strange and random happenstance

The Spy Wore Silk by Andrea Pickens
Published by: Oliver-Heber Books
Publication Date: February 25th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 350 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★
To Buy

Selina plucked her name from a spinning globe, much as she was plucked out of the gutter by Lord Lynsley. He saw in her a tenacity that would be perfect for his unique scheme, a scheme that saw orphans from the stews placed in the care of Mrs. Merlin where these select young women of no breeding would be taught to save England in its hour of need. They were taught culture and seduction. They were taught to wield a blade and a pistol as well as any man. In fact, better than many. They were taught to rely on their own wits and work alone for king and country using the more subtle forms of warfare. And as the war with Napoleon rages on, England has need of Merlin's Marauders. Or it has need of one of them, their best. Selina. It is time for her to fly. There is a traitor who has been leaking documents to the French through expensive and rare editions of books. The most recent missive that has been stolen is in regards to Russia's alliance with England. If this were to make it into the hands of the French that alliance would come to an end. Because of the unique method of delivery the traitor might have tipped their hand. The Golden Page Club is a group of six men with disparate personalities who come together to talk about incunabula. Dunster, Fitzwilliam, Winthrop, Leveritt, Jadwin, and Kirtland are all men of means, but it's James Winchester, the Earl of Kirtland, whom Lord Lynsley has singled out. Kirtland had a rather glorious military career that ended rather publicly. If any one of these bookworms holds a grunge against England, he is the most likely. Which is where Selina comes in. She has launched herself, rather dramatically, into society as The Black Dove, a courtesan in search of a protector. And that protector could only be a member of The Gilded Page Club. All six members have been invited to Marquand Castle for a fortnight for an exclusive auction of a set of rare fourteenth century Burgundian Psalters illuminated by the monks of St. Sebastian Abbey. Thanks to Lord Lynsley, Selina will be one of the guests. During the course of the house party she will host a competition amongst the six men to see which one of them will protect her. All the challenges though are designed to route out the spy. Little did she think when starting this mission that her heart was most at risk. Selina is in danger of falling for a man who might just be a traitor according to Lynsley. But only time will tell if her instincts are right about Kirtland or if she's unwittingly risked the fate of her country.

I have been a fan of Andrea Penrose since I picked up her book Sweet Revenge on a perfect bookstore outing with my Dad one cold winter night in 2011. And yes, I can close my eyes and picture myself there in Barnes and Noble just like it was yesterday and not fifeteen years ago. Little did I realize that Andrea Penrose was just another pen name of Andrea DaRif, who taught a class at Yale in 2010 with perennial favorite, Lauren Willig, called "Reading the Historical Romance." If I had put two and two together I would have hunted down all her books before that felicitous bookstore outing. For my blog's Regency Romp back in 2022 I devoured all of her Lady Arianna books having not realized that they had continued as eBooks after the first three were released in paperback. I had a lot of catching up to do. It was glorious. But after you've read all the Lady Arianna and all the Wrexford and Sloane books and even read her books written as Cara Elliott, what is a reader to do? It turns out she thankfully had YET ANOTHER pen name out there, Andrea Pickens! And, well, it just so happens that Andrea's partnered with Oliver-Heber Books to re-publish a number of her old Signet Regency books as well as her Mrs. Merlin's Academy for Extraordinary Young Ladies series, The Spy Wore Silk being the first volume in this series. I went into this book with no expectations and was wonderfully surprised that this book felt written just for me. Books, art, a country house party!?! All while trying to foil dastardly spies? Seriously, written. For. Me. It captured the same joy I had when I first read Lauren Willig's The Secret History of the Pink Carnation, which is the standard by which I judge all modern authors writing in the Regency. Yet there was also the delicious romance of Lisa Kleypas's Wallflowers series. And yes, I realize that at this point all I'm doing is listing favorite series that The Spy Wore Silk reminded me of, but that's because I honestly think that after reading only the first book that this will become a new favorite series of mine and I can't wait to read the next three books. This book was just such fun, with memorable characters and so much appetizing alliteration. But what I felt stood out from the crowd with this book was that by posing as a courtesan Selina is treated very differently by men. This isn't the ton we are used to. Yes, women are always in danger of being compromised, for Selina it could be much much worse. They all think she's chattel and treat her as such. Thankfully she can defend herself. But this sure isn't Jane Austen's England. I need more!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Andrea DaRif, Andrea Penrose, Andrea Pickens, Books, Cara Elliott, Courtesan, Lauren Willig, Lisa Kleypas, Merlin's Marauders, Pink Carnation, Regency, Sweet Revenge, The Black Dove, The Spy Wore Silk, Top Ten, Wallflowers

The Spy Wore Silk by Andrea Pickens
Published by: Oliver-Heber Books
Publication Date: February 25th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 350 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★
To Buy

