Rating: 
Summary: Poor Rip-Off of Heyer
Review: Truly an awful, torturous book! The very first scene drags on for a whole long chapter. I don't think that the author knows how to write, but she does know how to rip-off Georgette Heyer. The author tries very hard to imitate instead of trying to develop a different style, and so succeeds in producing a book that is bland and boring. This book is literally all talk and no action -- the dialogues run on for looong pages. If your looking for originality, characters and an actual plot, this is not the book.
Rating: 
Summary: Sparkling, witty and fun
Review: What a great debut novel from Diane Farr! Its fun, witty, there is sparkling conversation, and wonderful little historical touches which don't intrude into the story and good story line to boot. I think Farr has got a natural talent for writing really good mass character scenes - the opening scene to this book which is around the Breakfast table was hilarious.The story is about heroine Caitlin, or Catie who is propelled into London society but does not make a hit at all - in fact she is referred to rather scathingly as a nobody - however a chance encounter in the darkened street with a rakish gentleman changes everything. The man turns out to be Lord Kilverton and there is a definitely a spark between these two, but he has been rash enough to betroth himself to serpent tongued and socially high-brow Serena. I loved the story and Farr's light handling of it. Mind you, I've never enjoyed laboured angsting or modern heroines dressed up as Regency Misses who pepper some romances. I think Farr captures the age and the humour of the sort of Regency I like. Light, good-humoured fun - and with a hero and heroine I really enjoyed.
Rating: 
Summary: I was pleasantly surprised by this delightful debut novel.
Review: When a book receives as much praise as this one has, my expectations are set unreasonably high, making disappointment almost inevitable when I finally read the novel. I was not disappointed in THE NOBODY. The writing was good, the heroine believable and sympathetic, and the hero utterly wonderful. In an age where many historical romances are ruined by creeping modernism, it was refreshing to read an old-fashioned Regency where the author stayed true to the mores of the time. "First" novels are often difficult to get through because the author doesn't have the mileage under her belt to pull it off with panache and polish. I know of seasoned authors who would just as soon have the public forget their first book. Ms. Farr's THE NOBODY is a worthy first effort which will do her justice long after she is famous. I look forward to her next book.
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