Merely the Groom

Rating:
Summary: barely an ok read
Review: Don't get me wrong, the story was thoroughly entertaining, and the hero was fabulous, but the other reviewers are dead-on about the history-or the lack there of-being presented here. I've read all of Lee's books, and I continue to enjoy them, but I can only recommend this book as a fantasy read, not for those who truly enjoy historical fiction (but then I'm not a stickler for the details, I just want the romance).

Rating:
Summary: 3 star read; 1 star history
Review: For the most part this was a decent read. Unfortunately it was littered with historical inaccuracies, some of which are extremely basic: like when the little season takes place. The author has set it in spring, when everyone who reads this sub-genre knows that the little season takes place in fall (and it's not like it's hard to fact check this sort of thing!). She also doesn't seem to know that a special license had to have both names on it (you didn't just get a fill-in-the-blank license), and she demonstrates an appalling lack of knowledge about period fashion (a real pet peeve of mine).

If you?re going to write historical fiction, you ought to know something about the period you?re setting the book in. I mean, she obviously read Mark Urban?s book about ciphers during the Napoleonic wars (The Man Who Broke Napoleon?s Code), but she couldn?t be bothered to study up on the basics of the era? It?s nice that she wanted to get the code stuff right, but how about spending some time with What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew, or An Elegant Madness?

Add into this the fact that the author makes a lot of rookie writing mistakes, like overusing proper names instead of pronouns and repeating the same descriptive word almost right on top of itself and you have a problematic read. I found the opening bit when the hero and his friends were nine especially troubling, as the dialogue is clearly not that of children. Nor are the hero's thoughts and concerns those of a nine year-old. What nine year-old boy says, "I canna help but feel bad about Esme. We've been betrothed from the cradle. I thought she cared more about me than about my prospects." ? He?s supposed to be NINE.

I was hoping I?d found a new author, but I don?t think I?ll be buying any more of Ms. Lee?s books. It was better than the latest books by Elizabeth Boyle, Nicole Jordan, or Julia Quinn, but that isn?t saying much. If you just want a pleasant read, with nice characters, go ahead and buy it, but if historical accuracy matters to you, skip this one.



Rating:
Summary: 4 & 1/2 stars
Review: I didn't like this one quite as much as Barely a Bride because of the repetition at the beginning regarding the Free Fellows League (needful for the book to stand alone, but annoying to those who have recently read the first) and because of an irritating but thankfully not-too-frequent tendency to repeat information as though the reader cannot remember it. For example, how many times do we really need to be told that Jarrod's ability to gather information is astounding, even to his friends?

All that aside, however, Merely a Groom is a delight to read thanks to its lead characters and the rest of the Free Fellows (and gal pals). It's fun to read these books and see the future begin to unfold before you: other Free Fellows with potential ladies mentioned in these books. You'll like them all.

This book does not keep the reader's interest quite as well as the first, hence the small drop in rating. But Collin is a sweet and sensitive man that no woman in her right mind could avoid falling in love with. Gillian is a woman who truly appreciates this wonderful man and the second chance at love she has been given. They are so obviously good for each other that the heart warms reading about them.

I can't wait for the next installment.

Rating:
Summary: Don't bother!
Review: I gave Barely a Bride three stars on a scale of five. I give this book one star, and that's generous. The author tossed this off and we dished out money for that lack of effort. It's an insult. Its enough to make one lose faith in the publishing houses. They have forsaken good literature in exchange for the almighty buck. Don't give in to them. Don't buy this book, even though this author was once great. In this book, the Author takes us on a multi-page excursion through a man taking off and then putting on a woman's corset as he plays lady's maid. Throughout the book, the conversation between the male and female lead characters is inane. The antagonist is not introduced until the second to the last chapter. Uneven, unbalanced, and idiotic. I skipped whole pages. It's a shame, because the protagonists in this series of books could have been extraordinary. But Hagen Lee will get a check for this sloppy work -if she even wrote it. I won't buy the sequel. Don't support this kind of pablum. Insist on excellence and intelligence and vote with your wallet. By the way, the publisher is Berkley. Keep an eye out for them. They are taking advantage of us. They do not have excellence as a goal. As we hate to go into a book store and see wasted shelves dedicated to Nora Roberts (not her again!) and Sandra Brown (groan!) and (God, forbid) Danielle Steele, so shall we also hate to see good book space taken up by Hagen Lee if she continues with this type of mediocre performance.