Selina plucked her name from a spinning globe, much as she was plucked out of the gutter by Lord Lynsley. He saw in her a tenacity that would be perfect for his unique scheme, a scheme that saw orphans from the stews placed in the care of Mrs. Merlin where these select young women of no breeding would be taught to save England in it's hour of need. They were taught culture and seduction. They were taught to wield a blade and a pistol as well as any man. In fact, better than many. They were taught to rely on their own wits and work alone for king and country using the more subtle forms of warfare. And as the war with Napoleon rages on, England has need of Merlin's Marauders. Or it has need of one of them, their best. Selina. It is time for her to fly. There is a traitor who has been leaking documents to the French through expensive and rare editions of books. The most recent missive that has been stolen is in regards to Russia's alliance with England. If this were to make it into the hands of the French that alliance would come to an end. Because of the unique method of delivery the traitor might have tipped their hand. The Golden Page Club is a group of six men with disparate personalities who come together to talk about incunabula. Dunster, Fitzwilliam, Winthrop, Leveritt, Jadwin, and Kirtland are all men of means, but it's James Winchester, the Earl of Kirtland, whom Lord Lynsley has singled out. Kirtland had a rather glorious military career that ended rather publicly. If any one of these bookworms holds a grunge against England, he is the most likely. Which is where Selina comes in. She has launched herself, rather dramatically, into society as The Black Dove, a courtesan in search of a protector. And that protector could only be a member of The Gilded Page Club. All six members have been invited to Marquand Castle for a fortnight for an exclusive auction of a set of rare fourteenth century Burgundian Psalters illuminated by the monks of St. Sebastian Abbey. Thanks to Lord Lynsley, Selina will be one of the guests. During the course of the house party she will host a competition amongst the six men to see which one of them will protect her. All the challenges though are designed to route out the spy. Little did she think when starting this mission that her heart was most at risk. Selina is in danger of falling for a man who might just be a traitor according to Lynsley. But only time will tell if her instincts are right about Kirtland or if she's unwittingly risked the fate of her country.

I have been a fan of Andrea Penrose since I picked up her book Sweet Revenge on a perfect bookstore outing with my Dad one cold winter night in 2011. And yes, I can close my eyes and picture myself there in Barnes and Noble just like it was yesterday and not fourteen years ago. Little did I realize that Andrea Penrose was just another pen name of Andrea DaRif, who taught a class at Yale in 2010 with perennial favorite, Lauren Willig, called "Reading the Historical Romance." If I had put two and two together I would have hunted down all her books before that felicitous bookstore outing. For my blog's Regency Romp back in 2022 I devoured all of her Lady Arianna books having not realized that they had continued as eBooks after the first three were released in paperback. I had a lot of catching up to do. It was glorious. But after you've read all the Lady Arianna and all the Wrexford and Sloane books and even read her books written as Cara Elliott, what is a reader to do? It turns out she thankfully had YET ANOTHER pen name out there, Andrea Pickens! And, well, it just so happens that Andrea's partnered with Oliver-Heber Books to re-publish a number of her old Signet Regency books as well as her Mrs. Merlin's Academy for Extraordinary Young Ladies series, The Spy Wore Silk being the first volume in this series. I went into this book with no expectations and was wonderfully surprised that this book felt written just for me. Books, art, a country house party!?! All while trying to foil dastardly spies? Seriously, written. For. Me. It captured the same joy I had when I first read Lauren Willig's The Secret History of the Pink Carnation, which is the standard by which I judge all modern authors writing in the Regency. Yet there was also the delicious romance of Lisa Kleypas's Wallflowers series. And yes, I realize that at this point all I'm doing is listing favorite series that The Spy Wore Silk reminded me of, but that's because I honestly think that after reading only the first book that this will become a new favorite series of mine and I can't wait to read the next three books. This book was just such fun, with memorable characters and so much appetizing alliteration. But what I felt stood out from the crowd with this book was that by posing as a courtesan Selina is treated very differently by men. This isn't the ton we are used to. Yes, women are always in danger of being compromised, for Selina it could be much much worse. They all think she's chattel and treat her as such. Thankfully she can defend herself. But this sure isn't Jane Austen's England. I need more!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Andrea DaRif, Andrea Penrose, Andrea Pickens, Books, Cara Elliott, Courtesan, Lauren Willig, Lisa Kleypas, Merlin's Marauders, Pink Carnation, Regency, Sweet Revenge, The Black Dove, The Spy Wore Silk, Wallflowers

Devil in Winter by Lisa Kleypas
Published by: Avon
Publication Date: February 28th, 2006
Format: Paperback, 368 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★
To Buy

