Blue Wolf Reviews

Tag: regency

  • How to Not Marry a Lord

    How to Not Marry a Lord

    Emma Orchard delivers a light-hearted Regency Romance How To Not Marry a Lord as she introduces the Constantine Sisters who have just discovered they are no longer boarder line poor, dependent on the legacies supplied by their already well married and connected sisters, but heiresses.

    Once the shock wears off, and it was a serious shock, discovering not only an Aunt of whom they knew nothing at all, but that she had left to the three of them, in equal portions, a house, Albrey Hall, and a very sizable fortune, they rally and set out to travel to  Suffolk to discover just what it is they have inherited.

    Albery Hall turns out to be a delightful, if somewhat run-down red brick Tudor Style manor looked after by three staff, overgrown gardens and more sparsely furnished rooms than they had ever imagined.

    It is not long before the three sisters, Beatrice, Cecilia and Bianca discover they are the subject of local gossip in the small town as well as the target of Lord Oliver Pallant and his siblings as they need a fortune before he is declared bankrupt.

    Major Alistair Bartrum is healing from horrific wounds caused fighting Boney at Saint-Dizier; he is grumpy and in pain much of the time, trying to heal by walking on the sands at low tide, has shunned society and feels very sorry for himself. He does not want anything to do with the new arrivals.

    And so, as each day slowly unfolds, the sisters begin to enjoy their newfound freedom with money to spend and the ability to live how they choose, so long as they abide by the two strict conditions of the inheritance.

    Something disturbing occurs which makes them begin to wonder about Albery House, the history of the House and area in which they now live. Was there an intruder in the house and if so, who was it and why. It also raises a very salient point about the location of the house to the shoreline and whether this mysterious and charming house has hidden passages, secret tunnels and if so where are they to be found.

    But in the meantime, Cecilia begins to fall in love, Beatrice discovers she has been played for a fool and Bianca is enjoying her freedom to paint and sketch, while darker forces are at work which could see them all in considerable danger.

    How To Not Marry a Lord is a most enjoyable, light-hearted return to a time of Victorian England, where anything can and often does happen in the marriage stakes.

  • Isadora: A Duke’s Obsession 

    Isadora: A Duke’s Obsession 

    DG Rampton is a fresh voice in the world of Regency fiction with her ‘Taming of the Dukes Series’, as the stunningly beautiful Miss Isadora Jones stumbles into a dead body in an ante-room at Government House in Calcutta, which  commences book two, Isadora; A Duke’s Obsession, set in both India and London.

    Isadora has only just arrived in Calcutta and while used to being the star attraction, or centre of attention, at every function she attends, but the climate, travel and perhaps one to many glasses of delightful champagne see her needing a little time to herself.

    After star gazing for a little, she decides to return to the Ballroom but stumbles over something large on the floor; a man and he is dead. About to scream she is grasped and a hand placed firmly over her mouth. She is enjoying the novelty of being held in a mysterious man’s arms, who smells rather nice, until she faints, having a physiological response to the sight of blood.

    The dead man is an Algerian Official, connected to the Slave Trade, the killer is a man of mystery, Isadora’s sister the Duchess of Burlington, is left horrified at the turn of event and her husband Jack, the Duke, is surveying Mr Felix Wallace, who has Isadora clutched in his arms, with a good deal of scepticism!

    As the temperature rises in Calcutta, the family make the decision to move to Kingdom of Sikkim 300 miles from Calcutta, for a cooler summer. Felix, who should be back in England is trekking with the family, having been hired to make sure Issie does not realise the peril she is in by having seen the dead man. He is not happy as he has fallen irrevocably in love with Isadora; she is feeling somewhat the same but neither choose to do anything about this situation.

    No matter how dire the situation and dire it does get, neither Felix nor Issie are prepared to confess how they feel for each other, even though they are thrown into a compromising situation, which could spell social ruin for Isadora once they return to London.

    What is to be done about this is taken in hand by Issie’s sister, Emmaline and Felix’s sister Georgiana, as they combine forces to push the hapless pair into each other’s arms, once and for all.

    Isadora: A Duke’s Obsession is an entertaining, enjoyable and often very funny romance with the charmingly frustrating protagonists, Isadora and Felix, who are very difficult to farewell at the end of their adventure.

