he wants to use her to wreak revenge on his enemy: Dragosh of Maramures, who six years ago abruptly severed the betrothal between his sister and himself. The man who has captured Samira is Nicolae of Moldavia. He has been banished to a crumbling monastery on a remote island with a mere five men by his father, Bogdan. Nicolae is desperate not only for revenge, but also to return to his father’s good graces and assist with the war against Maramures and Wallachia. Apparently Dragosh has formed a new alliance with Vlad – now called Vlad Draco, or Vlad the Dragon – and has promised his sister, Lucia, to Vlad as part of the deal.

Samira listens with growing horror as Nicolae tells her all this. She’s the one who induced the nightmare that made Dragosh break the betrothal between Nicolae and Lucia. She holds herself responsible for everything that has happened to Nicolae in the meantime, and becomes desperate to find a way to assist him. He’s holding onto her too long, however; daylight will immediately destroy her, and Nicolae doesn’t believe her until its almost too late.

Samira disappears from the mortal realm, only to find herself still intact in the palace of Nyx, Queen of the Night World. Nyx demands to know who requested that Samira meddle in the dreams of Dragosh, a prince, but Samira refuses to name Theron. She’s ready to accept her fate of immediate death, but pleads with Nyx to give her the chance to assist Niholae and make right what she inadvertently made wrong to begin with. Nyx eventually agrees, and drops Samira back onto Nicolae’s island as a full-blown mortal woman, warning her that she only has 30 days to successfully assist Nicolae and to learn why mortals are so precious to the demons of the Night World who serve them.

It's a lot of setup for the story, but it’s weaved together quite seamlessly. Nicolae has turned away from violence, at which he failed (and for which he has been so brutally disfigured), and towards dark magic in his quest against Dragosh. He grudgingly accepts Samira’s help once she appears to him as a mortal human woman. After all, what could it hurt?

Samira spends her time discovering (and complaining about) her human body, and trying to find a way to help Nicolae, to whom she increasingly becomes attached. She even tells him of the part she played at the start, which leads Nicolae to confess to her why and how he was disfigured. Their bond grows stronger as the story progresses, and she assists Nicolae in discovering his latent abilities as a wizard. Theron shows up again to cause trouble, but ultimately gives them a piece of information which is key in turning the tides of war against their enemies. Samira then has to face Nyx and her destiny – will she be allowed to live, or be destroyed by the all-knowing Queen of Chaos?

I really enjoyed this story, especially when Samira is turned into a human. She has no idea what it’s like to be human – her only knowledge is sexual, and the thoughts and fantasies that humans only dream about. She doesn’t know how to read, or eat, or even dress herself. She’s an interesting contrast to the human characters, and to Nicolae, who is mired in deep depression for the mess he’s made of his life. Samira’s child-like joy at the smallest things, like a sunrise, remind Nicolae that there’s more to life than darkness and heartache. They do fall in love with each other, even though neither can quite believe it (and Nicolae’s men frequently remind Samira that she is a demon); the third act breakup is an interesting twist on the usual misunderstanding.

This is also a very spicy book. Succubi and incubi are dream demons who work in the realm of sex, so there are a lot of explicit scenes, some of them pretty grim (see: Dragosh’s nightmare). But there is also some great emotion, especially when Nicolae acknowledges and grieves his own past, and when he realizes that he doesn’t want anyone to touch Samira except himself.

As for the historical background, it appears to line up fairly well with the actual history of the Transylvania region of present-day Romania. Vlad Draco referred to in the text is likely not the one we immediately think of, but his father, Vlad II Dracul. The human superstitions around religion and demonology also play a role here, especially in the climax of this story.

I enjoyed this immensely. It has both serious and lighthearted moments, spice, sex, and death, all wrapped up into an engrossing fantasy world. I’m looking forward to reading the second book in this duology, which stars Theron, who is a complete asshole in this one. He has his own ambitions and is ready to defy Queen Nyx, and has also made a dastardly deal with Vlad Draco. I am curious to see how he will be redeemed!

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
vintageromancereader: (Default)
2024-12-14 03:20 pm

2025 #TBRChallenge

The list has been released for the 2025 #TBRChallenge!


I definitely need some help with those prompts, and the lovely SuperWendy has translated them on her master post:

January 15 - New Year, Who Dis? (suggestions: a debut, a new-to-you author, character looking for fresh start)
February 19 - Previously, In Romance... (suggestions: part of a series, author you haven't read in a while, Old School)
March 19 - Rizz (If you're old like me, this is slang the kids are using for "charisma" - I'm thinking playboys, rakes, heroes that have charm for days....)
April 16 - Location, Location, Location (interesting settings, unusual historicals etc.)
May 21 - Older Couple (self-explanatory)
June 18 - Road Trip (suggestions: couple traveling together, character who recently moved/relocated)
July 16 - Back in My Day... (suggestions: historical, Old School, I might go with a book that was published when I was in high school or college 😭)
August 20 - Do the Hustle (suggestions: single moms trying to make ends meet, work-related struggles, shady characters with ulterior motives / agenda).
September 17 - Friend Squad (self-explanatory)
October 15 - Here There Be Monsters (suggestions: monsters, Gothic, paranormal, fantasy, romantic suspense - humans being the biggest monsters of all quite frankly....)
November 19 - Change of Plans (suggestions: the character who has a wrench thrown in the works - sudden custody of kid(s), time travel, death in the family, accident, dystopia, left at the altar etc.)
December 17 - Celebration! (suggestions: weddings, parties, masquerade balls, holiday stories)

I do not anticipate having the hiatus that I did this year, as moving tends to be a once-every-15-years deal for me, so hopefully Mount TBR will shorten, inch by inch. If you want to join us, be sure to check out the post linked above!
vintageromancereader: (Default)
2024-11-20 07:19 pm

The Scoundrel's Bride (Maitland #1)


Chills and Fever

Lovely Lady Chloe Maitland was caught on the horns of a dilemma. As a proper young country miss in the London Marriage Mart, she was duty-bound to agree to obey her dragon of a grandmama and give her hand to the age Lord Twisdale, who had buried one young wife and now lusted to take an even younger one. But if Twisdale sent shivers down Chloe's spine, Julian St Aubyn made her strike as from a flame. St Aubyn was the most wicked rake in the realm, and Chloe's innocence would be no match for his infamous expertise. Should Chloe sacrifice her happiness on the altar of duty - or her virtue in the arms of a man who mocked all decency? She heard the response of her heart - and knew how wrong it could be...


Original Publisher: Signet
Original Year of Publication: 1994
Page Count: 222

The November 2024 #TBRChallenge is "It Came from the 1990s!" Believe it or not, I have a dearth of 90s books on Mount TBR. The vast majority or either older or were published in the 2000s. I went looking through my Signets, hoping against hope that there was at least one not published in 198-, and lucked upon this one.

Lady Chloe Maitland has been left to her grandmother’s care during the Season, as her own mother has just married (for the second time) and is off to the Continent for her honeymoon. Unfortunately, Chloe’s grandmother is a well-known dragon of a dowager, and she has her heart set on betrothing her granddaughter to Lord Twisdale. Twisdale is more of age with the grandmother than young Chloe, and she not only finds him repulsive as a human being, she is also deathly allergic to whatever scent he wears – anytime he comes near, she sneezes quite violently.

She is at the Purcell ball when she first notices Lord St Aubyn (Julian to his friends), a notorious rake and scoundrel. He happens to be talking to Chloe’s aunt, Elinor Hadlow, herself a young widow on the prowl for a rich second husband. She’s set her sites on St Aubyn, and has gone so far as to buy the townhouse opposite the street from his in an exclusive neighborhood.

St Aubyn has no desire to wed the delectable Elinor. He is getting pressure from his father to marry someone respectable and set up his nursery, but like many rakes before and after him, he just Doesn’t Want To. Still sowing his wild oats, to a degree. He’s intrigued by the widow Hadlow, but not enough to make her his mistress, much less his wife.

Lady Chloe escapes from the ballroom after a particularly odious encounter with her elders, and runs smack into St Aubyn. She’s flustered to be face to face with such a notorious man, but because she knows she hasn’t chance of impressing him, talks rather frankly to him. They exchange dilemmas and realize that they might just be able to help each other out. Grandmama has clothed Lily basically in dowdy half-mourning, but St Aubyn is willing to feign some interest in her to stir up the interest of other, more eligible, bachelors, in hopes of thwarting Twisdale’s suit. Spending time with her will also deter Elinor, or so St Aubyn hopes.

They don’t quite realize what they’ve gotten themselves into, and just what formidable forces they are up against. Grandmama is unyielding; Twisdale and Elinor begin plotting together to separate their quarry and trap them if necessary.