Evie Jenner keeps the true horrors of her life hidden from her friends. She can not hide the stutter she has developed from being broken by her mother's family, but she would never tell her friends about the abuse, both physical and mental, because she knows there's nothing they could do about it. All she wants to do is get away from her family and see her father before he dies. But Ivo Jenner runs a gaming hell and it wouldn't be "proper" for Evie to visit him. What's more, her family have their eyes on Ivo's fortune. Evie will be married to her cousin Eustace and then, well, she has a feeling they might do away with her. When the Viscount St. Vincent attempted to marry her friend Lillian Bowman by kidnapping her and running off to Gretna Green Evie realized how desperate the rake was. Desperate enough to swap one heiress for another? Showing up on his doorstep one night Evie tells him of her plan. They are to immediately set out for Gretna Green where they will be married. They will consummate their marriage to make sure it is legally binding in case her relatives have any ideas. They will return to London where Evie will take care of her father until he passes. At which time St. Vincent will get his money and they will live a marriage in name only. He will have his money and she will have her freedom, both getting exactly what they want. The only problem with this plan is that on their long trip to Scotland St. Vincent starts to be intrigued by his future wife. After they consummate their marriage he is shocked to realize how much he still wants Evie. This has never happened to him. Women chase him he will be damned if he will chase after his own wife! But his protective nature that he never knew he had is brought to the fore by Evie. He worries about the long hours she spends at her father's bedside. He has started to worry about the club. In fact he's rather taken with Jenner's and is taking over the business. For someone who has spent their entire life broke, idle, and a womanizer, the arrival of Evie Jenner in his life has changed everything. The question is, will he be able to hold onto it?

Going into Devil in Winter I had two questions that needed to be answered. One was how were they going to make Viscount St. Vincent palatable after he kidnapped and threatened to rape his best friend's fiance? The other was how would the book be structured after the first two books were basically the exact same premise with different wrapping paper? Both were rather quickly answered. The book has a structure all it's own and St. Vincent was desperate but would have never really raped Lillian and would have not even kidnapped her had he realized the depth of his friend's feelings. Yes, this is a bit of backtracking to make St. Vincent that most common of tropes in romance, the domesticated rake, but given as he's the hero it was to be expected. But what's interesting is that Lisa Kleypas doesn't fully reign him in. His reputation with women stands and it's by making Evie's life the worst nightmare that Charles Dickens could ever have dreamed up that St. Vincent is the only option for her. I actually really liked the darkness of Evie's life. With fellow Wallflower Annabelle's story we got a hint of the seedy underbelly that existed in this time period, but it was at a remove. The degradation was happening offstage in another room to her mother. Here Evie is being tormented and tortured by her own family. She literally would probably be better off dead than stay in her current situation so sure, a possible rapist really isn't that bad when she'd be holding the purse strings. By moving beyond St. Vincent and into the gambling den that is Jenner's we stay within this lower echelon while being shown that just because you live in the demimonde you don't need to be the evil that is embodied by Evie's family. You can be good and prosperous, just not of the higher ranks. Though once St. Vincent is done with Jenner's anything is possible. I just loved this story because it had more depth, more of a Deadwood vibe, and just wasn't at all what I expected. Now the question is, can Scandal in Spring surprise me as well?

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Abuse, Charles Dickens, Deadwood, Demimonde, Devil in Winter, Evie Jenner, Gambling Hell, Gretna Green, Lisa Kleypas, Rake, Rape, Regency Romp, Romance, Scandal in Spring, The Wallflowers, Viscount St. Vincent

When He Was Wicked by Julia Quinn
Published by: Avon
Publication Date: June 29th, 2004
Format: Paperback, 404 Pages
Rating: ★★★★
To Buy

Francesca Bridgerton made a perfect match. She and John Sterling, the Earl of Kilmartin, were made for each other. And Francesca got her dream come true, her own home, her own family. John's cousin Michael even became her best friend. Michael is a notorious rake and she loves to ask him about his wicked ways. Little does she know that he would give it all up for her. The second he set eyes on her he was lost. She was his everything, but he knew he could never have her. And when John dies suddenly he can't help thinking that some greater power is playing the world's cruelest trick on him because yes, he wants Francesca but not like this, never like this. He never wanted John's life or his title so bad to live in a world without John. So he leaves for India and doesn't look back, and in one fell swoop Francesca lost her husband and her best friend. Therefore she did what she had to do, she took up not only the mantel of Countess but that of Earl and runs Kilmartin for the husband and friend she lost. Four years later Francesca comes to a realization. She wants a baby. Of course for that to happen she needs a husband. She's not even sure she can have a baby, John and her were together for two years and she miscarried after his passing. It seems a hassle to go to the work of getting a husband when she just wants a baby, but she has made up her mind and therefore sets off from Scotland earlier than usual to London to go husband hunting. As it happens Michael arrives in London at the same time as Francesca and despite the years that have passed he still loves her as he ever did. Why did she have to come to London early? Why does she have to be on the marriage market? Why can't she be his? He searches his soul and the bottom of a lot of bottles but oddly it's Colin Bridgerton who breaks through when he explains that Michael has the right to be happy. What's more, doesn't Francesca? He could give her the child she wants and she wouldn't even have to love him just be his wife. But what if they could have it all?

