Town Bronze (Zebra Regency Romance)

Rating:
Summary: an amusing and enjoyable read
Review: With "Town Bronze," Kate Huntington (again) shows how adept she is in taking a much used and very basic storyline and turning it into a very amusing and charming Regency-era romance novel.

Ever since they were children, everyone has expected Christopher Warrender and Cassandra Davies to make a match of it. At least that has always been Lord Adderly, Christopher's grandfather's, plan. (Lord Adderly is also Cassandra's guardian.) And the very fact that both Christopher and Cassandra get on like oil and water, has not caused the old man to rethink his grand plan one bit over the years. Nor has he ever considered the notion that either Christopher or Cassandra may have dreams or desires of their own. So that even when Christopher was taken prisoner by the French while he was on the Grand Tour and was thought to be died in one of their prisons, the old man kept Cassandra (who had always cherished dreams of having a London Season and living in the city) firmly ensconced in the country.

Now, however, it looks as if news of Christopher's death may have been premature. For with Bonaparte's final defeat has come the realization that Christopher has spent the past 11 years being moved from one French jail to another. Lord Adderly is ecstatic: at last his dreams of marrying Christopher and Cassandra off to each other are coming true. But Cassandra is livid: now she will have to marry spotty, chubby and fatuous Christopher after all. What neither expected was that Christopher would put his foot down and refuse to marry Cassandra, and that he would take off for London in order to have some fun and acquire some "town bronze." And the last thing Christopher expected was for Lord Adderly (with Cassandra in tow) to give chase after him.

It is still Lord Adderly's hope that the pair will make a match of it, even if it is fast becoming a dwindling one. For Christopher and Cassandra are soon happily sampling the many entertainments and diversions that the city has to offer and making new friends. It doesn't take Christopher long, however, to realise that he is actually very much in love with Cassandra. Unfortunately Cassandra has other ideas, and seems to have fallen for a handsome titled lord. What will Christopher do? Try to win Cassandra's heart? Or try to help her achieve exactly what (and who) she desires?

"Town Bronze" was a rather fun read. Christopher Warrender was my kind of romance hero -- intelligent, charming, funny and masculine without being the type of alpha-male that many sensible women would just long to hurl bricks at! Cassandra, on the other hand, took a little longer to warm to. But this was mainly because she did not come across very well in the first few chapters -- ranting (and sulking) at a man who had just come home from hell as if it was all his fault that she had to marry him! Fortunately, the authour rehabilitates Cassandra fairly early on in the novel so that I was able to settle into liking this romantic pair and rooting for their happily-ever-after ending. I liked the manner in which Kate Huntington depicted the relationship that Christopher and Cassandra have, as well how she portrayed the deepening of this friendship, and how it blossomed into love. And I liked all the different kinds of gambits/obstacles that she threw at the pair so that I actually began to question if and when Christopher and Cassandra would find their way to each other. Also nicely done were the characterisations of the "other" woman and gentleman in this story: Mrs. Caroline Bellingham, a beautiful and fast widow that Christopher finds himself attracted to, and Lord Whitby, the handsome gentleman-about-town that Cassandra falls for. All in all, even though much of this novel was quite formulaic, there was much to appreciate and enjoy in "Town Bronze." A truly fun read.