Chloe releases some of her pent-up frustration in the form of wicked caricatures of the ton’s elite, drawing certain people as the animals that best suit them. Grandmama is a dragon; Twisdale is a serpent; St Aubyn, a lion rampart. Elinor steals Chloe’s drawings and has them displayed at a ton party, much to Chloe’s humiliation, but St Aubyn swoops in and lavishes his approval on them. He also happens to be friends with Beau Brommel, and gets the Beau on his side of matters. Chloe becomes a minor sensation for her drawings, much to Elinor’s irritation.

Chloe has basically one friend in Town, Laura Spayne, who is quite eager to help her avoid the noose Twisdale is dangling. St Aubyn and Theo Purcell (son of the original party hostess) also team up to assist the girls, and it seems to be working – until one fateful evening, when a trap goes utterly wrong: instead of compromising her hated niece with Twisdale, Elinor storms into the library to find Chloe and St Aubyn together in a passionate embrace! St Aubyn immediately asks Grandmama for Chloe’s hand.

So far, so good: a fairly traditional Regency romance setup, and our hero and heroine are ‘compromised’ into a convenient marriage. They independently decide that they love each other, too. Chloe, however, harkens back to her very first conversation with him and is convinced that St Aubyn doesn’t want to marry anyone, let alone her, and suddenly the clever girl lauded for her caricatures becomes the living embodiment of TSTL. She is so bound and determined to find a way to “free” Julian from this unwanted obligation, apparently so obtuse that she is unaware that he is not exactly fighting this twist of fate.

She comes up with a hairbrained idea of how they can go through with their marriage and yet have it annulled later; Julian humors her for about a split second before reminding her that an annulment will socially ruin her, a consequence that of course she gave no thought to. She’s so headstrong and heartstricken, however, that she continues to search for a way to break their marital bond.

Meanwhile, now that Chloe is off the market, Twisdale has turns his sights to Laura. He’s desperate for a spirited young wife because he relishes the idea of breaking her like a wild animal. His first wife died under mysterious circumstances, and Chloe decides that if she can just prove that Twisdale murdered wife #1, he will be ostracized from Society and Laura will be safe from him.

So Chloe and St Aubyn spend their honeymoon at St Aubyn’s country estate, located conveniently next door to Twisdale’s estate, and decide to go detecting. The resolution of this last-minute third act mystery is laughably simple and easily solved, especially once revealed that Julian is Lord Lieutenant of the shire and thus, can bring private justice against Twisdale if necessary.

Chloe runs away in the final chapter and of course St Aubyn chases her, and they have a Huge Romance Moment at the end where they finally consummate their relationship. Because TSTL wins out in the end, I suppose.

I really enjoyed the first third to half of this book. The writing is smooth and adroit, the characters are fun, the antagonists scheming each in their own way. I started having reservations shortly before the big Compromising Scene at the ball, and Chloe’s 180 degree shift in personality just threw me completely. Shove in an unnecessary mystery and a really stupid ending, and this book just sorta came to a whimpering end, to me. Still, I enjoyed this author enough that I will read more of her work, which is a good thing, considering I already have several books (including the second in this duet) on Mount TBR.


⭐⭐1/2
vintageromancereader: (Default)
2024-11-09 01:51 pm

Bewitched by Love


A time of sorcery, romance...and the magic that is love

All Hallow's Eve...a night when the impossible happens...when Regency castles are filled with mystery and intrigue...when costume balls in elegant mansions may lead to passionate surprises...and when ladies and gentlemen of the ton find themselves falling under a spell that may be other-worldly. Or as close as their own hearts...in these three delightfully mysterious tales...

Teresa DesJardien's The Haunted Bride is the second Lady Healey who has just wed a nobleman whose first marriage ended in tragedy...and whose seductive embrace could bring danger - or the love of a lifetime. In Cindy Holbrook's Love's Magic, a young sorceress meets her destiny in a handsome highborn Duke who is promised to another...a union only the powers of true love can prevent. Valerie King's The Vampire Rogue pairs a charming rake with an heiress, whose newly acquired castle is the setting for a masquerade ball...and where the resident vampire has his own plans for eternally joining these unlikely lovers.

Let this trio of romances be your Halloween treat - wonderful stories set in elegant Regency England, where lords and ladies are truly bewitched by love!


Original Publisher: Zebra
Original Year of Publication: 1996
Page Count: 380


The Haunted Bride - Teresa DesJardien (148 pages)
On the occasion of her cousin's wedding, Etta Carson quite literally meets the man of her dreams. He introduces himself as Lord Healey, and demands to know why she possesses a dozen sketches of him, when they've never before met and he's never been to London. She rather reluctantly admits its because this is a man she has seen regularly in her dreams. His response is equally curious: does she believe in things beyond the reach of the physical senses?

Etta is reluctant to admit it to him, but yes, it's true. Sketching the images she sees in her dreams helps her make sense of them. She has dreamed of certain events which later actually occurred, and she is both uneasy about and confident in this ability to make sense of her dreams by sketching them out. She had no idea who this man was, but now that she sees him in the flesh, she realizes that it is, indeed, him.

Lord Healey (Daniel), is a friend of the husband of her cousin, who has arrived for the wedding and intends to return to his home in Bath the same day. But after meeting Etta, he decides to stick around, and for the rest of the week his earnestly courts her. He proposes seven days after they originally meet, and Etta accepts. Within the month, they are married, and they return to his property in Bath.

Etta immediately has an uneasy feeling about the house. Negativity seems to abound, and only 4 servants remain. The rest of them have been scared off by ghostly encounters. Daniel admits to Etta that he didn't tell her all of his background, wanting her to have a 'fresh' eye on the house and her own impression of it first. But with Daniel's sullen brother Sean lurking about, he has to tell her everything. Daniel's first wife, Aileen, died in the house after a horrific asthma attack, locked in her dressing room with no one knowing that she was suffering. Daniel himself was downstairs, asleep in his study, and was the first one to find her. Ever since her death, the servants reported seeing Aileen's ghost quite frequently, and some of them were so scared that they left, even without receiving their full wages.

Sean was injured during his time in the military and now basically lurks about Daniel's house, drinking himself to death. He seems to take keen and cruel interest in telling Etta the wild stories about Aileen's last days, and how Daniel reacted in the wake of her death. It becomes obvious that Sean was in love with Aileen, too; with it not being entirely clear that Aileen's death was indeed a natural one, Etta begins to wonder if she was murdered - and if so, by whom.

This story has a nice little gothic/Rebecca-esque feel (and, indeed, the housekeeper is a crazy woman, though her motives are more twisted that Mrs Danvers'). I enjoyed the flow and pace of this, and found it the most believable of the bunch, even with Etta's perhaps supernatural intuitions. She is a character who is strong and sure of herself, and even though the stories of her new home upset her, she isn't running around like a chicken with its head cut off, spooking at every shadow. At 148 pages, it is the longest novella of the collection and definitely has the most complete character and story arc.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Love's Magic - Cindy Holbrook (125 pages)
The first chapter sets the plot up quite nicely. In the village of Chancellorville, there exist both good and evil witches. The good witches are Bathsheba and Dorinda Goodfellow, a pair of elderly spinster sisters who are bumbling but well-meaning. They care for their (non-sorceress) niece, Sarabeth, whom they love to post is the most beautiful girl in the village. The evil witch is Dame Maudar Tureen, a woman obsessed with black magic and power, and the continual gain of both, at whatever cost. She is quite proud of her beautiful, raven-haired daughter, Gertrude, who is indeed beautiful but is also a complete moron.

The long-absent Duke of Tor, Damian, is returning to Chancellorville because his castle has been partially burned, and there is a suspicion of arson. Damian's family has long had the ability of wizardry, and Dame Tureen is determined to marry her daughter to Damian and gain control of his powers. When the Goodfellow sisters proudly boast that if anyone can catch the Duke's eye, it will be their niece Sarabeth, Maudar is furious. She will not let anything stand in the way of her kingmaking, and casts a spell to turn Sarabeth invisible, right before Damian's eyes.

Damian and Sarabeth meet briefly, so briefly that he thinks its a dream. He's wary of returning to the superstitious village, and has no belief in the stories about the men of his family being powerful wizards. He basically wants to restore his castle and get the hell out of town. He's relieved to meet Dame Tureen and Gertrude, as they claim to be among the few who also don't believe in the superstitious nonsense of the villagers. Plus, Gertrude is beautiful.

Sarabeth returns to her aunts, who try their hardest to make her visible again, but have several hilarious results instead: turning her into their cat, then a parrot, and finally a mouse. The Goodfellow family learns that Maudar has cast a spell on Damian to make him marry Gertrude because she believes that the consummation of their marriage will bring him into his latent abilities and that she can take control of him. So now its a race against time to return Sarabeth to her original form and stop Damian from making a terrible mistake that he'll never be able to undo.