With a long running series it's hard to keep it fresh. Just look to Lisa Kleypas's wallflower series. She started with a set four books in mind and by Scandal in Spring had obviously run out of ideas. Here Julia Quinn has set up a series double Kleypas's in length in order to make sure all the Bridgertons get their happily ever afters and yet with the sixth book she has created perhaps one of the strongest and most unique entries in the series so far. In the previous two volumes we have gotten hints about what has been going on in Francesca's life, perhaps the least discussed Bridgerton, and it was quite shocking to find out secondhand that she had not only gotten married by that she was already widowed. Where do we go from here? We go into perhaps the most relatable and affecting of the Bridgerton series. When He Was Wicked is about love and loss and guilt and it was a melancholy tale about taking a second chance at life and love. It was about coming to terms with what has passed and finding a way to forgive yourself for wanting to move on and find happiness. At times I was moved to tears by the way Francesca and Michael handled their grief over John and their desire to love again. Romance is usually just escapism and wish fulfillment, but here I found something more, something relatable. But of course no book is perfect so there was one aspect I really didn't relate to and that's Francesca's desperate need for a child. Children are a complicated issue, as Daphne saw with her Duke. There are people who want them, people who have them and don't want them, people who can't have them, people who choose not to have them, so many different kinds of people, and yet romance tends to lean very heavily to people wanting babies. I'm sorry, but I don't feel that my entire purpose on this planet is to breed and sometimes, just sometimes, it pisses me off that romance books think that I am wrong because it's not what I want. And I get Francesca and I are in different situations, she grew up in a large family and there's the familial bond and it makes sense that she wants a baby. I just want it acknowledged that not everyone wants one. Or can be talked around to wanting one, like the Duke.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Babies, Bridgerton, Colin Bridgerton, Daphne Bridgerton, Francesca Bridgerton, Grief, Julia Quinn, Kilmartin, Lisa Kleypas, Michael Sterling, Regency Romp, Scandal in Spring, Scotland, When He Was Wicked

When He Was Wicked by Julia Quinn
Published by: Avon
Publication Date: June 29th, 2004
Format: Paperback, 404 Pages
Rating: ★★★★
To Buy

Francesca Bridgerton made a perfect match. She and John Sterling, the Earl of Kilmartin, were made for each other. And Francesca got her dream come true, her own home, her own family. John's cousin Michael even became her best friend. Michael is a notorious rake and she loves to ask him about his wicked ways. Little does she know that he would give it all up for her. The second he set eyes on her he was lost. She was his everything, but he knew he could never have her. And when John dies suddenly he can't help thinking that some greater power is playing the world's cruelest trick on him because yes, he wants Francesca but not like this, never like this. He never wanted John's life or his title so bad to live in a world without John. So he leaves for India and doesn't look back, and in one fell swoop Francesca lost her husband and her best friend. Therefore she did what she had to do, she took up not only the mantel of Countess but that of Earl and runs Kilmartin for the husband and friend she lost. Four years later Francesca comes to a realization. She wants a baby. Of course for that to happen she needs a husband. She's not even sure she can have a baby, John and her were together for two years and she miscarried after his passing. It seems a hassle to go to the work of getting a husband when she just wants a baby, but she has made up her mind and therefore sets off from Scotland earlier than usual to London to go husband hunting. As it happens Michael arrives in London at the same time as Francesca and despite the years that have passed he still loves her as he ever did. Why did she have to come to London early? Why does she have to be on the marriage market? Why can't she be his? He searches his soul and the bottom of a lot of bottles but oddly it's Colin Bridgerton who breaks through when he explains that Michael has the right to be happy. What's more, doesn't Francesca? He could give her the child she wants and she wouldn't even have to love him just be his wife. But what if they could have it all?

