Carousel of Hearts (Signet Regency Romance)

Rating:
Summary: One of Putney's best Regencies...
Review: This, along with THE DIABOLICAL BARON (reprinted), is one of the rare Regencies that Mary Jo Putney has not expanded and rewritten. It is somewhat hard-to-find. Fortunately, most of her backlist is regularly reissued for new fans. However, I am not sure that this book has been reissued at all. It is however not as highly-priced as the HTF Baloghs, Kellys, or Chases.

The story is one of those romances in which you are completely unsure as to which hero will end up with the heroine. If you like such a plot, let me also recommend Edith Layton's THE DUKE'S WAGER (available in a reprinted duo). The diference in CAROUSEL OF HEARTS is that Putney has created two love stories (two heroes, two heroines) and has made all the characters (well nearly all of them) thoroughly likeable. That is indeed a rarity.

The story begins with an impetuous young baroness (the daughter of an earl, but she has inherited an ancient barony as her father's only child - kudos to MJP for getting this right) rejecting the idea of a companion. However, she realizes that her aunt has brought along a young widowed relation who has overheard their argument. Partly out of guilt, and partly out of pity for this poor relation, the baroness (Lady Antonia) agrees to accept the widowed Judith as a companion, saying that she can always do with an extra friend. Judith has not had a very happy life as a penniless young woman always dependent on richer relatives, and she married a clergyman who concealed his fatal illness from her (wanting a nurse for his last years). But, as it turns out, Antonia (her employer, the baroness) has not had that glorious a childhood either, even though she denies this to herself through the novel. Judith and Antonia get along well together, and Judith acquires a handsome new wardrobe.

Enter the hero, or rather one of the heroes. He is a distant cousin of Antonia, brought up with her on a remote family estate. Adam is illegitimate, the son of a cousin of Antonia's father. His father had revolutionary ideas, including a rejection of marriage. However, he persuaded a minister's daughter to run off with him, and refused to marry her when she was pregnant. When his father died, his mother was obliged to work as a seamstress to make ends meet - and on her death, Adam became a chimney sweep's climbing boy, until he was rescued by the Earl. There is much more to the story of course.

Adam brings along a friend of his, a titled young gentleman whom he met in India. This friend Simon is so handsome and so well-dressed that both Antonia and Judith fall for him. Antonia becomes engaged to Simon, while Adam offers marriage to Judith. Adam, however, has always loved Antonia since he was a young boy brought in by the Earl to Antonia's birthday party. It was this love that motivated him to make a fortune in India. And Adam has helped Simon out of a difficult situation (being tricked by the family solicitor) and advised him as to how to recoup his fortune.

The story takes some unexpected turns. Accidents happen (without external villains), someone develops amnesia, and betrothals are broken, reformed, and broken again.

This ends the "low spoiler" part of the review. If you want more, continue on.
What I enjoyed about this book was not only Putney's attention to titles and the like, but the fact that the story takes place almost entirely in the country. There are virtually no references to Almack. The issues dividing the heroes and heroines are real and believable issues - for example, the fact that Adam is illegitimate (although the fact that he is in trade is ignored), the fact that Antonia is so much richer than Simon, and the fact that women can be in love with more than one man at the same time. There were no easy solutions here, despite the accident (when one of the heroes visits an inventor) and the subsequent amnesia developed by that hero. Judith's dilemna in turn is credible - she must balance loyalty to her employer and benefactor with the fact that she is in love with someone.

I have to admit that I thought certain themes could have been elaborated upon (notably the fact that certain matches seemed inevitable given the shared interests of certain protagonists). Also, I was troubled by a couple of omissions
1) that Adam disappeared suddenly when Antonia was about 15. I thought that there was more to the story than that - perhaps he had been told to take himself off by Antonia's parents. Where did he get his passage money to India, for that matter?
2) that Adam made a fortune so quickly, despite an impeccable reputation. In my readings of British history in India, the only persons who made large fortunes quickly were company clerks who made private fortunes from trading on the side, or soldiers of fortune who were successful in some action, and of course administrators at the highest levels (but not in the Regency period - more in the period 1750-1780). Adam was too young to have amassed such a great fortune with integrity. I found this somewhat off-putting.
3) that relatively little is made of Judith's unhappy financial position and her disastrous first marriage. It is a plot theme (in that Adam is moved to propose marriage to her because of her vulnerability), but it is not fully carried out.

Despite these quibbles (and Antonia's mistake in assessing her precedence - as a baroness, she automatically lost her rank and precedence as an earl's daughter, whether she inherited the barony or married a baron), this book was a pleasure to read, and finished in one evening. Strongly recommended.