This reads like a straight-up fairytale, a mixture of the Disney versions of Sleeping Beauty (the aunts are the good fairies) and Cinderella. It is also very...juvenile? Like, I'd expect to find this in a YA collection. It is very straightforward, with magic dictating the plot. There is no depth of emotion in any of the characters, beyond some wallowing in Maudar's evil villainess status. The happily ever after is literally the end of the story - I can't imagine any of these characters actually having sex, LOL.

⭐⭐

The Vampire Rogue - Valerie King (87 pages)
Emma Keverne, the newest heiress of Castle Breage, has decided to throw a huge Halloween masquerade at the spooky Cornwall estate. She invites many people, including Lord Chace, whom she has been in love with for the last 3 years. They met at Emma's coming out party and have been dancing around each other ever since. They start to do more than dance at this ball, however, and both notice a rather sinister figure hanging around, whom no one really knows. Only - Emma recognizes him. She drags Chace down to the picture gallery and points out a long ago ancestor, Count Lansallos. Chace agrees that he does indeed look like this unknown man, albeit in clothes a few centuries out of date. Emma tells him that while she was reading the papers associated with the castle, she came across some very disturbing stories and warnings, including the disappearance of her cousins the St Austells. One day they were there, the next they were missing, and no one had seen hide nor hair of them since. Edward St Austell left a warning to never fill in the moat around the castle, but without an explicit explanation as to why, Emma ignores the directive and fills it in for the party. Now Count Lansallos has shown up again, and Emma fears that he means to turn her into an immortal vampire.

She believes this because she has seen the youngest St Austell in the castle's secret passages, and introduces Chace to him when he pops out again. He's the one who tells them that Lansallos is a vampire, that he turned the St Austells into vampires nearly a century ago, and that filling the moat was his invitation back. He has his sights set on the beautiful Emma, and the only way they can protect themselves is with silver crosses and daylight. Emma and Chace spend the next few evenings battling with Lansallos and trying to help the St Austells, who were also drawn back because of the filled moat and who want to assist in defeating the man who ruined their lives all that time ago.

You basically have to roll with this premise, because things happen so fast you don't really have time to question them. There is so much historical handwaving going on that I'm a bit wary of trying this author's full-length work (I have several of her novels in my collection). The action is fast-paced and interesting enough to see through to the end, and there is a surprisingly gruesome climax (basically, vampire meets sunlight is a really awful way to go, like burning alive). Backstory for Emma and Chace is sprinkled in, but it doesn't really feel like much except setup for their own silly misunderstandings. There is an aunt to provide comic relief, but Emma and Chace drug her so she sleeps through most of the fighting. This story really needed some more page length to really flesh everything out, characters and plot alike.

⭐⭐ 1/2
vintageromancereader: (Default)
2024-10-16 09:00 pm

The Shimmering Stones of Glendower Hall


"Ye have been here before, child. Ye cannot deny it."

As an infant, she was left in a basket on the steps of a simple cottage in the South of Wales. Now, the kindly couple who raised her have died; Gwynneth Morys is an orphan once again, totally alone in the world with only her odd, recurring dreams - dreams of a towering mansion on the moors...a beautiful lady in a pale green gown...a tall man whose dark eyes speak of passion.

Bereft of funds and family, Gwynneth has no choice but to accept the only offer of work to come her way - a position as companion to an elderly woman in the North of Wales. And as Gwynneth approaches the many-turreted manor house rising out of the mist, close by the fog-enshrouded moors and still closer to the roiling sea, she knows that this is the place she has dreamed of all her life. And the handsome, dark-eyed Owen Price-Jones, who steps forward to greet her, can be none other than her destined lover...

But not even in her dreams had Gwynneth learned of the tragic death of Lady Jane's only daughter, or the dark desire for vengeance that still burns in the old woman's heart. Nor does she guess that an enemy - her enemy - lurks among the shadowy towers, waiting for her to climb a certain flight of stairs to the one turret from which there could be no escape...and no one to hear her plea for mercy.


Original Publisher: Zebra
Original Year of Publication: 1991
Page Count: 304

The October 2024 #TBRChallenge is "Spooky (Gothic)," and I knew exactly where I wanted to go: my tiny collection of Zebra Gothics, all of which have amazing covers and intriguing blurbs. I definitely got into my feels with this, and whilst in the mood for Gothic romance, sought out as many of the Zebra titles as I could find. What I found was that they are extremely rare on the secondhand market - I added books to my PBS wishlist that haven't been posted in 17 years 😲😲😲 Some were available for more than $20 at other known sources of secondhand books, which is way too rich for my blood. Plus I learned that Harlequin had its own Gothic line at some point, so now I only want to find these elusive books even more, LOL.

But I digress...

This was an interesting read, because the blurb up there is only half-right. 17-year-old Gwynneth Morys has known for all of her life that she was adopted by the couple that raised her, but she's never known anything about her family of origin. So when her father dies and leaves her alone in the world, she has very few choices. There's no one to help her work her hardscrabble farm, and no marriage prospects on the horizon. So it seems like the hand of God intervening in her life when her priest, Rev Jenkins, receives a request for an intelligent, hard-working young lady for a position in a grand house in the north of the country. She is being asked to be an assistant aide/companion to the sickly lady of the house, Lady Glendower. Jenkins and Gwynneth feel she has no choice but to accept the position, so she does.

She arrives at Glendower Hall and is struck by its unusual appearance. She has an innate sense of having been there before, though she knows logically that she has never been beyond the village where she was raised. She meets the woman who sent for her, Mrs Hoskins (aka Nanny), a fiercely loyal woman who serves as companion and nurse to Lady Glendower. Gwynneth is surprised that her duties as a servant are extremely light, and that she's invited to dine with Nanny Hoskins instead of with the other servants. Nanny practically commands Gwynneth to tour the huge pile on her own time. Gwynneth is confused (she's a little dim) and scared, because she has strange visions of scenes from the past, all centering around a beautiful young woman dressed in shades of green. She sees things and hears things that others can't, but tries to convince herself that she doesn't because she had been shamed and taunted for this gift as a child.

So Gwynneth is wandering around the house, confused and curious about why she's really there. She has a deep sense of foreboding and a sudden desire to learn more about her family of origin. In the midst of all this, she she meets Charles Price-Jones and his nephew, Owen. The Price-Jones men are neighbors and welcome, regular visitors to Glendower Hall and dear friends of Lady Glendower. Gwynneth learns that Lady Jane is the last of her family, long widowed and with a munch-hinted tragic loss of her child in the past.

Unlike what the blurb implies, Lady Jane is basically a non-entity in this novel. Gwynneth sometimes spots Nanny Hoskins and Lady Jane whispering about her, but she's so afraid of losing her position in their service that she doesn't question it. Owen Price-Jones is also an extremely minor character in this drama. He's only lived with his Uncle Charles for the last two years, and knows very little about the deep, dark secrets of Glendower Hall. He's the first person Gwynneth trusts of the lot of them, but that's about it. If you're looking for romance, you're going to have to look elsewhere.

The story of the tragic Lady Anne, the beloved daughter of Lord and Lady Glendower, comes in dribs and drabs from various members of the household. Indeed, the romance of this romance novel is squarely centered on Lady Anne. Apparently she was extremely sheltered as a child, and never allowed to know disappointment or failure; when she began to exhibit talents for the arts, a special tutor was sought and hired to develop these talents. Lady Anne was all of about 15, and her tutor scarcely older than her, so they fall in love with each other, though they are careful to keep their feelings secret from the household.

This is problem enough, but as Lady Anne grows up, she has several admirers who are far better placed to pay suit to her - including Charles Price-Jones, who returns from a long time abroad to find Anne has grown up before his eyes. He is quite a bit older than her, and though he dances with her at her coming-out ball, he decides to wait until she is a bit older to press his suit.

Unfortunately, he doesn't bother to let Anne know that he's fallen head over heels for her; instead, he goes straight to Lord Glendower to ask for her hand in marriage. Anne has no idea that her father has agreed and betrothed her to Charles; when she's told, she has a rather typical lovesick teenage reaction. Her feelings for her tutor are laid bare, and that man is summarily dismissed from the household, but Anne runs off with him and elopes before her family can stop her. Nanny Hoskins is sent after the young couple, and Anne only agrees to return to Glendower Hall if her new husband accompanies her. Lord Glendower will not yield; he's determined to send the man away and have the marriage annulled. Only...oopsie doodle, Anne is pregnant and is adamant that her husband will return for her, no matter what her father says.