With a long running series it's hard to keep it fresh. Just look to Lisa Kleypas's wallflower series. She started with a set four books in mind and by Scandal in Spring had obviously run out of ideas. Here Julia Quinn has set up a series double Kleypas's in length in order to make sure all the Bridgertons get their happily ever afters and yet with the sixth book she has created perhaps one of the strongest and most unique entries in the series so far. In the previous two volumes we have gotten hints about what has been going on in Francesca's life, perhaps the least discussed Bridgerton, and it was quite shocking to find out secondhand that she had not only gotten married by that she was already widowed. Where do we go from here? We go into perhaps the most relatable and affecting of the Bridgerton series. When He Was Wicked is about love and loss and guilt and it was a melancholy tale about taking a second chance at life and love. It was about coming to terms with what has passed and finding a way to forgive yourself for wanting to move on and find happiness. At times I was moved to tears by the way Francesca and Michael handled their grief over John and their desire to love again. Romance is usually just escapism and wish fulfillment, but here I found something more, something relatable. But of course no book is perfect so there was one aspect I really didn't relate to and that's Francesca's desperate need for a child. Children are a complicated issue, as Daphne saw with her Duke. There are people who want them, people who have them and don't want them, people who can't have them, people who choose not to have them, so many different kinds of people, and yet romance tends to lean very heavily to people wanting babies. I'm sorry, but I don't feel that my entire purpose on this planet is to breed and sometimes, just sometimes, it pisses me off that romance books think that I am wrong because it's not what I want. And I get Francesca and I are in different situations, she grew up in a large family and there's the familial bond and it makes sense that she wants a baby. I just want it acknowledged that not everyone wants one. Or can be talked around to wanting one, like the Duke.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Babies, Bridgerton, Colin Bridgerton, Daphne Bridgerton, Francesca Bridgerton, Grief, Julia Quinn, Kilmartin, Lisa Kleypas, Michael Sterling, Regency Romp, Scandal in Spring, Scotland, When He Was Wicked

Scandal in Spring by Lisa Kleypas
Published by: Avon
Publication Date: July 25th, 2006
Format: Paperback, 374 Pages
Rating: ★
To Buy

Daisy Bowman has been told a harsh truth. Her father has said that she is no better than a parasite. She sponges off her family and after three seasons she has yet to secure the desired match her mother so wants. Therefore if she doesn't find a match by the end of the season she is to marry Matthew Swift. Matthew is her father's right hand man and his "true" son. Matthew is everything her father ever wanted her brothers to be. Matthew will inherit the company if he marries Daisy. Therefore Daisy is sure Matthew is behind this scheme. That scrawny little scarecrow who was always at the table when they were having family dinners has found a way to worm his way permanently into the Bowman family. He is the worst attributes of Daisy's father and the last person she would ever marry. Therefore when the family decamps to Stony Cross Park for Lillian's confinement, both Daisy and her sister are outraged that their father has invited Matthew Swift along. He's come over from America to help set up the new Bowman soap factory in Bristol. At least Lillian's husband Marcus knows his wife's feelings on Daisy's enforced marriage and has therefore stocked the house with lots of eligible young men so that Daisy can make a match to anyone she wishes. Though Daisy isn't leaving everything up to fate and goes out to the wishing well which has served her fellow wallflowers so well and makes a wish. At that moment a man appears. He's gorgeous, tall, and broad like Annabelle's husband. Daisy is shocked to find out that this is scrawny Matthew Swift. He sure has changed over the years. But the fact that he is physically attractive doesn't change the fact that he is the last person she'd marry, despite what her body is saying. Rather loudly. But as the wallflowers and Marcus get to know Matthew it becomes apparent that he is not who the Bowman sisters think he is and he had no knowledge of Mr. Bowman's plans for him and Daisy. Luckily for Matthew, who has been pining for Daisy since the first time he saw her, she is starting to realize she might have been wrong. But Matthew has a secret in his past that could ruin all their chances of happiness. He will not marry Daisy. He will not be the one to destroy her life. But what if not marrying her destroys her life?

Any true reader knows of the phenomena of "last great book I read." You read a book that's so amazing that any other book you pick up next will just be subpar because you've just had a magical experience and there's no way any other book could possibly be that good ever again. This is what happened to me with Scandal in Spring. It was coupled with another problem, which was that Devil in Winter, the previous volume in this series, was the "last great book I read" a few weeks earlier. It's almost like I set myself up to dislike Scandal in Spring without meaning to. But I do think this book has issues in regard to the series as a whole. The reason Devil in Winter was so good was because it had broken the mold established in the previous two volumes of getting all the characters to Stony Cross Park and then watching the reluctant matchmaking begin. Here we return to the previous pattern and not for the better. It just felt like the same story happening to a different character. And characters that were so bland as to be forgettable. Daisy and Lillian Bowman were always said to be a little wild, but here Daisy is one dimensional and Lillian was a bitch. Before Lillian was just stubborn and sweary, which I could relate to, here she's actually hostile. You'd think in a book seen from her sister's POV that she would be nice, as Daisy loves her more than anyone else in the world baring Marcus, but no. I could blame it on the pregnancy, but that would be cruel to any pregnant women. Therefore she was just a bitch. As for Matthew Swift? He felt like a stock character. He's been pining over Daisy for years but she sees him anew because he's now hot. And that is basically his personality, hot with a penknife in his pocket. Oh, and occasionally he does something that Colin Firth did in Pride and Prejudice, but that just makes you want Colin Firth more and Matthew Swift less. This led to a lackluster romance and even the sex scenes were uninspired, feeling almost elliptical in their telling. Plus, could Daisy do anything other than pant and squirm under him? Ugh. This "final" volume in the Wallflowers series felt like Lisa Kleypas had run out of ideas and was just phoning it in. If it wasn't for my enjoyment of the previous volumes I'd never read another book by her ever again.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Arranged Marriage, Colin Firth, Daisy Bowman, Devil in Winter, Last Great Book I Read, Lisa Kleypas, Matthew Swift, Pride and Prejudice, Regency Romp, Scandal in Spring, Stony Cross Park, The Wallflowers

