Tag Archive | regency romance

Gwen’s Ghost, a Paranormal Regency Romance

A new take on the Regency story… a guardian angel/redemption sort. The incorrigible womanizing rake’s actions lead to his own death and the death of the man he was dueling and thus starts in motion a 100 year downward spiral to the two families involved. The Caines who owe the actions of one Valerian Caine to their credit (or discredit really) leaving 100 years later Robin (the current lord and sadly downtrodden young man) and Dorathea (the maiden) and the Sevarics, the Lord Max and his sister Gwendolyn.

 Written by Alicia Rasley and Lynn Kerstan, this is a more mature regency romance with a more frank dealing with the ideas of the rake and his urges. Not that the rather elegant Valerian (brought back to earth as Vayle) gave into his, but the temptation… the temptation is there. I think this story gives you a better idea than most as to how the men of the regency era often kept busy as well as a peek into life 100 years before. Definitely worth a read if you like some paranormal with your complicated romance! Come enjoy the poetic justice. 

Gwen’s Ghost

This entry was posted on 15/11/2012, in Uncategorized. 2 Comments

Charity Begins At Home… a Book Review

Another traditional romance, Charity is a young maiden set on being… well… helpful. Dissapointed in love by the gentlemen in London who are altogether too predictable for her romantic ideals she is recalled home to her Kentish village where she is seen as a pillar of the community. She lives with her brothers after her parents passed away as did her twin (brother) and a younger brother. Even with a more modest dowry she has often been proposed to both in London and back home. Sadly this staid maiden is seen as the perfect wife and helpmate when all she wants is romance and spontaneity. 

Enter a bereaved local Lady and her artistic brother Tristan who sees Charity as a person of interest. With so much going on in the village, a bereaved widow to urge out the door and into society, brothers to look after and a noble man to yearn for there is all the elements there for a light hearted romance. 

This lovely Alicia Rasley novel is a wonderful period piece with lively characters and a beautiful setting. The countryside is a perfect backdrop for the trials and tribulations of love loss and village fetes. 

Charity Begins at Home

Senseless Sensibilities… a Book Review

This regency romance by K.L. O’Keefe was a bit of a difficult read for me, I must admit. The female main characters are a mother (recently widowed but married to a much older man in a loveless marriage) and her daughter (an absolutely spoiled beauty). Add in the new Lord (inherited the manor and title) and his valet (an impoverished one handed ex army, not quite noble). 

Enter the complexities of being a widow, of being a spoiled daughter who simply wants to be married and cossetted and wishes to keep the estate and its riches in her own pocket. This is where I had a harder time with the story… I found Evangeline just that step too far over the selfish spoiled child in the beginning, her mother making next to no effort to reign her in while bemoaning that somehow this beloved daughter is such a shallow character suddenly? I love the valet with his missing hand and his wit covering his own embarrassment and frustration. The Lord himself is interesting with his frank understanding of his own lust and interest in the women, BUT I find him almost too much. 

There is a definite sexual element and the side characters (all men) are of varying temperaments. There is the question of worth in a rather (at least perceived) shallow society where money and birth are rated so high. The conundrum of being a widow and dependent on the new Lord… love as something of worth or something you let go of to make the level of society you wish to reach… 

So in retrospect there are some added elements to what starts off as simply a regency romance. BUT for me this was a difficult read. There is great aspects but I had a hard time warming to all the characters. Definitely worth a read though! 

Senseless Sensibilities