I think we all know where this is going. Gwynneth is obviously Anne's illicit love child (though she doesn't figure this out until the end of the book, and doesn't believe Nanny when she tells her). But Anne is dead - Gwynneth has nearly daily visions of her jumping from the turret of the chapel, though she is too fearful to tell anyone - and what of her long-lost husband? Why does no one recognize her (other than her copper-colored hair, which neither parent possessed)?

Nanny Hoskins is the one who holds the hatred and vengeance here. Lady Glendower has some awful, grasping relatives who show up during the winter holiday season, basically to remind everyone that they're waiting for the old lady to die so they can swoop in, take over the estate, and help themselves out of/further into debt. Nanny is practically gleeful when these relatives show up this year, and the male half of this duo serves as a red herring for the "enemy" from the blurb. Gwynneth has had no real fear of anyone in the household until these people show up; so why not? She finds herself drawn to the tower where Anne killed herself and she doesn't really understand why, until she goes up there one day and realizes that someone is following her.

The novel moves at an almost excruciatingly slow pace until the last three chapters, when the action really ramps up. Gwynneth finally tells someone about all the things she's seeing and hearing; Nanny convinces her that she has 'the gift' of clairvoyance/mediumship; her unusual appearance is explained (she looks like her great aunt, natch); the fate of her birth parents is revealed; Gwynneth is stalked to the tower by a mad man who is determined to be reunited with his life-long unrequited love.

The ending is really rather bittersweet, considering all the characters and how their roles ultimately played out. Lady Jane makes a full recovery; Gwynneth takes her place has the true heir to Glendower Hall; she visits her adoptive parents' graves one last time. You really have to suspend disbelief during the climax of the plot, because the author really leans hard into the supernatural elements, even throwing in a bit of reincarnation just for good measure. It was about two twists too many for me, personally, but hey.

And yes, the stones of Glendower Hall do indeed shimmer in the light, as there is mica embedded in said stones, which were quarried locally. There is a big to-do about the shimmering in the winter light at the end that I didn't 100% understand, but hey. It's a nice visual no matter how you slice it!

This is definitely the best of the Zebra Gothics I have read thus far, and will stay in my tiny collection. If you don't mind a Gothic that's not really all that dark, lacks present-day danger and romance, and leans hard into the supernatural, I'd say give this one a shot.

⭐⭐⭐
vintageromancereader: (Default)
2024-10-05 04:37 pm

Stormy Springtime


"He needs a wife - someone like me!"

Meg Collins was an old-fashioned country girl facing an uncertain future. Now that the family house was being sold, Meg had to find a job. But where? Her skills were in cooking and gardening - not shorthand and typing.

Professor Ralph Culver offered a solution. The eminent doctor needed a "sensible, domestic person" to work in his London office. Someone like Meg.

But it wasn't very sensible to fall in love with the professor. Or to hope that he would fall in love with her, too...


Original Publisher: Harlequin
Original Year of Publication: 1987
Page Count: 187

This is my first foray into the world of Betty Neels, an extremely profile Harlequin author who had a few interesting writing quirks: her books feature doctors and/or nurses, at least one of them is Dutch, and at least part of the story takes place somewhere in Holland. I am faintly amused by this (there's nothing better than a category writer who knows her strengths, after all) and curious, because I studied in the Netherlands for grad school. I've picked up quite a few vintage Neels novels from my last few thrift store trips, and this one seemed like a good one to start with.

Meg Collins is a mousy little woman, the mostly-forgotten middle child who stayed at her home with her mother in Hertfordshire and nursed said parent at the end of her life. As the book opens, Meg and her sisters are talking about selling the home and how they are going to use their shares of the money. Cora, older sister, is married with kids; Doreen, younger sister, is a vivacious nurse at a London hospital. Both sisters have always run roughshod over Meg, telling her what to do for her entire life, and now is no different. They each encourage her to move to London and find a secretary job, even though she has no secretarial skills and London is extremely expensive, even in the post-war era.

Meg had some ideas of her own for her future. As much as she doesn't want to leave her childhood home, she grudgingly accepts it, and considers hiring herself out as a housekeeper on a similar country estate. After all, those *are* the skills she has: managing a household. She has a vague notion of marrying and having kids someday, and running her own household, but more important right now is to find a roof and a situation that pays wages.

Several people come tour the home when it's put on the market, including a very arrogant man who says nothing and displays even less. Meg takes an instant dislike to him, but manages to forget him when a real potential buyer arrives: the elegant, elderly Mrs Culver, freshly arrived back in England after her husband's death. Meg takes a shine to her, especially after she graciously agrees to let Meg and the cook, Betsy, stay on for awhile while her own housekeeper recovers. The only fly in the ointment? That arrogant man is nice Mrs Culver's son, Ralph, who came to inspect the home because he knew his mother was interested in it.

Once Mrs Culver's housekeeper arrives, Meg is persuaded to go to London to check out a flat her sister Doreen found for her, which she can afford with her share of the money. It's a horrible little place behind an underground station, and Meg is in tears at the idea of leaving her beautiful home for such a place. Mercifully, Ralph Culver swoops to her rescue, assuring her that she shouldn't live in the rundown little hovel because it was structurally unsound. On the way back to Mrs Culver's house, he casually mentions that he can help her out: he has a private practice in London where he sees patients between his rounds at various hospitals around the city. It's a receptionist job, and it comes with a flat because she has to take off-hours calls for him. It also comes with the chance to visit his own country estate, with a little gardener's cottage Meg can make her own on the weekends. Meg jumps at the chance for at least partial country life, and finds herself intrigued by the man. He is a physician, a Professor of Radiology, and once she takes the job in his office, she truly takes interest in his work, as part of her job is to chat with his patients, especially the nervous ones.

Meg is quite happy with her state of affairs, all told; she has a lovely flat in the nice part of town, a little weekend lodge, and enough facetime with Professor Culver that she falls in love with him fairly quickly. She also takes in stray animals, including a one-eyed stray cat in London whom she names Nelson. (My heart melted at this, especially when she insists on taking Nelson with her to the country!)

Meg's grand idea to get the Professor to notice her is basically to fade into the background: being perfectly polite and professional, but otherwise having no personality at all. This is a change for her, and it is indeed one he notices, but it does not seem to have the desired effect. He goes out with glamorous women all the time and invites them for weekends at his estate, especially one particularly stunning blonde. Meg keeps in touch with Betsy and Mrs Culver, and learns that his mother thinks it unlikely her handsome son will settle down with the types of women he dates, but Meg is unsure.

We're nearly 70% into the book before the inevitable trip to Holland arrives. As it turns out, Mrs Culver is Dutch and her mother still lives in Amsterdam. When the Professor takes a week-long trip to visit his grandmother, he invites Meg along - because his grandmother's housekeeper is going on holiday, and the Culvers want Meg along to fill her place. I mean, you just have to laugh, really. Meg is excited, because again, being a housekeeper is her dream in life, and she loves the Culver family, so why not?

Ralph does the same things in the Netherlands that he does in England: teaching, rounds, and dates with beautiful women. He does go out of his way to spend time with Meg, including the scene featured on the cover where they spend an afternoon taking in the sights around Amsterdam. Meg's love just continues to grow, and she continues to suffer in silence. Even the intriguing looks Ralph gives her are only stings, nothing to really hang her dreams on.

They return to England and life carries on. One weekend at Ralph's country home, Meg rushes up to his house to fetch him because a young couple have broken down at her garden gate; the woman is in labor and the man is trying to get her to hospital. Ralph, despite not having delivered a baby since he was a resident, of course handles everything with aplomb, and sends the young couple on to hospital in the aftermath, checking up on them, etc. Meg learns that the man is an out of work farm laborer, and then - to her surprise - that Ralph has offered him the position of gardener at his estate, which means the couple with the baby will be moving into her beloved little cottage! Meg is devastated at losing this place, and decides that she needs to move on with her life. She's just another one of Ralph's success stories; he finds people in need and sets them onto a better path in life; this accounts for basically everyone who works for him, in the country and in the city.

Meg starts looking for a new job in London and a new place to live. Ralph runs hot and cold around her; seeking out her company one moment (and even kissing her, though he confesses he doesn't know why) and ignoring her the next. She calls around to find him one night because of an urgent call from the hospital and finds him at the blonde's apartment, and that's just about the final straw.

One day she goes down to the offices and everyone is acting extremely polite and professional, without the warmth she's become accustomed to. She's called into Ralph's office, knowing that he's going to sack her, which he does. She's incredibly upset until he basically says, "You know why I hired another receptionist? Because I want you as my wife!"