Devil in Winter by Lisa Kleypas
Published by: Avon
Publication Date: February 28th, 2006
Format: Paperback, 368 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★
To Buy

Evie Jenner keeps the true horrors of her life hidden from her friends. She can not hide the stutter she has developed from being broken by her mother's family, but she would never tell her friends about the abuse, both physical and mental, because she knows there's nothing they could do about it. All she wants to do is get away from her family and see her father before he dies. But Ivo Jenner runs a gaming hell and it wouldn't be "proper" for Evie to visit him. What's more, her family have their eyes on Ivo's fortune. Evie will be married to her cousin Eustace and then, well, she has a feeling they might do away with her. When the Viscount St. Vincent attempted to marry her friend Lillian Bowman by kidnapping her and running off to Gretna Green Evie realized how desperate the rake was. Desperate enough to swap one heiress for another? Showing up on his doorstep one night Evie tells him of her plan. They are to immediately set out for Gretna Green where they will be married. They will consummate their marriage to make sure it is legally binding in case her relatives have any ideas. They will return to London where Evie will take care of her father until he passes. At which time St. Vincent will get his money and they will live a marriage in name only. He will have his money and she will have her freedom, both getting exactly what they want. The only problem with this plan is that on their long trip to Scotland St. Vincent starts to be intrigued by his future wife. After they consummate their marriage he is shocked to realize how much he still wants Evie. This has never happened to him. Women chase him he will be damned if he will chase after his own wife! But his protective nature that he never knew he had is brought to the fore by Evie. He worries about the long hours she spends at her father's bedside. He has started to worry about the club. In fact he's rather taken with Jenner's and is taking over the business. For someone who has spent their entire life broke, idle, and a womanizer, the arrival of Evie Jenner in his life has changed everything. The question is, will he be able to hold onto it?

Going into Devil in Winter I had two questions that needed to be answered. One was how were they going to make Viscount St. Vincent palatable after he kidnapped and threatened to rape his best friend's fiance? The other was how would the book be structured after the first two books were basically the exact same premise with different wrapping paper? Both were rather quickly answered. The book has a structure all it's own and St. Vincent was desperate but would have never really raped Lillian and would have not even kidnapped her had he realized the depth of his friend's feelings. Yes, this is a bit of backtracking to make St. Vincent that most common of tropes in romance, the domesticated rake, but given as he's the hero it was to be expected. But what's interesting is that Lisa Kleypas doesn't fully reign him in. His reputation with women stands and it's by making Evie's life the worst nightmare that Charles Dickens could ever have dreamed up that St. Vincent is the only option for her. I actually really liked the darkness of Evie's life. With fellow Wallflower Annabelle's story we got a hint of the seedy underbelly that existed in this time period, but it was at a remove. The degradation was happening offstage in another room to her mother. Here Evie is being tormented and tortured by her own family. She literally would probably be better off dead than stay in her current situation so sure, a possible rapist really isn't that bad when she'd be holding the purse strings. By moving beyond St. Vincent and into the gambling den that is Jenner's we stay within this lower echelon while being shown that just because you live in the demimonde you don't need to be the evil that is embodied by Evie's family. You can be good and prosperous, just not of the higher ranks. Though once St. Vincent is done with Jenner's anything is possible. I just loved this story because it had more depth, more of a Deadwood vibe, and just wasn't at all what I expected. Now the question is, can Scandal in Spring surprise me as well?