    The storyline has been loosely set around the Slave Trade operated by the Ottoman Empire from the late 13th century until the early 20th century, with inspiration drawn from the journals of Lady West and her sea voyage from England to India.

    Further links to reading notes on the history of the Slave Trade can be found at the end of the Forward, for those who like to know more about the Ottoman Empire, one of the largest and longest-lasting empires in history.

  • A Most Unsuitable Suitor

    A Most Unsuitable Suitor

    The season is dragging on in London and Allegra Constantine is feeling the pressure as she is expected to choose a husband, or have a man choose her as his bride. It is all rather tedious and stressful.

    She often sees a man she is curious about Max Severn, a man who presents well, very well indeed but carries a hint or more than a hint of scandal about his person. She also has three suitors who dance attendance on her, but none even remotely tempt her to want to marry them. He seems to be interested in her as well, but from a distance.

    So begins Emma Orchards latest foray into the marriage mart with A Most Unsuitable Suitor which sees the world of the Ton once again put under the spotlight as Allegra and Max begin to realize that they really do enjoy each other company, perhaps a little too much.

    Max, a man who has a past that is shadowed to say the very least, does not wish to marry as he is aware that by doing so he could put both himself and his bride in danger as well as the mysterious woman who was his mother.

    As the layers of Max’s life unfold and he and Allegra fall deeply in love, even though they should not, a most enjoyable and entertaining story captivates all readers who really do enjoy regency romance with a most intriguing plot.

  • To Catch a Lord

    To Catch a Lord

    Emma Orchard has delivered another scintillating Regency Romance, or should one say romp, Georgette Heyer style in her latest book To Catch A Lord in which Lady Amelia Wyverne sets out to catch a Lord, who just happens to be Marcas, Lord Thornfalcon!

    Both Amelia and Marcus are attending the Season reluctantly. Amelia is supposed to be finding a husband but is less than impressed with the men who are out to not necessarily to marry her but her fortune.

    Marcus has recently returned to London after considerable time in the Military in Spain and Portugal. He is also mourning the death of his older brother and learning how to be Lord Thornfalcon, a position he never thought he would hold. He is chaperoning his sister Helena in her first season.

    Both have earned the scorn, in Amelia case and ridicule in Marcus’s case of the Ton and are finding the Season challenging, depressing and beyond comfortable. In desperation Amelia and her sister-in-law Sophie create a daring plan to stage a false engagement with Marcus, but how to achieve this is the issue.

    Enlisting the help of Marcus’s sister Helena, Amelia puts the proposition to Marcus, who after a serious moment’s reflection agrees to go along with the ruse. That is when things really begin to get interesting, as the widow Lady Lavinia Thornfalcon is not prepared to accept that the engagement is real. She is a woman of outstanding beauty, used to getting her own way and will not have her plans thwarted by, in her mind, a no account woman!

    As the days pass Amelia and Marcus realise they enjoy each other’s company and also that Lavinia is not about accept the engagement, setting about doing her upmost to uphold the story she has carefully let become common knowledge through the Ton; that of a long time love for Marcus and how they are now destined to be together at last.

    To Catch A Lord is a comfortable and captivating read, full of twists and turns as well as the unexpected, which will hold interest until the final word, as nothing goes to plan and sinister forces are at work to bring it to bring the engagement to an end one way or the other.

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  • The Accidental Debutante

    The Accidental Debutante

    Clorinda the Winged Venus, star attraction at Prebble’s Flying Circus come to the end of her act with a delicate backward flip to land on the rump of her horse Percy with a flourish. She is saddened as this is her last performance with Percy and her friend and fellow equestrian Rose Bowman.

    It was time, she had decided to discover who she was, as her past seemed to start as an abandoned child, rescued by Mrs Prebbles and bought up in the Circus life. She has memories of a different childhood, which are faint but very real.

    Walking the freezing streets of London in the dark was, she realised, not the best idea. As she turns away from a building, she is caught by a gust of wind just as a speeding curricle comes around the corner. Thrown into the path of the horses, she hits her head on the cobbled road with a thud.

    Raven Purfoy, The Earl of Hartford Castle, leaps from his vehicle to help the stricken person only to discover this stricken person coming to her senses but with no idea where she was going or where she had come from.

    He takes her to his long-time friends Alick and Cory Wolfe’s home where she can be safely cared for until she does come to her senses. Raven lives next door and the Wolfe household is a place for a large, happy group of people who gather their daily.