I had to laugh, honestly. It's like everyone in the world knew what was going on, except Meg. How was she the last one to know he was in love with her and wanted to marry her? It's a mystery to me. The story is told nearly 100% from Meg's POV (with just a few scenes from Ralph's POV), and since she is pretty clueless, so are we, the readers. Ralph claims that he fell in love with her right from the start, basically because she was not like other girls he knew. We don't really see this on the page, so it was a bit of hard sell for me. I mean, yay that Meg got her happy ending, but also a little WTF??

I enjoyed this for the most part (and the shout-out to my city, Leiden, during the trip to Holland!), just was amused by that ending. Ms Neels writes a compelling story, and this was a quick read. I look forward to the next!

⭐⭐⭐
vintageromancereader: (Default)
2024-09-28 06:29 pm

Trevallion


Anna and Rick had become engaged "for mutual protection," not intending to marry. Then, in his beautiful Cornish home, she learned to love him...but would he ever be free of Alix, his cousin and first love, who, with his family's approval, had every intention of recapturing him?


Original Publisher: Mills & Boon
Original Year of Publication: 1957 [1967 reprint]
Page Count: 192

The book blurb, short as it is, is indeed accurate. This is a fake engagement story set in my most favorite part of England, so of course it was the first book I chose from my latest thrift store treasure hunt. This sounded like 1000% my catnip!

Upon first opening the tattered cover, and upon registering this on Goodreads, I was rather impressed that I was holding at least the third edition of this book. It must've been very popular when it was first released to earn so many print runs, so my hopes were already raised. The opening scene from the hero's POV? They got even higher.

Rick Peveril is brooding away at a London convalescent home. He's both ready to get back to his life, and dreading it. His cousin Alix's husband recently died, so they all expect him to return to Cornwall and marry her. That had been the plan all their lives; practically from childhood, it was just anticipated that they would marry and take on the run of Trevallion, the family estate. Only, Alix dumped Rick in a huff one day and ran off with another man. Rick washed his hands of her then, and has no intention of taking her back, no matter what his family says. But it would be much easier if he returned home with a new fiancée on his arm.

He spots a young girl running out into the courtyard in tears. He recognizes her as a regular visitor to another patient, a young military officer recovering from an injury. He's surprised to see her crying as she looks up into the sky and watches the planes go by.

He approaches her and learns her sad tale: she arrived at the home that morning to find a Dear John letter from her man, ending their hasty engagement. Unfortunately, she's already planned her life around being able to escape her terrible current situation, and has gone as far as to quit her job and give notice to her boardinghouse. She's an orphan, and incredibly poor, and too proud to slink back to her job or ask for an extension on her room. Now what's she going to do?

Even though Rick perceives her as a child (and learns during the course of their conversation that she is, indeed, only 19), he also sees her as the means to his end. She is unlike anyone else in his life and will do nicely as his means of sabotaging his family's expectations of him. Given her circumstances, she seems likely to agree to his deal, so he asks her.

Anna Crewe is taken aback at his offer. She doesn't know him at all, and he's much older than her (36, he confirms). On the other hand, she has nothing to go back to in London. Homeless, jobless, without family, what does she have to lose? He offers to bring her to his estate in Cornwall for the summer, where she can rest, lick her wounds, and plan her next move. After some thoughtful consideration, she agrees to accompany him home.

They arrive in Cornwall a few days later, and Rick basically dumps her at Trevallion with his sister and his grandmother, and returns to his daily grind at the nearby mine. Neither woman is welcoming to Anna, whom they perceive as an interloper; they even tell her that they believe she won't last very long as Rick's fiancée, because guess who is also lurking about? Alix!

Rick is furious that his grandmother let out a cottage on the estate to Alix without telling him. She's there for the summer, and she makes it quite clear that she is still very much in the hunt for him. His domineering grandmother, old Mrs Peveril, sees in Alix someone who can rise into her place as lady of the house; his sister, Ruth, absolutely worships the ground she walks on. Anna begins having second thoughts about the whole thing.

We haven't had a scene from Rick's POV since the first one, and we continue with Anna as she struggles with life at Trevallion. Rick is of absolutely no help; he spends long days at the mine and doesn't return until dinner usually. Ruth is sullen all the time, Mrs Peveril spends her days holding court from her bedroom, and Alix taunts Anna. Even the Peveril poor relation, Birdie, shies away from Anna; he keeps to his garden and his piggeries and fades into the background during the family meals.

Ruth eventually starts to open up the tiniest bit to Anna, especially when the latter realizes that Ruth is head over heels for the local veterinarian, David Evans. He comes out to the house rather often to check on the animals. The Peveril family doesn't approve of him because he is Welsh and new to the village, and Ruth has been beaten down her entire life to the point where she has no spine whatsoever. She bends to the will of her grandmother and her cousin early and often, but Anna encourages her to keep seeing David if she wants to. Ruth still brushes her off most of the time.

Anna continues to have a hard time. She is not athletic like the other members of the family, so she can't join them when they swim in the sea off their bit of coast. Rick continues to be of no help whatsoever; he told her back in London that "anyone would do" for his predicament, so Anna doesn't believe Rick will keep his end of the bargain. She's waiting for the other shoe to drop - for him to realize that he still loves Alix and wants to be with her. God knows no one misses the chance to tell her that.

Anna does the best she can while she waits out the summer, and the inevitable. Somehow she manages to fall for her fake fiancé, though I'm not sure how or why. He's indifferent to her most of the time, mocks her when they do talk and calls her a child on more than one occasion. The family seems to take some grim joy in constantly tearing strips off each other, so its a pretty miserable place. Between him, Alix, and old Mrs Peveril, Anna is about ready to give up entirely.

But Ruth is determined to have her romance with David; Anna learns that her last boyfriend was run out of town by her grandmother, also for the crime of not being "good enough" for a Peveril. Anna encourages Ruth to stand up for herself: she's 30 years old and no one can tell her what to do. If she wants to get married and leave Trevallion, she should do it! Her grandmother can go kick rocks, and Rick doesn't care either way. So what's stopping her?

As Ruth starts to pull away, Alix begins to realize her power over her cousins is waning. Rick is still spending time with her (why??) but refuses to return to their past relationship, and she's near the end of her rope. She does some especially cruel things to Anna at the end, but gets her just desserts when old Mrs Peveril learns of the incident and drags Rick along with her to confront Alix.

We have our requisite happy ending, with Rick professing his love to Anna and Mrs Peveril directing her to call her Gran as the rest of the family does. Ruth is allowed to marry her vet, Alix is kicked out of the cottage, and they all live happily ever after.

Considering this novel was originally released in 1957, it's not a half-bad book; it's a bit more like proto-women's fiction than actual romance, considering how much time Rick spends off page, and how much time Anna is interacting with the other Peveril women. By today's standards, there are plenty of problematic elements. Anna is a pretty weak heroine. Rick is cold and aloof, when he's around.

I didn't love it, but I don't hate it, either. It's firmly in the "meh" category for me, probably because of my love for Cornwall. I'll keep it, but I won't exactly be rushing out for the rest of this author's backlist.

⭐⭐
vintageromancereader: (Default)
2024-09-28 05:38 pm

Mount TBR, 2024 edition

Finally, FINALLY, the bookshelves have been built and the books have been unpacked.

Here is the wall of Mount TBR.



These are not all vintage romances (this is also my Harlequin collection), but they are all part of Mount TBR. Per LibraryThing, it currently stands at *gulp* 1,224 books. So let's get reading again!
vintageromancereader: (Default)
2024-08-10 01:38 pm

Brentwood


Marjorie Wetherill had always known she was an adopted child; her adoptive parents, the Wetherills, whom Marjorie loved deeply, had made no secret of it. Their death leaves Marjorie well provided for but terribly lonely. Soon she is consumed with the desire to find the family she has never known. But how can she find them when she knows nothing about them--and when Evan Brower, her handsome, wealthy neighbor, seems determined to make her forget about her unknown family entirely?

Then Marjorie finds a letter from Mrs. Wetherill, written shortly before her death, in which she tells Marjorie her real father's name and last known address! And so Marjorie's search begins--a search for a family to call her own; a search that will ultimately change her life and bring her a love more wonderful than anything she has ever known.


Original Publisher: J.B. Lippincott
Original Year of Publication: 1937 [1991 reprint]
Page Count: 306


As the novel opens, Marjorie Wetherill is knocking around her huge family home in Chicago all by herself. It's a week before Christmas and her mother has just died, leaving her an orphan. She is an adult (having graduated college, so likely ~22 years old), but no matter what your age, losing your parents hurts. Marjorie is dealing with another bombshell on top of this loss. She's always known that she was adopted, but never knew anything about her birth family - until now. Her adoptive mother left her one last letter, detailing all she knows about the family, including their last known address. She more or less implores Marjorie to look them up, because they have always regretted their decision to give her up for adoption and long to see her, even now - especially now, because the Wetherwills have always refused to let them see her.

