Tallie's Knight

Rating:
Summary: a very heart warming novel
Review: "Tallie's Knight" reminded me very much of the fairy tales I read when I was a child -- a young woman, poor and ordinary, marries a rich but cold and handsome aristocrat, and through her patience and perseverance succeeds in bringing warmth and love into his bleak life. Indeed, this novel made me smile and feel good, just the way I used to when I finished one of those fairy tales. Anne Gracie, is I think relatively unknown in the US, but she won't be for long! This novel is simply one of the best Regency romance novels I've read in a long time!

The Earl of d'Arenville (Magnus) believes that he has everything he needs in life. The product of a very unhappy childhood (his mother was a manipulative and unloving woman), many consider Magnus to be overly arrogant and cold. Even Magnus believes his bad press; that is until he meets his vicar's four year old daughter. Suddenly Magnus finds that his heart is not so closed and cold afterall, and that there is something he wants desperately: children. Unfortunately, this entails finding the right kind of wife. Not for him the beautiful, empty headed debutante that would demand they live in London, and relegate the care of any children they would have to an army of nurses, governesses and tutors! No, Magnus intends for his wife to spend her days looking after and loving their children in the country! With such a plan in mind, Magnus turns to his empty-headed, vain and rather spiteful cousin, Louisa, for help in finding a wife. It is decided that Louisa will host a week long house party at her country estate. Several eligible young ladies will be invited, and Magnus will then make his choice.

It turns out to be a case of all good plans going south. Louisa fills the house with exactly the kind of young women Magnus despises. But in Louisa's house resides exactly the type of woman that Magnus is seeking: Thalia Robinson. Tallie is Louisa's poor relation, who acts as stand-in mother to Louisa's three children. Plain and definitely on the shelf, Tallie spends her time loving and caring for the children, and daydreaming of finding true love. Little did she expect that the very reserved Magnus would see through her plainness to notice her loving and warm nature. And when Louisa is informed of Magnus's choice, her anger and spite know no bounds! Maliciously she tries to destroy Tallie. But this course of action backfires on her: with nowhere to go and with no money, Tallie who only ever wanted to marry for love, is forced to accept Magnus's offer for marriage. And Magnus, believing Louisa's lies soon finds himself with a wife who may not be all he hoped she would be. Can Magnus and Tallie make their marriage work in spite of Louisa's malice? And will Tallie succeed in bringing some warmth and love into Magnus's bleak life?

This is a wonderful novel about a man who has known no love in his life, and who is deply suspicious of women, and of the warm and loving woman who teaches him to love and be happy. Both Tallie and Magnus are well portrayed and their interactions --from their first meeting, to all their various misunderstandings, and to how they finally learn to deal with each other -- is all very realistically depicted. And that is part of the charm of this novel -- that mix of fairy tale with realism. Louisa's character is pretty much the cliched wicked sister/mother/fairy godmother, but her predictably bad behaviour works very effectively in this case. This is a really warm and soul satisfying novel, and definitely a great read.

Rating:
Summary: Simply Devine
Review: .... I loved this book, even more than I did Gracie's other novel Gallant Waif. Well-ploted, emotional, laugh-out loud humour. Who could ask for more. Well, to be honest, that's exactly what I'm asking for... more Ms. Gracie more!!

Rating:
Summary: A romance set in the Regency time period
Review: Anne Gracie is a writer I hadn't come across before, but shall lookout for again. She has an excellent sense of humour. The story is set against a journey across europe with a number of adventures before the hero and heroine find contentment in their own home. Tallie has romantic dreams by the way which enliven the story. Magnus is a little thoughtless but learns slowly.

From the back of the Harlequin paperback edition:

MAGNUS HAD DECIDED TO SELECT A BRIDE!

Miss Thalia Robinson, a destitute orphan, was fortunate that she had been allowed to look after her cousin Laetitia's three adorable children. Tallie usually spent her quiet life lost in daydreams, but the arrival of a house party to aid Magnus, Earl of d'Arenville, to find a wife, turned her world upside down.

Magnus's cold facade had been pierced by a delightful small girl, and now he'd decided he wanted children of his own. For that, he needed a wife. But things didn't go according to Laetitia's plan, for he ignored all the debutantes that were presented to him, and, taken with Tallie's loving treatment of the children in her charge, decided that she was the one he would marry....

Rating:
Summary: a welcome new-comer --
Review: As pleased as many readers must be to have a third major publishing house issuing books categorized as 'Regency Romance' (and I'm certainly one of them) I suspect many of these readers would be even happier if the books were to be correctly labelled. There is a world of difference between the 'Regency Romance' and the Regency-set Historical novel. All of the recent batch of such books from Harlequin that I've read have been labelled Romance, when they're really Historicals. So from this point onwards, I'll open one of their books expecting only whatever I find, rather than what the label tells me I'll find. I suspect it will work much better.