Rating:
Summary: My New Favorite Book!
Review: I thought this book was FABULOUS! I'm not a historian, so I did not pick up on any incorrect historical facts, not that it really matters. The book is fiction, and I enjoyed it for the incredible romance. Rebecca Hagan Lee does a great job telling the story--I felt like I was actually there, watching everything take place. When a book succeeds in taking me to another place, I consider it successful. I had a hard time making myself put this one down. In my opinion, it is a must read!

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Regency
Review: In 1793 the three preadolescent aristocratic heirs sign in blood the charter of the Free Fellow League, which includes amongst its rules not to marry unless there is no choice until they reach thirty. Instead Griffin Abernathy, Colin McElreath, and Jarrod Sheperdston plan to become England's greatest heroes.

In 1812 London Baron Carter Davies, a merchant just recently raised to peerage, is angry and upset because his daughter Gillian vanished without a trace one week ago while attending a musicale chaperoned by her mother. Bow St informs him that Gillian apparently eloped with a Mr. Colin Fox. Eloping with a mister is worse than kidnapping to Gillian's father, who expected his daughter to wed an aristocrat.

At the Blue Bottle Inn by the Edinburgh docks, Gillian waits for her Colin who seemingly deserted her. Instead her father accuses Colin McElreath of compromising Gillian. To avoid a scandal Colin marries Gillian, but also hopes she can be the bait to capture the rogue impersonating him. Neither of the newlyweds expected love to freely flow between them as it has, but Colin has a mission that is pulling his heart apart as he must place his beloved in jeopardy to succeed.

The second Free Fellow League book, MERELY THE GROOM, is an exciting Regency romantic suspense that contains a wonderful love subplot inside a powerful tale of intrigue. The fine story line contains characters from the first tale (see BARELY THE BRIDE) playing significant parts in this novel, but that also tends to take away from the romantic interludes of the lead couple. Still Rebecca Hagan Lee furbishes a delightful charmer that will have readers awaiting Jarrod's avoidance of marriage story.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: Charming Tale -
Review: Setting - England, 1812 --- In the second installment of Lee's 'Free Fellows League' Colin McElreath (Viscount Grantham) becomes the second victim to become leg-shackled in marriage - a state that to the young adolescent boys who had originated the league considered as a fate worse than death. Now grown up and working as a spy for the war office, Colin had established his spy persona as a smuggler working out of the Blue Bottle Inn. It was on one of his nightly excursions that he spied a lovely lady keeping vigil in an upper room of the inn and wished that it were for him that she kept said vigil - that wish would somehow became prophetic in more ways than one.

When Colin and his fellow Free Fellows learn that a Bow Street runner is closing in on Colin Fox (Colin's alias as a spy) they discovered that someone else had been using that name to seduce unsuspecting young woman into elopement and ruination. One woman's father was determined to hunt him down. Baron Davies, is no man's fool and when Colin is dispatched to try and convince the Baron to call off the hunt, the Baron decides that now that his daughter has been compromised, a husband is required to save Gillian's reputation and Viscount Grantham, whose financial situation was less than promising, but whose title was old and honorable, would fit the bill. Marriage to his daughter, or the Baron would continue his investigation thereby totally compromising Colin's cover - and after all, marriage with a handsome dowry and Gillian Davies would certainly be worth the sacrifice.