Marjorie is at a loss about what to do. She's always yearned for her birth family, but she fears all the same. They didn't want her as a baby, so why would they want her now? Would they resent her for growing up in the lap of luxury, now an heiress worth millions, when their lifestyle was much more modest? She knows that her mother is still alive, and that she has a twin sister, but basically knows nothing else.

Her childhood friend and neighbor, Evan Brower, actively discourages her from reuniting with her birth family. He's convinced that they would take advantage of her wealth and basically mooch off her, because what else could they be but lazy and spoiled? He's decided that he wants to marry Marjorie, even though he hasn't really shown her any romantic attention ever, and he's bullheaded enough to believe he can bend her to his will simply by wanting her bad enough.

Mercifully, Marjorie has a will of her own, and when she decides to seek out her birth family, she goes right ahead and does it, without telling anyone beforehand or seeking out anyone's permission. She travels to the tiny, shabby house where her family lives and is appalled by the conditions. Her family has fallen into deep poverty, as her father lost his job and they lost their beloved house, the titular Brentwood. They are so poor and hungry that they've sold all of their belongings, save one chair, and are living in the cold, snowy Midwest without gas or coal or food, saving all of their money to buy medicine for the mother, who has taken to her sickbed.

Marjorie immediately springs into action: she pays off the family debts, has the gas turned back on, buys two tons of coal to heat the house, brings in a doctor for her mother (whom she hasn't even seen yet), and buys nutritious food. The first person she meets is her twin sister, Betty, who is actively hostile towards her. One by one she meets the rest of her family: her oldest brother, Ted (about 19), and the younger kids Bud, Sunny, and Bonnie. They are all half-starved and sick, and they are all slow to warm up to Marjorie, but she powers through it, happy to know that she has the means to help them. She meets her father that same evening, but its a few days before she can see her mother - though when she does, it is a joyous reunion!

The family slowly but surely warms up to her and begins to accept her: first as their fairy godmother, then as their sister/daughter. Betty is the longest holdout; she is wary and bitter and jealous, and she struggles with these feelings for the entire story. Ted quickly takes to Marjorie, as they have church-going in common; the younger kids take to her because she is kind to them. Marjorie decides to spend the holiday season with them, leaving her hotel that very first day and moving into their tiny house, sharing a bed with her twin and helping out as much as she can.

She learns of Brentwood from Ted, who still attends a chapel near the house. She makes up her mind to restore her family to their rightful home for Christmas, and goes about it quite smartly. She also helps her siblings and parents in their current abode, especially with food, medicine, and the doctor for mother, and the various sick children. They are coming together and enjoying the holidays; Marjorie meets Gideon Reaver, the young minister that Ted absolutely adores and she is also smitten.

Meanwhile, Evan is simmering with rage in Chicago. Marjorie left no forwarding address, and she went to her heretofore unknown family, against his explicit wishes! Practically the moment he learns where she is, he goes after her, stomping into the Gay family house on Christmas day and demanding that she return to Chicago with him. He's just a complete ass to everyone. Marjorie holds her line, though, refusing to leave with him that day, or any day. She's still deciding what she wants to do for the rest of her life, but his sudden and unwelcome appearance makes one thing crystal clear.

Her family insist that she return to Chicago after the New Year for some time and space to make her decision, whether she wants to come live with them at Brentwood or carry on by herself in the social and luxurious whirlwind to which she is accustomed. Marjorie already knows what she wants even before she returns to the Wetherill mansion, but she abides by their wishes. She dumps Evan for good in an extremely satisfying scene that only gets better because he is as stubborn as he is assholish, and he keeps coming around because he thinks he can change her mind. Haha, joke's on him! This is one GLH heroine who knows her own mind and isn't afraid to assert herself.

In the end, Marjorie is happily reunited with her birth family at Brentwood, and they all live happily ever after :)

The romance is rather blink-and-you'll-miss-it between Marjorie and Gideon. Betty also has a romance with the doctor who's tending them all. We kinda spend equal time with both twins, and it really highlights their differences in their outlooks on life as well as how they fit into the family. I think GLH did a great job exploring the feelings from all sides around the issue of adoption and how it affects everyone involved: the birth parents, the adoptive parents, the child herself and the other siblings.

The "God stuff" is of the born-again variety, which is not my thing, but it wasn't laid on too terribly thick. The fact that this is set at holiday time disguises some of this, too, given the customs around going to church in the Depression era. I enjoyed the entire cast of characters and their interactions, and it was a very happy ending all the way around!

⭐⭐⭐ 1/2
vintageromancereader: (Default)
2024-07-18 07:31 pm

Fashion's Lady


Dangerous Business

A proper young lady did not go into trade. But what was Susannah Garland to do, when she had only her dressmaking skill to keep her from the streets?

A proper young lady also did not enter into partnership with a notorious seducer like Sir Jeffrey Stratton. But what was Susannah to do, when she desperately needed his aid to open her establishment?

And, above all, a proper young lady did not listen to the wooing of another lady's husband. But what was Susannah to do, when Miles Devereux, the young lord she long had adored, asked her to help him forget his mockery of a marriage?

Susannah has to learn the price of making a profit in business - and the high cost of falling in love...


Original Publisher: Signet
Original Year of Publication: 1982
Page Count: 275

There has been an unintended hiatus to this blog, due to a long-overdue move and a lack of decent shelving to house my home library, which mostly consists of paperback novels. My vintage romance collection has been boxed up for the last 3 months, and unfortunately will continue to be for a little while longer. There is a glimmer of hope on the horizon, as bookcases are scheduled to arrive next week, albeit in pieces. But I am hopeful that I can pick up again (with regularity) by August!

The only previous experience I've had with this author is that she is not afraid to stir in some crazysauce, so I was a bit wary as I cracked this novel (newly arrived from my PBS wishlist). But, there are no wacky hijinks or forced comedic interludes here: this is straight-up trad Regency drama, which is exactly what I was looking for.

Susannah Garland is, quite literally, a poor relation. Her mother, a member of the aristocratic Devereux family, eloped with a mere schoolmaster and was basically banished from her family after that. Both of Susannah's parents died, and against her own better judgment even at 15, she accedes to her mother's wish that she return to the family fold, now headed by her mother's brother, Lord Devereux. She is not welcomed to Sanderby, the family house; everyone treats her like a stain to be covered and forgotten, except for her cousin Miles. Susannah is so overwhelmed with relief at finding a kind soul that she fancies herself in love with him, and he returns her feelings very fervently. However, Lord Devereux is a harsh taskmaster, even to his own flesh and blood. He demands that Miles make a politically advantageous match with the daughter of the family next door, or else face being thrown into debtor's prison due to his outrageous gambling losses.

Neither Miles nor Agnes, his prospective bride, want the match, but Lord Devereux is determined to have the Winston family money to refill the coffers. Miles is quite spineless and cowardly, even from the very start of the book. He pleads with Susannah to basically stay with him as his mistress after the marriage, which he will go through with because he doesn't want to go to prison. Susannah refuses, multiple times, and ultimately comes to fear for her life when she overhears a very harsh conversation between father and son. Lord Devereux threatens to banish Susannah to his Irish estates in order to keep her away from Miles; Susannah sees the writing on the wall, knowing her uncle would just as likely have her killed as anything else. She decides to run away that very night, taking her precious few possessions with her.

Luckily for her, Sir Jeffrey Stratton happens along to Sanderby at that moment, an accident befalling his vehicle. Stratton is a mortal enemy of the Devereux family, both politically and personally, but Devereux is forced to oblige Stratton a conveyance. Stratton sends his own carriage back to London (a mere 5 miles away) and Susannah slips inside it as its leaving the grounds.

She rides into London, intent on finding her father's sister in Covent Garden. She has no idea of Covent Garden's reputation, and finds herself well and truly stuck when she learns that her aunt died two years previously. Her uncle is already on the warpath, trying to find her, so she ducks into a nearby boarding house and considers her options. Miles is obviously too cowardly to defy his father, and thus won't rescue her; she has no other living family; her uncle is out for her blood. What choice does she have to to try to find respectable work?

Susannah's mother was an extremely talented seamstress, and she taught Susannah to be equally good with the needle. She's already made a few dresses for herself, and in fact uses one of these to finagle an interview at the most exclusive dressmaker's in Town, Madame Hilary. Madame acknowledges her talent, but cannot forgive her for the audacity of arriving via the front door (instead of the side). She rather reluctantly hires Susannah on for her workroom, but offers no support when her forewoman and her footman bully her relentlessly.