Rating = 4.8

Rating:
Summary: One of Putney's best Regencies...
Review: This, along with THE DIABOLICAL BARON (reprinted), is one of the rare Regencies that Mary Jo Putney has not expanded and rewritten. It is somewhat hard-to-find. Fortunately, most of her backlist is regularly reissued for new fans. However, I am not sure that this book has been reissued at all. It is however not as highly-priced as the HTF Baloghs, Kellys, or Chases.

The story is one of those romances in which you are completely unsure as to which hero will end up with the heroine. If you like such a plot, let me also recommend Edith Layton's THE DUKE'S WAGER (available in a reprinted duo). The diference in CAROUSEL OF HEARTS is that Putney has created two love stories (two heroes, two heroines) and has made all the characters (well nearly all of them) thoroughly likeable. That is indeed a rarity.

The story begins with an impetuous young baroness (the daughter of an earl, but she has inherited an ancient barony as her father's only child - kudos to MJP for getting this right) rejecting the idea of a companion. However, she realizes that her aunt has brought along a young widowed relation who has overheard their argument. Partly out of guilt, and partly out of pity for this poor relation, the baroness (Lady Antonia) agrees to accept the widowed Judith as a companion, saying that she can always do with an extra friend. Judith has not had a very happy life as a penniless young woman always dependent on richer relatives, and she married a clergyman who concealed his fatal illness from her (wanting a nurse for his last years). But, as it turns out, Antonia (her employer, the baroness) has not had that glorious a childhood either, even though she denies this to herself through the novel. Judith and Antonia get along well together, and Judith acquires a handsome new wardrobe.

Enter the hero, or rather one of the heroes. He is a distant cousin of Antonia, brought up with her on a remote family estate. Adam is illegitimate, the son of a cousin of Antonia's father. His father had revolutionary ideas, including a rejection of marriage. However, he persuaded a minister's daughter to run off with him, and refused to marry her when she was pregnant. When his father died, his mother was obliged to work as a seamstress to make ends meet - and on her death, Adam became a chimney sweep's climbing boy, until he was rescued by the Earl. There is much more to the story of course.

Adam brings along a friend of his, a titled young gentleman whom he met in India. This friend Simon is so handsome and so well-dressed that both Antonia and Judith fall for him. Antonia becomes engaged to Simon, while Adam offers marriage to Judith. Adam, however, has always loved Antonia since he was a young boy brought in by the Earl to Antonia's birthday party. It was this love that motivated him to make a fortune in India. And Adam has helped Simon out of a difficult situation (being tricked by the family solicitor) and advised him as to how to recoup his fortune.

The story takes some unexpected turns. Accidents happen (without external villains), someone develops amnesia, and betrothals are broken, reformed, and broken again.

This ends the "low spoiler" part of the review. If you want more, continue on.
What I enjoyed about this book was not only Putney's attention to titles and the like, but the fact that the story takes place almost entirely in the country. There are virtually no references to Almack. The issues dividing the heroes and heroines are real and believable issues - for example, the fact that Adam is illegitimate (although the fact that he is in trade is ignored), the fact that Antonia is so much richer than Simon, and the fact that women can be in love with more than one man at the same time. There were no easy solutions here, despite the accident (when one of the heroes visits an inventor) and the subsequent amnesia developed by that hero. Judith's dilemna in turn is credible - she must balance loyalty to her employer and benefactor with the fact that she is in love with someone.

I have to admit that I thought certain themes could have been elaborated upon (notably the fact that certain matches seemed inevitable given the shared interests of certain protagonists). Also, I was troubled by a couple of omissions
1) that Adam disappeared suddenly when Antonia was about 15. I thought that there was more to the story than that - perhaps he had been told to take himself off by Antonia's parents. Where did he get his passage money to India, for that matter?
2) that Adam made a fortune so quickly, despite an impeccable reputation. In my readings of British history in India, the only persons who made large fortunes quickly were company clerks who made private fortunes from trading on the side, or soldiers of fortune who were successful in some action, and of course administrators at the highest levels (but not in the Regency period - more in the period 1750-1780). Adam was too young to have amassed such a great fortune with integrity. I found this somewhat off-putting.
3) that relatively little is made of Judith's unhappy financial position and her disastrous first marriage. It is a plot theme (in that Adam is moved to propose marriage to her because of her vulnerability), but it is not fully carried out.

Despite these quibbles (and Antonia's mistake in assessing her precedence - as a baroness, she automatically lost her rank and precedence as an earl's daughter, whether she inherited the barony or married a baron), this book was a pleasure to read, and finished in one evening. Strongly recommended.

Rating = 4.8