Tallie's Knight is a case in point. The depth of characterization and scope of the plot clearly indicate Historical, and it is indeed a very delightful example of such. Anne Gracie is a writer to watch, as she definitely has the writing skills to match her knowledge of the period. An added bonus is her strong sense of humor, and the ability to infuse her writing with that humor.

One of the usual characteristics of the Historical novel is the inclusion of love scenes, and this book is no exception. The plot is 'the marriage of convenience' which nearly always requires such episodes, but there is no indication anywhere that this book will contain a good many such, and some readers will no doubt be turned off by their presence. Actually, I think the book would have benefitted greatly from a bit of judicious editing here and there, as well.

Still, it is indeed an enjoyable book, although I was a bit put off by the extended travelogue portions, as well as the profuse daydreams of Tallie, the orphaned heroine. As governess to the children of her cousin, Laetitia, she is thus on the scene when Magnus, the Earl of d'Arenville (Laetitia's cousin from the other side of the family) surveys the young ladies duly presented by Laetitia, from whom he hopes to find his bride. Magnus doesn't really want a bride so much as he wants children; but to get the one, he must have the other. Not really knowing where to start looking for a suitable bride, he offers to foot the necessary bills if his cousin will host a house party, thus enabling him to inspect the young ladies--and be inspected, in turn, by their Mamas. He expects the resulting marriage to be a very businesslike arrangement; not for him the love match. He knew only too well the hazards of that emotion--he had only to look to his own parents for confirmation.

Of course, to the dismay of everyone, Magnus chooses Tallie for the warmth she displays while protecting her young charge Georgie and his puppy from Laetitia's wrath. This decision only magnifies Laetitia's wrath; consequently, in addition to failing to provide the bride-to-be with the proper bride-clothes, she also offers truly nasty instructions about bridal behavior to Tallie, who has no other, older, female relative available for such consultation.

The misunderstandings that arise from these instructions form a major portion of the plot, and Ms. Gracie handles these scenes with grace and wit--and believability, not an easy task. I look forward to reading many more books by this very talented author.

Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: I had heard a lot of good things about this book, so perhaps I came to it with too many expectations that it did not live up to. I found the book really sentimental and saccharine, but someone else might not. The heroine was one of those heroines who is almost too innocent and naive to be believable. Innocence is one thing, but ignorance is something else. This maid her seem way too young for the hero.

The hero was a man with a reputation for coldness whose heart was warmed by a child in the first page. This kind of thing is just too sweet and cloying for me, but again, someone else might like it. The first part of the book was mostly misunderstandings and the wedding night kept getting postponed. These are not my favorite devices.

In the middle the book got better as the story moved to France and Italy on the couple's honeymoon and the conflicts became more real internal ones than contrived external ones. I was starting to like the book much better, but then at the end, the hero did too many good deeds to be believable. I liked the main one he did, but all the little side things accompanying it were so sugary enough to put one in a diabetic coma. Good grief, I thought. What next? Will he solve world hunger and build orphanages all over England too?

Anyway, it wasn't for me. BTW, some of the humor was reminiscent of Judith McNaught's, but this book didn't have McNaught's angst and her way of making me cry, or the cynical characters that offset too much naivete in her books. All in all, I have read worse, but this book is definitely overhyped.

Rating:
Summary: Not *that* wonderful
Review: I loved the kind, day-dreaming, poor-relation heroine. I disliked the hero. One day he looks at his cousin's kids and think "I want to get married", sees poor-relation playing nicely with kids, and soon marries her. They go on a European tour for their honeymoon. The middle of the book really didn't have much to the plot, but that author took care of that- whenever nothing was happening, the characters had [fun]. *Yawn* I was more interested in their mental than physical relationship. Silly me. More (improbable) stuff happens in the plot later and they finally do something and Marcus can prove his worth, blah blah blah. It was ok. The ending stunk though.

Rating:
Summary: Too much of the same thing
Review: I read the first half of this book fairly fast. I love her writing style, it's very witty and readable.

But 3/4 of the way through I found myself becoming irritated. First of all, NOTHING happened. That would be OK if there were dynamics between the H/H where I could see some progression. But Lord D'Arenville (I can't even recall his first name, though I just read this, because he never melted far enough to become on familiar terms with Tallie) was just a nasty, anger-riddled bastard.

I got fed up of him being "furious" all the time. I couldn't see him redeeming himself. Now, I can read about a tortured nasty bastard *if* by the halfway mark he's begun to melt and show some humanity. But this guy never did. I am sure if I stuck with it that he probably got a personality transplant miraculously and showed some (angry, strident) humanity toward her at the end. But as he was depicted, I really couldn't see why she made bizarre proclamations of love to him.