Susannah is quite strong, and withstands the constant torment. The other girls in the workroom are just as miserable, but nobody wants to rock the boat. Susannah is paired with another girl, Annie Jones, on her first day, and the two quickly become friends. Susannah is quite disappointed by Madame Hilary's outmoded fashions, and knows that she could do better. Annie challenges her to sketch some designs, which soon consumes all of Susannah's free time. Meanwhile, Madame picks her to run errands around Town for the shop, thanks to her refined accent and manners. Susannah knows that she is merely being used, but she doesn't care: she's starting to nurture a dream of opening her own fashion house, one to rival even Madame Hilary's. She knows exactly which clients she'd lure away, too: the ones Madame feels are beneath her notice, and for whom she gives ugly, unflattering clothes. Madame is too busy sucking up to the elites of the ton, and the royal family, to care about those considered "lesser than."

A chance encounter with Princess Amelia exposes Susannah's flair for design, and when Madame Hilary learns of Susannah's background, she blackmails her into handing over her design sketches, which of course Madame Hilary steals credit for. Suddenly she's producing new, exciting fashions and attracting even more attention than ever before. Agnes Winston even decides to have her wedding gown made by Madame's establishment, and Madame is gleeful, forcing Susannah to design the dress because she believes it will hurt her to have to stitch the very gown for the woman "stealing" Miles away from her.

Miles has discovered Susannah's whereabouts, and persuades her to meet him secretly at night. His constant whining about his untenable position, coupled with her months of working in the real world, open Susannah's eyes and makes her realize that her childish infatuation is just that. She doesn't love Miles anymore, at least not romantically, but she does pity him and his situation. She refuses (again) to be his mistress, but Miles is unrepentant. He proclaims his love for her over and over again but does exactly nothing to change his situation. He is a spineless creep and we're barely a third of the way into the book.

Susannah and the other seamstresses are given the chance to go to the church and see their work for the wedding party; against her better judgment (for she has now met Agnes and knows what a bitch she is), she decides to attend, and joins the crowd gathered outside the church to watch the wedding party arrive. She's so intent on looking at the gowns she helped make that she doesn't realize when Miles spots her in the crowd until his uncle suddenly arrives at her side and grabs her arm, threatening her to hell and back because he believes she's there to cause a scene.

She's rescued by Sir Jeffrey, who is also amongst the crowd and is curious as to why Lord Devereux is so furious with a very pretty girl. Jeffrey extracts her from the situation and they leave as the wedding party goes into the church. Susannah confesses who she is and why her uncle hates her so much, and Jeffrey is intrigued. He hates Lord Devereux and Miles just as much, and sees an opportunity to use Susannah to advance his own, quiet revenge on them. It seems Devereux's father cheated Sir Jeffrey's father out of a large amount of money, hence his grudge against them. He tells Susannah all of this, so when he offers to finance her dream of opening her own establishment, she walks into the partnership quite knowingly. Jeffrey also warns her that people will believe that she is his mistress, but being so close to her ultimate dream makes it worth the risk. Susannah agrees, and sets out to find a suitable property to open her shop.

Miles arrives not long into this process, telling Susannah that his father has died and he's now Lord Devereux. He means to set aside his marriage to the harridan Agnes and take Susannah in her stead, but Susannah refuses. She doesn't love him anymore, and besides, she's thisclose to her dream. Miles is quite ugly to her, implying that he believes she is Jeffrey's mistress, and warns her that he'll be back.

Susannah opens her shop, even when the grand showroom is destroyed on the eve of the grand opening, and suppliers around Town refuse to do business with her under threat of losing Madame Hilary's trade. Her first client is Jeffrey's (ex-) Mistress, Lady Cowper, who is sufficiently impressed with Susannah's determination in the face of disaster that she orders a gown from her and spreads the word of her shop, just as Susannah had hoped. She'd made a supreme personal sacrifice to her own pride in asking Jeffrey to ask his mistress to help; this is when she learns that they are no longer together, and though Jeffrey is invested in the financial success of Susannah's shop, he's not quite so personally invested in bringing her clients.

Susannah's shop flourishes; she hires her friend, Annie Jones, as her forewoman, and puts together a warm and inviting workroom. She attracts those who were not treated well by Madame Hilary, and soon it becomes obvious who the true designer was from the previous season. Susannah's start is on the rise, but her personal life is in shambles. She learns that Jeffrey has won the deed to Sanderby from Miles in a card game, and that Miles has deteriorated even more into his vices. Jeffrey is planning to close up Sanderby instead of letting Miles and Agnes live there. Miles continues to come round to Susannah, pleading for her to love him even though he is married and expecting a child. Susannah has fallen in love with Jeffrey, who holds her at arm's length and seems to still be in mourning for his late wife.

The years roll on; as Susannah's shop becomes the most exclusive ladies dressmaker in Town, more people are gunning for her. Miles manages to force her into a compromising situation, which leads Jeffrey to believe she's taken Miles as a covert lover; he's even more icy and cool than ever, and says some pretty awful things to her. Still, he doesn't abandon her, especially as Miles becomes more and more obsessed with her. Agnes has left him and openly taken up with a lover, so he feels entitled to do the same. Susannah still cares for Miles, but realizes the danger she's in with him. A chance for the royal warrant comes her way, and she only has to keep her reputation intact and it's hers; that's when Miles makes his final move: he demands Susannah marry him, or he will destroy her reputation as a dressmaker, leaving her with as much as she had at the beginning of the book: nothing.

The final chapter is a breathtaking climax of a scene, where everything finally comes out into the open, and Susannah is forced to make her choice. Jeffrey holds the key, in Sanderby, but no one is sure that Miles will accept anything less than the woman he's become so obsessed with.

I really enjoyed this book. I loved Susannah: she is a strong, determined, clear-minded character who knows how to get what she wants without straying into absurdity. She is quite brave in the face of a lot of nastiness and just keeps going for her goal, though what she wants more than anything is for Jeffrey to love her. Jeffrey is a suitable, if obstinate hero; Miles is a suitably disgusting jerk and it was really nice that Susannah discovers this fairly early in the book. She can't quite bring herself to hate him, not even in the end when he's threatening her livelihood and her happiness, which is more than I can say for myself, LOL.

Real historical figures are scattered throughout, and the fierce political backdrop of the early wars with Napoleon figure into the story, though not enough to distract from the romance. William Pitt, Lady Jersey, Emily Cowper, and the Prince Regent are a few figures to make cameo appearances (I thought it interesting that Ms Heath makes her hero one of the Lady Cowper's many lovers, that was pretty bold!).

I really loved this, and it makes me wish all the more that my vintage romances were readily available, as I have several of this author's backlist. Definitely recommend!

⭐⭐⭐⭐
vintageromancereader: (Default)
2024-02-21 06:55 pm

Love's Lady Lost


He could hardly desert a damsel-in distress

Mr Leopold Savage's rakehell reputation went before him. Thus, when he became stranded at the widow, Mrs Primrose Hythe's home, he was not surprised by her cold reception.

He was, however, surprised to be captured by a precocious six-year-old, a cantankerous cat and chicken-pox under one roof. And to find the widow becoming an agreeable, if not enchanting, companion.

Yet he never suspected her to be hiding a secret so deep and dark that even he was loath to believe it.


Original Publisher: Harlequin
Original Year of Publication: 1991
Page Count: 218

The February 2024 #TBRChallenge is "Furry Friends." I reached into my pile of Harlequin-published traditional Regency romances because I recalled having at least one with a kitty cat side character, and I came up with this.

Leopold Savage is the typical trad Regency Corinthian, footloose and fancy free, but under some pressure from his formidable grandmother to finally marry and set up a nursery. He has a falling out with his father about the same, and goes running off in the middle of a snowstorm to basically tell his grandmother to forget any clever ideas she might have about matching him up with anybody anytime soon. Because its snowing and Leo is an idiot, he breaks a wheel on his curricle in the middle of nowhere. He also spots a very young girl wandering around by herself, so he picks her up and tries to take her home. He's annoyed that she leads him not to her home, but to a nearby village, where they are both summarily shunned. A villager gives him directions to the child's home, and he realizes what's what when the front door is opened and he's greeted by a young woman covered in chicken pox spots.

The little girl, Consuela, is the child of the house; the lady at the door, Primrose Hythe, is the lady of the house in a manner of speaking. She runs a modest little boarding house with one ancient maid and scatterbrained young cousin just down from Oxford. Mercifully, Leopold has already had the chicken pox, so he's okay to stay at this curiously dilapidated house with quite a few objects d'art littered about.

Leo makes himself right at home, especially endearing himself to Consuela when he agrees to bathe Milor', the big black Persian cat who considers himself lord and master. This goes about as well as can be expected; Milor runs off in the wake of the insult and is nowhere to be found. By this time, one of Leo's BFFs has arrived to tell him that not only is his grandmother not at her residence, but she's planned a huge ball in his honor and is prepared to basically auction him off to the highest bidder in the matrimonial stakes. Leo can't have that, so he comes up with a plan to use the "notorious" widow Hythe to basically scare away all comers.