    So begins a Regency Romance, The Accidental Debutante, laced with drama that will once again entertain and beguile as Rav learns to face his demons, and Eliza is determined to discover her past.

    Can they make a future together or will they let the tragedies of the past change what could be a promising future, is at risk until Rav realises what a fool he has been, Eliza is in danger and an appalling wager will make the difference as to what their future holds.

    The Accidental Debutante sees old friends grace the pages but is a standalone Regency Romance from Jane Dunn created in true Regency style.

  • The Devil’s Own Duke

    The Devil’s Own Duke

    If you are looking for a little bit of escapism via Regency England, the forth book in The  Dukes of Darkness series from Anna Harrington, The Devil’s Own Duke is the perfect solution as Chase,  Duke of Greysmere and Tessa Albright, spinster in search of a husband, come together to right a huge wrong.

    Chase Maddox is deep in grief; the drowning of his wife and young son, rendering him incapable of being able to function, to cope with the massive loss. He is closing Cullin Castle and returning to Spain, back to the harsh, unforgiving life of a soldier. 

    Tessa Albright is in a terrible fix. He beloved father, accused of a terrible injustice, had passed away, leaving her with little income, no dowry and a young sister to raise. She has been sponsored for a season by Lady Bentley who is determined to find Tessa a husband.

    Attending yet another dreary ball, she is feeling pressured to at least pay attention to a suitor, Mr Renslow who wants to pay his address. Tessa is over the entire marriage market and only wants to go home and be peaceful until a deep voice, speaking her name, has her stunned. Chase Maddox has returned.

    It is the third year since his wife Eleanor, her cousin, and his son Thomas drowned and once she is over the shock she demands to know what he is doing, returned at such a sad time.

    As the days and weeks pass both Chase and Tessa’s long-time friendship begins to form into a lot more, making the choice Tessa needs to make in regard to Mr Renslow, somewhat difficult.

    Chase is also facing a very difficult decision, as he has only returned to sell off his estate, pay out all debt and return to Spain permanently, but as with the best laid plans, they find nothing is going as they both desire.

    A quirk of fate sees an occurrence that will make them both take a change of direction and bring a thoroughly enjoyable time spent in Regency England to a heart-warming close.

  • A Gentleman’s Offer

    A Gentleman’s Offer

    A tall, well-dressed woman fleeing in the darkest night goes unremarked; the shabby carriage arrives, the heavily cloaked figure enters and a comforting voice reassures the runaway that all will be well.

    Sir Dominic De Lacy was a man in need of marrying or so his mother kept telling him. He did not think so, but as she kept assuring him, his father and the reclusive Lord Nightingale had struck a bargain several years before his untimely death, he eventually gave into filial pressure, agreeing to offer for the hand of Miss Maria Nightingale.

    She was considered a rare beauty, wealthy and personable, except he felt she was a marble statue, going through the motions, but offer he did and she accepted. The die was cast until the evening of their engagement party; an evening Beau de Lacy was not soon to forget as it turned what until this point in his life, was a very orderly and straight forward existence, into something entirely different.

    So begins a madcap regency romp A Gentleman’s Offer, which sees the very conservative Sir Dominic De Lacy plunged headlong into an event that could result in the largest scandal of the Season, with a woman, his betrothed, who is not the woman to whom he became betrothed!

    Hatred, manipulation, theft and skulduggery are all uncovered along with outright ruthlessness, as Dominic and his fiancé Margaret ‘Meg’, the twin sister of the woman he thought he was engaged to, find themselves embroiled in a terrible and what could be deadly scheme to cover-up outright theft.

    Emma Orchard has created a wonderfully enjoyable regency romance with A Gentleman’s Offer, in the style of her beloved Georgette Heyer with a very modern twist, which will appeal to lovers of a very good regency romp. Great reading for a weekend of pure indulgence.

  • The Confessions of a Lady

    The Confessions of a Lady

    The Queen’s Deadly Damsels, book 3

     The Confessions of a Lady is the third in the series The Queen’s Deadly Damsels, therefor it does take a few chapters to be able to establish the characters, should it be the first book in the series read.

    This becomes apparent early in the storyline, although at various points it takes a little sorting out as to how the characters interact with one another, particularly when it come to the friendship between Lord William (Liam) Renquist, Marquess of Stoneway and Killian and Drake, men he had served together with in the bloody war against Napoleon.