Once again, Ms. Lee has crafted an engaging and darling Regency-era novel set in the midst of the Napoleonic conflicts. With the use of the prologue that is a repeat from BARELY A BRIDE, the first book in this trilogy, one has no problem with this book standing alone. Though the marriage was 'forced' the two protagonists were 'known' to one another and their mutual attraction turned out to be their destiny. I loved that it allowed Gillian, who had made a foolish mistake in being such a romantic and eloping with the wrong person, was given a second chance at love. Colin, whose old and honorable title and empty pockets, due to his fathers gambling addiction, was truly Gillian's 'knight in shining armor' - her true Galahad. The intrigue subplot of the cad who had left Gillian in such dire straits, ended up playing a very small but secondary part in what was primarily a very loving and romantic read that is sure to warm many a readers heart. --- Marilyn Rondeau, Official Reviewer for www.hsitoricromancewriters.com ---



Rating:
Summary: a nice and satisfying read
Review: The second novel in the Free Fellows League series (a series that centers on the romantic adventures of a group of men who have sworn not to marry before their 30th birthdays and to only marry for suitability's sake and not love), "Merely the Groom" proved to be a very engaging and endearing read. In this installment, Rebecca Hagan Lee introduces us to Colin McElreath (Viscount Grantham) and the set of unforeseen circumstances that necessitates his quick marriage to Miss Gillian.

Like his fellow Free Fellow friends, Colin McElreath (Viscount Grantham) has forsworn marriage in favour of a life of adventure and duty as a spy for the Crown. In Colin's case there is another reason why he cannot contemplate marriage anytime soon: Colin's father is a hopeless gambler who has managed to almost beggar the family. And in Colin's mind, no father in his right mind would ever consider Colin as a worthy and proper son-in-law. So that Colin has single-mindedly thrown himself into his work of spying and intrigue. But all this is soon put in jeopardy when Colin and his friends discover that there is a Bow Street investigator dogging Colin's footsteps. Apparently some cad has made use of Colin's alias in order to seduce and compromise the very rich Baron Davies's only daughter, Gillian. Now the Baron is breathing fire and demanding that Colin do the right thing and marry Gillian -- or else, the Baron threatens, the search for the other "Colin" will continue in spite of the fact that it will jeopardize Colin's current mission. And so, Colin agrees to marry Gillian. A task that isn't proving to be all that bitter since the Baron is very rich and because Gillian happens to be a beautiful and rather taking young lady in her own right. But Colin is also determined to find this other "Colin" -- to discover what his game is, and to find out how exactly how Gillian figures into everything. Because Colin is convinced that Gillian was selected for a reason, and he's determined to discover why, especially when he discovers that he has fallen in love with his new bride, and that keeping her safe and protected has taken a whole new meaning for him...

Once again, Rebecca Hagan Lee has penned a memorable and engaging Regency-era romance novel. While some aspects of the novel do beggar belief (like why on earth didn't the secret service department Colin worked for just threaten Baron Davies with something or the other in order to get him to leave Colin alone?), the book still proved to be an engaging read, mainly because of Colin and Gillian. Once again, Ms Lee has given us a sensitive and charming hero and an intelligent and taking heroine (does this herald a new and welcome trend in historical romance novels, one wonders?), a nice and sweetly sensual story about second chances in life and love, and an added bonus -- small intrigue subplot to keep things humming. As with "Barely a Bride," I found "Merely the Groom" to be a very satisfyingly romantic read, and have no problem recommending it as a worthwhile read.

Rating:
Summary: Merely a bad book and waste of my money
Review: This book is filled with period inaccuracies. She doesn't even know when the little season takes place! Hint, it's not during the spring. I wish authors who write historical romances would bother to learn about the era they set their books in. If this is the amount of effort you want to put into researching your books, write contemporary novels, and quit luring those of us who actually like history into wasting $7 only to be annoyed.

Rating:
Summary: All I can say is UGH!
Review: This book is simply filled with historical mistakes (might I suggest the author spend some time on The Georgian Index or join The Beau Monde?). I'm beginning to wonder if there's any room in the romance industry for real history, of if "history salad" is now considered good enough. It's really no wonder most people don't take the genre seriously. I really want to read romances (I'm addicted to the happy ending) but the poor attention to historical detail is driving me away. If nothing else the current crop of writers would do well to brush up on their Jane Austen and Georgette Heyer. Thank God Heyer is being republished, it gives me something to fall back on after a disastrous purchase like this.