From the publisher: Henrietta Gaydon is making her debut in London society for the Season, but her popularity and apparent ease disguises the fact that she is out of her depth and that she dreads the objective of finding a husband. She longs for home, her father and Lord Henfield, who she has always treated as an older brother. Charles Henfield stopped thinking of Henrietta like a sister when she was sixteen. And he is determined to try his luck with her in London. Mistakes and misunderstandings, the complication of a feud between mamas, and Henrietta’s no longer fraternal feelings for Henfield, all conspire to make this a Season to remember. Main character Henrietta is young and sheltered, but she is sensible and a good conversationalist who has benefitted from her close relationship with her father. Her father’s godson Charles has long treated her as a sister, but although his Read more »
From the publisher: A passionate kiss from a handsome valet becomes a Regency Cinderella story when he is revealed to be an earl. What a delight! It’s not often that a historical romance leaves me guessing as much as this one did. There are big obstacles to the romance, and I wondered how the author would work through them. But she did so in a way I found charming and satisfactory. Kenneth has unexpectedly become the heir to an earldom. Rebecca is an educated woman but the daughter of an artist and a former servant in a great house. They meet when he nearly runs her down on a rented horse. He is in disguise as his valet so he can ride with abandon without being scolded by his uncle the earl. After an unpleasant interaction with her abusive father, Rose is out enjoying a simple walk. Their attraction is Read more »
From the publisher: In Regency England, one letter will alter a young woman’s fate when it summons her to Briarton Park—an ancient place that holds the secrets of her past and the keys to her future.
The Letter from Briarton Park is a sweet, predictable clean romance set in Regency era England. Our heroine is plucky Cassandra Hale, a pretty and intelligent young woman who teaches at the Denton School for Young Ladies and knows nothing about her parents as the narrative opens. Mrs. Denton has been like a mother to Cassandra, but Cassandra finds out that she has been lied to her entire life. Mrs. Denton not only knows more than she has said about Cassandra’s family, she has kept a mysterious letter from her for two and a half years – a letter filled with money. Mrs. Denton gives the letter to Cassandra, and then she dies.
The letter invites Cassandra to visit Briarton Park in Northern Yorkshire, and thus Cassandra’s adventure begins. After she travels to Briarton Park, Cassandra finds not the writer of the original letter but James Warrington – a handsome and widowed mill owner who purchased the estate from the letter’s now deceased author.
Also in the mix are a sister, a mother-in-law, and two adorable small girls. (I was a little surprised no mischievous dog appeared as part of the family.) As a beautiful newcomer, Cassandra has her share of admirers – including the local vicar – as she attempts to solve the mystery of her parentage.
I’m no Regency expert, but the historical details didn’t jump out at me as being untrue to the times. The hero’s own lack of a pedigree allows the moneyed orphan to pursue romance. There were some plot points that I thought would play a bigger role in the story but didn’t (spoiler: like the little hiding places all over the house that were apparently just there to add Mysterious Details).
I read an advance reader copy of The Letter from Briarton Park from Netgalley
The Galesburg Public Library will own it once it is released on March 1. It is the first book in a series. The library owns three other titles by author Ladd as well.
From the publisher: When Shanti Mohapi weds the king of Njaza, her dream of becoming a queen finally comes true. But it’s nothing like she imagined. Shanti and her husband may share an immediate and powerful attraction, but her subjects see her as an outsider, and everything she was taught about being the perfect wife goes disastrously wrong.
A king must rule with an iron fist, and newly crowned King Sanyu was born perfectly fitted for the gauntlet, even if he wishes he weren’t. He agrees to take a wife as is required of him, though he doesn’t expect to actually fall in love. Even more vexing? His beguiling new queen seems to have the answers to his country’s problems—except no one will listen to her…
From the publisher: Victorian high society’s most daring equestrienne finds love and an unexpected ally in her fight for independence in the strong arms of London’s most sought after and devastatingly handsome half-Indian tailor.
I’m a big fan of Mimi Matthews, who began her fiction career by self-publishing romance novels set during the Victorian and Regency periods. She has now caught the attention of traditional publishing, and The Siren of Sussex is her first book with Berkley. Matthews is also a historian, and her books are ruthlessly researched. She may stretch a likely outcome, but her characters follow the behavioral standards of the day.
I have read all of the author’s works, and The Siren of Sussex was a little slow starting for me…
From the publisher: When a reaper comes to collect Wallace Price from his own funeral, Wallace suspects he might really be dead. Instead of leading him directly to the afterlife, the reaper takes him to a small village. On the outskirts, off the path through the woods, tucked between mountains, is a particular tea shop, run by a man named Hugo. Hugo is the tea shop’s owner to locals, and the ferryman to souls who need to cross over. But Wallace isn’t ready to abandon the life he barely lived. With Hugo’s help he finally starts to learn about all the things he missed in life.
Wallace Price is dead. After spending 40 years of life devoting everything to work (at the expense of his marriage) and thinking only of himself, he had a heart attack and died on the…
From the publisher: Can lifelong hate turn to true love? Meet the Davies and Montgomery families – two households locked in an ancient feud, destined to be on opposing sides forever. Until now…
A Reckless Match is the first in new historical romance series set during the Regency period, about feuding families and childhood enemies who grow up to be lovers. A good enemies to lovers story is often a lot of fun, and clearly the author thinks so.
Maddie and Gryff have known each other since childhood, so there is no “meet cute,” but there is a cute intro all the same. Every year on the spring equinox, a member of the Montgomery family and a member of the Davies family must meet on a bridge dividing…
From the publisher: Daniel Hayle, Duke of Carlisle, returned from Waterloo a hero, and he has the wounds to prove it. But he dreads the coming London season as he never did the battlefield, where his lack of social skills is certain to make it difficult to find a wife. What he needs is someone to help him practice socializing with the ton. Someone who isn’t frightened away by his scars . . . . Margery Kitteridge is still mourning the loss of her husband. So when she receives a blackmail letter accusing him of desertion, she’s desperate to protect his reputation. The answer to her troubles appears in the form of a damaged, reclusive duke in need of a wife. She proposes an alliance: she’ll help him find a bride, in return for the money to pay off the blackmailer. But working so closely together awakens passions they never Read more »
From the publisher: Hazel Stillman is a woman of rare independence and limited opportunities. Born with a clubbed foot, she was sent away as a child and devoted herself to scholarship and education. When her uncle presents her with the prospect of a substantial inheritance if she marries, Hazel is offended. Duncan Penhale has a brilliant mind and thrives on order and process. He does not expect to marry because he likes his solitary life, shared only with his beloved cat. Hazel and Duncan believe they have found a solution to both of their problems: marry one another, receive their inheritances, and then part ways to enjoy their individual paths. But when her uncle stipulates that they must live together for one year before receiving their inheritances, Hazel and Duncan reluctantly agree. At the end of the year, will they go their separate ways or could an unlikely marriage have found unsuspecting love?
From the publisher: Yorkshire, 1843. When disgraced former schoolmaster John Eyre arrives at Thornfield Hall to take up a position as tutor to two peculiar young boys, he enters a world unlike any he’s ever known. Darkness abounds, punctuated by odd bumps in the night, strange creatures on the moor, and a sinister silver mist that never seems to dissipate. And at the center of it all, John’s new employer Bertha — a widow as alluring as she is mysterious. John and Bertha contend with secrets, danger, and the eternal struggle between light and darkness. Can they help each other vanquish the demons of the past? Or are some evils simply too powerful to conquer?
John Eyre is a mash-up retelling of Jane Eyre and another classic novel (I won’t say which, as…