    Penny is a maid recently appointed to his household. She is determined to discover the evil she believes he is involved with, and in doing so get a reward from the Crown to help her free her mother from goal.

    Liam is equally determined to gain access to the brotherhood known as the Devil’s Sons, to destroy it from the inside out. He is also a secret spy for the Queen. When these two come together sparks fly: Penny will not bow down to a Lord and Liam believes Penny is hiding her real purpose in his household.

    An upstairs/downstairs style plot is not one which needs a lot of attention to understand what is going on, the racy sections of the story could be a little less, but overall it is a Regency Romance that makes an enjoyable read for an afternoon spent relaxing.     

  • Ash and the Butterfly

    Ash and the Butterfly

    The Secret Lives of Regency Ladies series

    As Regency Romances go, Ash and Butterfly has a little bit of everything to build an entertaining and enjoyable romp through Regency England in 1822, when women were expected to be seen and very little else.

    Grace Chetwood and Luke Ashburton have met before with a rather unhappy ending. She is a talented Mathematician, he is a Botanist and Scientist. Both are looking forward to the opening of the new Museum of their friend Bexley, Charles Calthorpe, Earl of Bexley, a man noted for his scientific expeditions and expertise in life sciences.

    The last thing Luke had expected when he reached Estate to be greeted with the new building on fire, his friend Bexley dead and Denton, Philip Denton long-time friend of Bexley’s, covered in soot, with a vacant look on his face.

    As if the tragedy was not bad enough they discover that what has managed to be saved means little, as Bexley had all the descriptions of the specimens in his notebooks; they are all in a carefully created mathematical code which none of the men can break.

    They decide to ask for help by contacting Grace Calthorpe, who is more than happy to remove to Bexley Estate to get away from a somewhat disastrous situation created by her innate curiosity.

    When Luke realises he is going to have to work with Grace, a woman he admits intrigues him the sparks fly, the temperature rises and the mad dash to try and solve the complex code reaches exhausting levels, both he and Grace have to resolve the issue of their ever increasing attraction to each other.

    Ash and The Butterfly is a modern take on Regency Romance spun with wit, charm and enthusiasm, with a cast of characters that are each in their own right, absolutely realistic and entertaining.

  • Because The Baron Broods

    Because The Baron Broods

    When you are feeling like a little relaxation with a good book that is not to taxing, there is nothing better than a Regency Romance with which to spend an afternoon, as you sink into the days of Regency England, and society rules that are there to be broken!

    Because the Baron Broods takes you straight into a lovely house party held in the charming seaside town of Weston, where Tasmin Penrose is enjoying her annual holiday catching up with friends and enjoying life. She dreams of meeting a wonderful man, marrying and having a family but accepts this may not be for her.

    Isaac Deverell, Baron Droxford is also in Weston on his annual visit to friends. Known for his brooding nature, a general air of gloom and any lack of desire to socialise, he meets Tamsin at a small luncheon and finds her very intriguing. She seems to be permanently cheerful!

    They are pushed together over the next few days which presents them both with several opportunities want to get to know more about each other. Isaac soon believes he should run as a far away as possible from Tamsin. She wants to know more about this man who seems to be so damaged and distressed.

    After a disastrous soiree, where Droxford punches Tamsin’s would be suitor Octavius Brimble, a friend of her fathers, in his ample paunch, he realises she will be ruined and believes he should offer her marriage. Particularly when the local busy body Mrs Lawler witnesses the event.

    How will two such opposite people manage in wedlock is the question Isaac keeps asking himself, as he and Tamsin prepare to marry and move to his Estate. He eventually comes up with what he considers a seriously good plan. They will wed in name only!

    Once at his Estate, Tamsin finds she is enjoying her life as a married woman, even though it is in name only. She is being, guided by Lady Droxford, Sophie, in matters that she needs to understand to run the household.

    Sophie is well aware of her nephew’s tendency to brood and decides that he and Tamsin are the perfect match. She carefully sets about orchestrating a series of events which will eventually, she hopes, lead them to having a happy and enjoyable life together.

    Because the Baron Broods is an entertaining light read in the modern style of Historic Romance that will delight and have you chuckling as Tamsin and Isaac find their way to the marital bed.