First off, let me just say that I love Regency romances. The entire point of Regency romance, as a genre, is The Good Guys Win, Love Conquers All, and there is ALWAYS a Happy Ending. Since they're all set within a thirty-year time frame, there's limited need for set-up: it's entering a familiar world, every time. The stories usually follow the (frequently rocky) road to love and romance of a heroine (or hero, once in a while) as she forges her way through the haute ton, at least one impulsive act leading to trouble, and at least one horrid misunderstanding that Threatens to Ruin All. In the purest form of the genre, the payoff at the end of the story is the couple's first kiss - or maybe the wedding. While Georgette Heyer is the acknowledged grande dame of the genre, and granted, Julia Quinn, Cathy Maxwell and Stephanie Laurens certainly sell a lot of books (by expanding the genre to include sex - and frequently lots of it), my favorite of them all is Emily Hendrickson. Double Deceit is one of the spicier of Ms. Hendrickson's offerings (There's a kiss! Well before the last chapter! There's flirting! With a Married Man!!!), but again, one of my favorites. (I should add at this point that I'm quite certain I own every Signet romance she published, and still keep an eye out at book sales "just in case" - although I know I have them all.
The Back of the Jacket: Miss Caroline Beauchamp had accepted a very tricky task. She had to seduce Lord Hugh Stanhope, the handsome husband of her dearest friend, Mary Stanhope, to break the hold that an infamous beauty had on the vulnerable Viscount. But she also faced an even greater challenge. She had to bedazzle the most renowned rake in the realm, Lord Giles Rutledge, to keep him from making Mary his latest conquest.Genre(s): Regency Romance (Yes, it is it's own genre. So there.)
Caroline knew as she began her juggling act of deception that letting down her guard would mean disaster...and falling in love would be even worse...
Audience: Pretty much anyone. I, personally, think many of them would make delightful bedtime stories (although mum/dad should do a read-through first, just in case there are slightly spicy scenes. Rare, but they happen.)
Online Extras: Yay, she has a website!!! I didn't know that!
Reading Time: Usually half a day, if that. But delightfully spent.
Recommend: Absolutely, positively.
I read a lot. Given how much I knit, I really shouldn't have time for eating - but I tend to eat at least two meals a day at work (by myself), and I don't want food on my knitting, so - I read. I'm not reading as much as I usually do, since the Monster Yarn Pattern Project thing is taking over chunks of my evenings (it's going to be a while before there's little enough yarn left for it to be a "portable project"), so I'll share what I've been reading. It's pretty eclectic, and I'm not a critic. Pretty much anything I pick up, I read; I don't tend to pick up things I don't think I'll finish. Don't expect anything in-depth, but you may find something you hadn't heard of that you might want to track down to read yourself.
Ah, true love.
ReplyDeletep.s.~ We need to craft together! I miss you and I miss crafts!