Yecch.

Rating:
Summary: An incredible Regency novel
Review: On a visit to his childhood friend, Magnus, Earl of d'Arenville, finds himself falling in love with a child. It was the most unlikely thing. But having decided he'd like children of his own, he realizes that he must choose a wife. Not just any wife but one who will be content to live in the countryside and raise their children lovingly. Magnus requests that his cousin Laetitia put together a house party of eligible girls to choose from. One evening, he witnesses a young woman rising to the defense of a small boy and his dog and decides that she will be the one despite the fact that she is orphaned, penniless, and not eligible in the eyes of society.

Contrary to Magnus's belief, however, Tallie Robinson knows she won't be happy or grateful to be married to someone known as The Icicle. She was content to see to her cousin Laetitia's house and her children and all too happy to spin dreams of a hero who would love her and whom she could love in return. But Laetitia's outrage at what she sees as her undeserving turn of good fortune results in Tallie being turned out without a character, forcing her to marry Magnus after all. From there, the two embark on a Grand Tour. Though Magnus would be content to spend their honeymoon in Paris, Tallie has her reasons for wanting to travel to Italy. And over the course of their honeymoon, Tallie begins to realize that Magnus is not the cold and heartless man she thought as his concern for her becomes evident and she soon discovers that he is the hero she's been waiting for. All too soon she finds herself falling in love with this man who can't comprehend what love is but is becoming increasingly entranced with his incredibly charming and remarkably naïve wife.

"Tallie's Knight" is a wonderful story penned by author Anne Gracie. In it, she takes two people of very different temperaments who have never known love. From this marriage of convenience, the author spins out an incredible love story that fulfills Tallie's dreams, melts Magnus's heart, and captivates her readers. Tallie is a heroine who is ignorant of the malice that is rampant in society. Left by her parents at a school for most of her life, Tallie has retained her innocent outlook and her tendency to dream, which Gracie expresses through Tallie's internal thoughts. Through these dreams, readers come to understand Tallie's capacity for love and as Tallie experiences new things in her marriage her hero begins to take on more definition. Magnus is a hero who is misunderstood but doesn't care. Gracie begins the story by revealing that Magnus is much more than what he seems. As he falls in love first with a child and then with Tallie, we begin to see that though his heart does indeed melt, it seems to be far more likely that it was untapped for most of his life. In Tallie he finds a woman unlike any other that he's met. She doesn't use tears to manipulate, she is unexpectedly demanding, and she isn't thrilled with jewels. Tallie's love and her simple charm force Magnus to see the world through her eyes and to realize that it could be a very fine place indeed.

Rating:
Summary: Very strong book, although somewhat cloying
Review: This is a book that provokes mixed reactions in me (unlike the tremendously powerful GALLANT WAIF which I endorse whole-heartedly). For one, I have mixed feelings about "sweet" stories. I cannot even read Elizabeth Mansfields one after another, since I need to take a break from all that sweetness.

First the good things. This book is a keeper for me for a couple of reasons. For one, we see a remarkable Grand Tour taken through Europe during the Peace of Amiens. The book is worth reading if only for the travel sections (and the descriptions of Tallie's reaction to the new French fashions and to the scenery). Secondly, while the story can be sentimental in parts, this is a powerful story about a man seeking children desperately (if not quite for the right reasons), and a young woman who has remarkable abilities to focus on what she believes she must do, despite her bitter recent past.

Other reviewers have commented in detail on the plot. I will confine my comments to what works and what doesn't. Magnus's unbelievably callous parents are mirrored by the parents of Tallie's pupil. The father is absent; the mother is mostly absent, and remarkably careless and vindictive when present.

Magnus, an earl, looks to his cousin Letitia (Tallie's employer and the callous mother described earlier) to find him a suitable bride. He believes that he desperately wants children, after years of confirmed bachelorhood. Letty's house party goes awry when Magnus decides that the most suitable candidate is not any of the aristocrats so carefully invited by his cousin, but - the governess. Tallie rejects Magnus's initial offer, and she is dismissed by her employer (who is smarting over Magnus's choice). Tallie then has no choice but to accept Magnus's renewed offer. She makes a couple of conditions, among which is a startling one - she must be taken on a Grand Tour for her honeymoon. Here begins the main part of the book, with the characters of the hero and heroine clearly set out for us. Magnus is cold, having had little familial warmth in his life. He is interested in children, not for the sake of continuing the title, but because he has suddenly found that he likes children. Tallie, who is wonderful with children, but is the penniless daughter of a late diplomat, has practically no wardrobe to speak off. Her dreams are very romantic (with a knight featuring prominently, hence the title), but rather naive. But her dreams are all she had, until her unexpected marriage.