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Abuse, Charles Dickens, Deadwood, Demimonde, Devil in Winter, Evie Jenner, Gambling Hell, Gretna Green, Lisa Kleypas, Rake, Rape, Regency Romp, Romance, Scandal in Spring, The Wallflowers, Viscount St. Vincent

It Happened One Autumn by Lisa Kleypas
Published by: Avon
Publication Date: September 27th, 2005
Format: Paperback, 382 Pages
Rating: ★★★
To Buy

Lillian Bowman and her sister helped her fellow Wallflower Annabelle find true love. The problem is whom she fell for wasn't part of the initial plan. She was to marry a member of the peerage so that she could then sponsor Lillian and Daisy so that they could in turn make the matches their mother and father crave. Instead Annabelle married happily beneath herself to a wealthy industrialist. But that doesn't help the Bowman sisters. So they are back at Lord Westcliff's estate in Hampshire hoping to find someone who will sponsor them for the upcoming season. Lillian isn't personally happy about this arrangement because she finds Lord Westcliff a cold customer. He thinks he's above everyone and has made his dislike of Lillian very clear. The other Wallflowers have their theories about this animosity, but Lillian won't listen. Instead a rather indecent escapade in the garden after she and Westcliff have a blazing row she places on her new perfume. She's rather genius when it comes to mixing scents. Her family manufactures soap and in fact that is why they are at Stony Cross Park, Lord Westcliff wants to go into business with Mr. Bowman because he thinks soap will be a lucrative market in England in the near future. Lillian's new perfume is a scent she created herself with the help of a parfumier that she intended to compliment her own body chemistry. Though there was one secret ingredient. A secret ingredient she thinks is responsible for Lord Westcliff ravishing her in the garden. Obviously, it's magic. Which means that the Wallflowers have to test if this is true. It only works for Lillian and Annabelle though, leading Lillian into another compromising position in the orangery. Though this time she's ready. She declares to Westcliff that unless he convinces his mother, the Countess, to sponsor her and her sister for the coming season she will make their little indiscretion public. Lillian is shocked when this actually works. Though working with the Countess is an excruciating reminder of how American her and her sister are. But what if Westcliff wasn't under some magic spell and was actually falling for this delightful savage? For starters Lillian wouldn't need the Countess's help, but the Countess would definitely have something to say about it!

What I find interesting about It Happened One Autumn is that while it is the second Wallflowers book underneath it all the structure is identical to the first book, Secrets of a Summer Night. We meet our heroine. She goes to a house party at Lord Westcliff's estate, Stony Cross Park, in Hampshire. The hero and heroine fight their attraction but eventually succumb. Everything is fairly low key at the house party despite the sexual tension but then at the very end danger threatens their love but they survive to get their happily ever after. And here's the thing, despite such strong similarities to the first book it was still enjoyable as it's own thing. Perhaps this is because, deep down, all romances are just certain tropes reconfigured to create a new story and Lisa Kleypas went, how about I just reconfigure what already worked once? For me the real reason it works is because I could just read about house parties all the time and I'd be happy. I love Stony Cross Park and it's gardens and forests and walkways. This volume threw in a secret garden that just happens to be a butterfly sanctuary and now I totally want to go to there. Oh, and the humor contained within the elaborate feasts and how as Americans Lillian and Daisy just can't with the calves' heads made me sympathetic and bemused simultaneously. It also made me think seriously about being a vegetarian. I also strongly related to Lillian as a heroine. I'm very, not just opinionated, but stubborn. When Lillian is called a brat I had a visceral reaction, just like she did with the calves' head. While Lillian might be willing to embrace the fact that she can be a brat, I will never deign to allow anyone to say I am one. Especially when they are one. And yes, I'm actually referring to an incident I had in one of my art classes. I should mention that at the time both me and the person who flung the insult at me were in our thirties. But what really didn't work for me was the whole perfume angle in this book. Yes, it makes sense for Lillian to know a lot about scents given her father manufacturers soap, but I don't care. I hate perfume. It's like me being called a brat, it's a whole world of nope. I don't want to be near perfume, I don't want to think about perfume, it stinks, it triggers headaches, just no.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: American, British Country House, Butterflies, It Happened One Autumn, Lillian Bowman, Lisa Kleypas, Lord Westcliff, Perfume, Regency Romp, Romance, Secret Garden, Secrets of a Summer Night, The Wallflowers, Tropes

Secrets of a Summer Night by Lisa Kleypas
Published by: Avon
Publication Date: October 26th, 2004
Format: Paperback, 390 Pages
Rating: ★★★★
To Buy