This was an odd read. While competently written (tightly plotted and amusing in the comedy-of-manners way of a trad Regency), I didn't really connect with the characters. The main POV is Leo Savage, but even his motives are opaque when he goes from being the kindhearted funny house guest to a cold, arrogant jerk at the idea of being a matrimonial target by his grandmother. It doesn't help that he constantly calls Primrose "The Spotted Hythe" as a term of endearment, even after the chicken pox fade. When he hears Primrose's deep dark secret (that Consuela is not, in fact, her daughter but her niece, born from a false elopement between her sister and the nefarious Conrad Furness, who only "married"/trapped Primrose's sister because Primrose herself had the audacity to turn him down; Primrose is terrified that Furness will learn the truth of Consuela's parentage and use her to take the family home to restore his own coffers), he basically tells her that he doesn't believe her, but blackmails her into being his "date" for his grandmother's ball by promising to keep schtum if she does so. Her reputation will piss off his family, which he considers a win somehow. Then, at the ball, he treats her abominably and lets those attending do the same, making sure that her reputation is known far and wide and that she's ostracized for it. He's doing this in a plot to "trap" Furness and disgrace him, but does he tell Primrose that? No, he just goes on being cruel to her, explaining afterwards that he had to do it to ensure she had an honest reaction, to make it all the more believable for their audience at the ball and then later during Furness's comeuppance.

It was needlessly cruel, and not until it unfolds on the page do we know what Savage is doing, and why. This is a romance novel?? Ugh.

Primrose is similarly dull, and Consuela is a completely unbelievable child (who apparently has no grasp of personal pronouns whatsoever, which made the dialogue hard to read). Unfortunately even the cat is gone for a large chunk of the book, presumed dead and replaced with a pair of clucking hens, all so that Savage and his BFF can hilariously try their hand at building a henhouse. At least everyone gets a good laugh out of that, before everything turns sour. (The cat does return at the end, and actually takes up residence in the ridiculous henhouse.)

This was not a good read, and it's going on my PBS pile. It is apparently the third in a series by this author, but the wild way this one went pretty much completely put me off trying anything else by her.

⭐ 1/2
vintageromancereader: (Default)
2024-01-15 12:37 pm

Joe's Wife


Memories...

Tye Hatcher returned to Aspen Grove to find that life in the sleepy Western town hadn't changed much. The townspeople stubbornly refused to see the man he had become. That is, everybody but Meg Telford. Meg definitely took notice of the reticent rancher and gave him a change in life when no one else would. Still, Meg clung to the memories of her late husband, afraid of the feelings Tye aroused in her heart. And though Tye vowed to prove his worth to the town, could he ever prove to Meg that he was worthy of her love?


Original Publisher: Harlequin
Original Year of Publication: 1999
Page Count: 299

The January 2024 #TBRChallenge is "Once More with Feeling." I chose to interpret this as a second chance romance prompt, and dug into my Harlequin Historicals for a tried-and-true favorite author. I tend to hoard their backlists for when I especially need a strong read, and what better way to start this year's reading challenge than with a Cheryl St John title?

As the blurb implies, our leads have baggage galore. Tye Hatcher has returned to Aspen Grove, Colorado, after the Civil War. He's not sure why he returned to the town, given the fact that he's been ostracized practically since birth. His mother was a saloon girl and his father didn't even acknowledge his existence. He's always been on the outside looking in, and I guess he figured one place was as good as any to return after war. He's trying to save up some money to buy some land to start a rendering plant, but thus far has had no luck seeking gainful employment. The only place that will have him is the local saloon, where he plays the piano in the evenings.

Meg Telford is a beautiful young woman who was a town favorite even before marrying into the prosperous Telford family. Her husband, Joe, did not return alive from the war, and she's been in mourning ever since. She's at a crossroads: she and Joe bought a plot of land and a bunch of cattle before the war, trying to make it on their own as ranchers. Joe barely had time to build a house before being called for the war effort, and now Meg is down to her last dimes trying to keep hold of her land. Her husband's family is pressuring her to sell and move in with her mother-in-law, Edwina. Edwina has made mourning a Way of Life: first she donned the black for her own husband, and then for her beloved son, Joe. She wants Meg to move in with her and basically serve as a companion, but Meg wants desperately to hold onto Joe's dream of the ranch.

To that end, she comes to a conclusion: she needs a man to work the land and coax a profit. She can't afford to pay him, so she decides to offer a marriage of convenience instead. The only eligible man in town is Tye Hatcher, whom Meg knew as a child. Meg is perhaps the only respectable person in town willing to give Tye a chance, aside from the Reverend. She thinks long and hard and decides to offer marriage - and her property - to him. It will save her from having to sell the rest of her furniture to pay the mortgage and will get Edwina & co off her back about selling.

Meanwhile, Tye has been approached by an old friend, Lottie, who is dying and wants him to take guardianship of her young daughter, Eve. Lottie plays on Tye's emotions to achieve this end, knowing how strongly he feels about being a fatherless child, and wanting to shield an innocent from such a fate. He agrees to take Eve, even though he can barely support himself, much less a child.

Meg's proposal comes just in time. Tye is shocked, and warns her that if he marries her, she will also be ostracized by the town. Meg is desperate enough to not care. They agree to marry, and Tye will move onto Meg's ranch. With her land and her stock, the rendering plant will be even more successful, even sooner - if they can make it through the season and keep the cattle alive long enough to be sold.

Meg doesn't quite believe Tye about the town turning their backs on her, but she gets a taste of it firsthand at their wedding, when nobody attends except her farm hands (her sister-in-law sneaks in, too, behind her husband's back, but only for a very short period). Meg is shocked, but swallows her pride and moves forward. She's struck her bargain and she's going to stick with it.

The dead husband, Joe, is a huge wedge between them. Meg loved him dearly and is not quite ready to let his memory go. Tye is jealous of this, and because Joe kept providing for her even beyond the grave: he sent home a pair of exquisite horses that Tye decides to stud out, covering some of their immediate monetary needs. Joe also built Meg a house and started the ranch, and Tye wonders how he could ever take his "rightful" place on the ranch that's now his.

Lottie dies soon after Tye and Meg wed, and Tye is forced to tell Meg about Eve. Meg balks at taking in a whore's illegitimate daughter, but Tye insists and brings Eve to the ranch. Meg softens towards the child, but becomes jealous of the bond that Tye and Eve forge. She fights with herself about her feelings, her memories, and her own pride, especially when she sees how shabbily the rest of the townspeople treat Eve.

There's a LOT of baggage to go around, and a lot of things that could've been solved if Tye and Meg had bothered talking to each other instead of making assumptions. Once they do being talking, tensions ease, at least between them. They decide to adopt Eve, legitimizing her and taking away the stigma that Tye labored under as a kid. They have a successful breeding season with the cattle and the horses. Tye even manages to buy back the ring that Meg had to sell at the beginning of their marriage to cover a mortgage payment, even though he does it in secret by returning to town to play nights in the saloon, leaving Meg to think the worst.

There's a lot to sink your teeth into, and a lot to mull over. Tye and Meg both deal with feelings of insecurity, jealousy, pride, shame, and humiliation. The author pulls no punches at how awfully the town (and Meg's family, led by Edwina) treat them all, even little Eve. There is an excellent moment of catharsis when Meg confronts her former mother-in-law about the terrible things she's saying about Meg and how Joe WOULD NEVER if he was still alive.

For all the awesome, there is some "meh" as well. Meg's absolute lack of knowledge of the marriage bed was unbelievable, considering she was happily married. She didn't know sex was supposed to be fun?! WTF?? Their own pleasure was basically the only thing women in 1865 had to call their own and no one else's, but Meg spends most of the book feeling ashamed for how lusty she feels over Tye, her own husband. (Yeah, okay.) She also apparently didn't know anything about the signs and symptoms of pregnancy. I just can't buy that a woman who is otherwise intelligent has absolutely no knowledge of her own body.

It is also disappointing that Tye has to make a Grand Gesture at the end to be accepted by the town, much less Edwina and the rest of the Telfords. Grand Gestures are some of my least favorite plot devices, and I kinda wanted them to keep forging their own way and to hell with those who were prejudiced against them. But, that's me. Obviously Tye proves his worth to the town, and to his wife, and they all live happily ever after.

It's another strong showing by Ms St John, and another great, meaty Western historical that hits all the feels. It was a great book to start this challenge with, and gives me hope for the rest of the prompts!

⭐⭐⭐1/2