I have to agree that this book is miscast as a "traditional Regency". Harlequin Regencies - in the current version - are *not* the same as Signet Regencies, nor the same as Zebra Regencies. Not all Signet Regencies are PG or even PG-13 (a few of Balogh's works are quite explicit). TALLIE'S KNIGHT would be rated R for explicit sex scenes, although there is nothing tasteless. (There is R, and then there is R). Actually, the bedroom scenes are rather important, given that Letty (the cousin) has been particularly malicious, leaving both hero and heroine frustrated upto the middle.

Tallie has been concealing a major secret from her new husband, well, actually two secrets. Both are revealed by the time they arrive in Italy. One is more delightful to the earl than the other. But the other is what makes the story slightly unbelievable for me. It is not so much that I doubt the facts that brought the secret into being, but the transformation of the Earl from a mere man (well, a mere peer) into a "very parfait knight" (to paraphrase Chaucer) is what is a bit unbelievable. The transformation is too quick, too pat.

For most of the story, I would award this book 5 stars, but I found Tallie's day-dreaming somewhat irritating (she could have had more imagination, at least!). I also found Magnus's transformation by the end too quick. Finally, there were elements about the dark secret held by Tallie that I found a little hard to believe. Those are what keeps this book from perfection. But as an early novel by Anne Gracie, this is certainly a great start.

Rating for this book 4.5

Rating:
Summary: Bravo!!!
Review: This is a book that provokes mixed reactions in me (unlike the tremendously powerful GALLANT WAIF which I endorse whole-heartedly). For one, I have mixed feelings about "sweet" stories. I cannot even read Elizabeth Mansfields one after another, since I need to take a break from all that sweetness.

First the good things. This book is a keeper for me for a couple of reasons. For one, we see a remarkable Grand Tour taken through Europe during the Peace of Amiens. The book is worth reading if only for the travel sections (and the descriptions of Tallie's reaction to the new French fashions and to the scenery). Secondly, while the story can be sentimental in parts, this is a powerful story about a man seeking children desperately (if not quite for the right reasons), and a young woman who has remarkable abilities to focus on what she believes she must do, despite her bitter recent past.

Other reviewers have commented in detail on the plot. I will confine my comments to what works and what doesn't. Magnus's unbelievably callous parents are mirrored by the parents of Tallie's pupil. The father is absent; the mother is mostly absent, and remarkably careless and vindictive when present.

Magnus, an earl, looks to his cousin Letitia (Tallie's employer and the callous mother described earlier) to find him a suitable bride. He believes that he desperately wants children, after years of confirmed bachelorhood. Letty's house party goes awry when Magnus decides that the most suitable candidate is not any of the aristocrats so carefully invited by his cousin, but - the governess. Tallie rejects Magnus's initial offer, and she is dismissed by her employer (who is smarting over Magnus's choice). Tallie then has no choice but to accept Magnus's renewed offer. She makes a couple of conditions, among which is a startling one - she must be taken on a Grand Tour for her honeymoon. Here begins the main part of the book, with the characters of the hero and heroine clearly set out for us. Magnus is cold, having had little familial warmth in his life. He is interested in children, not for the sake of continuing the title, but because he has suddenly found that he likes children. Tallie, who is wonderful with children, but is the penniless daughter of a late diplomat, has practically no wardrobe to speak off. Her dreams are very romantic (with a knight featuring prominently, hence the title), but rather naive. But her dreams are all she had, until her unexpected marriage.

I have to agree that this book is miscast as a "traditional Regency". Harlequin Regencies - in the current version - are *not* the same as Signet Regencies, nor the same as Zebra Regencies. Not all Signet Regencies are PG or even PG-13 (a few of Balogh's works are quite explicit). TALLIE'S KNIGHT would be rated R for explicit sex scenes, although there is nothing tasteless. (There is R, and then there is R). Actually, the bedroom scenes are rather important, given that Letty (the cousin) has been particularly malicious, leaving both hero and heroine frustrated upto the middle.

Tallie has been concealing a major secret from her new husband, well, actually two secrets. Both are revealed by the time they arrive in Italy. One is more delightful to the earl than the other. But the other is what makes the story slightly unbelievable for me. It is not so much that I doubt the facts that brought the secret into being, but the transformation of the Earl from a mere man (well, a mere peer) into a "very parfait knight" (to paraphrase Chaucer) is what is a bit unbelievable. The transformation is too quick, too pat.

For most of the story, I would award this book 5 stars, but I found Tallie's day-dreaming somewhat irritating (she could have had more imagination, at least!). I also found Magnus's transformation by the end too quick. Finally, there were elements about the dark secret held by Tallie that I found a little hard to believe. Those are what keeps this book from perfection. But as an early novel by Anne Gracie, this is certainly a great start.

Rating for this book 4.5