Annabelle Peyton is desperate. But not desperate enough to become the mistress of Simon Hunt. She is coming to the end of her forth and final season and unless she marries well her family will be ruined. Her brother won't be able to continue his education and maybe she would be better off becoming the mistress to a well heeled member of the aristocracy. Simon Hunt is far from the aristocracy but he is well heeled and if Annabelle is to become anyone's mistress it will be his. Ever since he took a liberty with her during her second season, stealing a kiss in the dark, he has been unable to forget the penniless beauty. But this penniless beauty has taken a drastic step to improve her marital prospects, she has made friends. Why did it take her so long to reach out to her fellow wallflowers? The American Bowman sisters, Lillian and Daisy, are delightful if sadly looked down upon for being Americans, and as for the stammering Evangeline Jenner, she needs someone to just listen to her problems with her overbearing family. The four of them make a pact. They will help each other make the match they need and seeing as Annabelle is the most desperate, she will be their first project. Marcus, Lord Westcliff, is having a three week long house party that the Bowmans can wrangle an invite to. This will be the perfect opportunity to entrap a husband. Because let's face it, Annabelle is desperate, and she is willing to compromise herself, but in such a way that marriage is the only option for the unwitting male. She will be dressed in the finest clothes thanks to Lillian and Daisy, who have more clothes and pocket money than they know what do to with, and all three of her friends will help her choose her mark. The only problem is that Simon Hunt happens to be the best friend of Lord Westcliff and he sees what she is about. He doesn't want her to marry, he wants her to be his mistress. But when Annabelle falls prey to an accident and Simon starts to spend more time with her he wonders, does he really want her as his mistress or as his wife?

I know it might be an odd first reaction, but mine was, why can't we save our families through marriage anymore? Yes, it's very draconian selling yourself to the highest bidder, and love matches only happen in books, rarely in real life, but why can't selling yourself for money in the particulars of this hypothetical discussion still be a reality? Because I want to make it clear, I'm not talking prostitution or being a kept women, I'm talking about marriage and a nice big purse and hopefully an ancestral pile and at least the financial strains of life are lifted. One can fantasize about that right? Moving beyond my trying to get my finances in order by marrying a member of the aristocracy, I loved The Buccaneers vibe of this book. And yes, I'm talking about the 1995 miniseries adaptation of Edith Wharton's unfinished novel. But just the beginning episodes when Nan, Virginia, Conchita, and Lizzy were still happy and carefree and not trapped in miserable loveless marriages. There was such a spirit to these characters in the miniseries that easily translates to their counterparts in this book. Only here that happiness is trapped and allowed to remain. Who wouldn't want to revisit the world of The Buccaneers if you could avoid all the misery that follows? I recently rewatched it and I wanted the light and happiness to persist and here it does. This is now my jam. This right here, and Lillian and Daisy are my buccaneers! And I know I can't be the only one who drew another miniseries conclusion while reading this book. Let's face it, Simon Hunt IS Richard Armitage as John Thornton in North and South. The timing is just right! And if it wasn't planned? Well, then Lisa Kleypass has precognition. It's that simple. But what I love about the idea of this North and South vibe in this book, aside from Richard Armitage, is that it takes the book to another level. It's not just about wallflowers making the perfect match, it's also about prejudices and how society was changing and how the aristocracy, the world so many of these young women have been brought up to, is dying and there are different ways of looking at the world. They just have to have their eyes opened, like Annabelle has.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Annabelle Peyton, Edith Wharton, Friends, John Thornton, Lisa Kleypas, Marriage, Money, North and South, Regency Romp, Richard Armitage, Secrets of a Summer Night, Simon Hunt, The Buccaneers, The Wallflowers

Two things last year coincided to thrust me back into the Regency period. One was me finally getting around to reading Julia Quinn's Bridgerton series before I watched the Netflix adaptation. The second was Lauren Willig doing a monthly Pink Carnation Read Along of her delightful series about Napoleonic spies. Right there I had twenty Regency books I was diving headfirst into. Add to that the fact that Lauren and her guest moderators, many of whom write in the Regency period, were name checking tons of other Regency books that instantly ended up on my to be read, and I went, hang on a minute, I'm not the only Regency obsessed person in the world, I should do a theme month, or as it turns out, a slew of months dedicated to Regency literature, after all once season two of Bridgerton drops this month everyone will be look for read alikes! Like many people my first glimpse into the Regency period was via Jane Austen. It was 1996, the Colin Firth miniseries had been released, and I graduated high school and spent the summer reading Jane Austen. Dragging my omnibus edition with the minuscule font from Waldenbooks on every trip I took. I fell completely in love with everything Regency but it really wasn't until I discovered The Secret History of the Pink Carnation almost a decade later that I learned how much the Regency era had influenced other authors and how many of those authors Lauren would introduce me to. So I hope you'll join me over the next few months as I romp through Regency literature. Julia Quinn, Lauren Willig, Sarah MacLean, Eloisa James, Lisa Kleypas, Andrea Penrose, and of course, Jane Austen and Georgette Heyer, are just some of the authors I'll be reading. Let's make this a real Regency Romp!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Andrea Penrose, Bridgerton, Eloisa James, Georgette Heyer, Jane Austen, Julia Quinn, Lauren Willig, Lisa Kleypas, Regency, Regency Romp, Sarah MacLean, The Secret History of the Pink Carnation, Waldenbooks