The Wary Widow

Rating:
Summary: The Wary Widow
Review: A seqeul of sorts to "The Scottish Legacy". This novel is told from the point-of-view of Cornelia, the widowed Countess of Wyckend, and features Alastair Russell, last seen in "The Scottish Legacy" where he tried to win the legacy by trickery.

In this novel, Cornelia and Alastair travel to war torn France in order to bring Cornelia's young realtive, Lillian Martingale home. However first they make a slight detour to Vienna, where much to Cornelia's dismay, Lillian attracts the attention of Viscount Melton. I will not be giving too much away by revealing that Melton is a paedophile and that Cornelia had unfortunate dealing with him many years ago. Cornelia and Alastair work together to protect Lillian form Melton, and in the midst of all this danger, Cornelia finds herself falling in love with Alastair. But is her love reciprocrated?

This is a well written book. And it is quite easy to identify with Cornelia and her problems as it is written completely from her point-of-view. But that is also part of the problem, especially as you get very little idea of what Alastair feels or thinks at all. That he is drawn to her is understandable as she is beautiful and elegant, and you do get a hint that he appreciates her intelligence and courage but that is all. However we do see signs of maturity and changes for the better in Alastair since "The Scottish Legacy".

Another worrying point for me was that for some reason neither Alastair nor Cornelia bother to explain to Lillian the danger she faces at Melton's hands. And this is very puzzling as rather early on in the book Cornelia takes the time to explain human reproduction to Lillian. I think if you can explain that, then explaining what a paedophile is should not be a problem. But perhaps there would not have been much of a story if she had?

A good story nontheless.

Rating:
Summary: An unusual book --
Review: As a Regency Romance, this is not exactly a fun read. However, as a Gothic novel, it succeeds quite well, having all the necessary ingredients. There are the heroine's first-person voice throughout; repeated strong hints of something nasty in the background and the reappearance of the truly nasty villain; an abundance of secrets that are not at all the usual trivial gossip-fodder; a likeable ingenue, along with a host of other wonderfully-realized secondary characters, and last but not least, a marvelous, dashing hero.

With no help from her family, Cornelia survived her childhood trauma and is now the widowed Countess of Wyckend. She has been asked to convey her thirteen-year-old niece, Lili, from the convent in France, where she has been raised, back to England. In the company of Cornelia's cousin, Alastair, they journey to Vienna, to enjoy, and participate in, the celebrations attendant on the Congress of Vienna.

During this social whirl, Cornelia becomes aware of her love for Alastair, and his for her, but she is convinced that nothing can come of it. Happily, she is proven wrong by the end of the book.

The villain is duly dispatched, but not before some truly gruesome conversations regarding this eventual happening. If 'all's well that ends well' then perhaps all that goes before may be worth the happy ending. But not without a struggle on the part of the reader, as layer after layer of the dark underbelly of society is laid bare. Not your usual romance story this, but one that is certainly well-written, and peopled with unforgettable characters, to be sure.

Rating:
Summary: An unusual book --
Review: As a Regency Romance, this is not exactly a fun read. However, as a Gothic novel, it succeeds quite well, having all the necessary ingredients. There are the heroine's first-person voice throughout; repeated strong hints of something nasty in the background and the reappearance of the truly nasty villain; an abundance of secrets that are not at all the usual trivial gossip-fodder; a likeable ingenue, along with a host of other wonderfully-realized secondary characters, and last but not least, a marvelous, dashing hero.

With no help from her family, Cornelia survived her childhood trauma and is now the widowed Countess of Wyckend. She has been asked to convey her thirteen-year-old niece, Lili, from the convent in France, where she has been raised, back to England. In the company of Cornelia's cousin, Alastair, they journey to Vienna, to enjoy, and participate in, the celebrations attendant on the Congress of Vienna.

During this social whirl, Cornelia becomes aware of her love for Alastair, and his for her, but she is convinced that nothing can come of it. Happily, she is proven wrong by the end of the book.

The villain is duly dispatched, but not before some truly gruesome conversations regarding this eventual happening. If 'all's well that ends well' then perhaps all that goes before may be worth the happy ending. But not without a struggle on the part of the reader, as layer after layer of the dark underbelly of society is laid bare. Not your usual romance story this, but one that is certainly well-written, and peopled with unforgettable characters, to be sure.

Rating:
Summary: Classic Regency
Review: Barabara Hazard is a consistently good Regency writer. In the Wary Widow she recycles one of her earlier books minor characters to be the hero. The book takes us through parts of France after the war, onto Vienna and then back to England. There is a truly black villain, minor villains, and a wonderful character in Mrs. Potter who comes to their rescue. Both Alastair's and Cornelia's characters and their relationship are developed over the length of the book, and Lili, the girl who is to be rescued, is a delight, showing her own strength of character from time to time.

From the back of the Signet paperback edition...

The charms of Vienna are certainly not lost on Cornelia, the widowed Countess of Wyckend. But she has come to this beautiful city with a very important responsibility-she must look after a young relative whom she and her distant cousin, Alastair Russell, recently rescued from a French convent.

Cornelia knows from experience that selfish, frivolous rogues like Alastair are simply not to be trusted. But while trying to shield her innocent young charge from the attentions of unscrupulous suitors, Cornelia encounters a devious man from her own past-and finds that Alastair may be the only one who can save her....

Rating:
Summary: Classic Regency
Review: Barabara Hazard is a consistently good Regency writer. In the Wary Widow she recycles one of her earlier books minor characters to be the hero. The book takes us through parts of France after the war, onto Vienna and then back to England. There is a truly black villain, minor villains, and a wonderful character in Mrs. Potter who comes to their rescue. Both Alastair's and Cornelia's characters and their relationship are developed over the length of the book, and Lili, the girl who is to be rescued, is a delight, showing her own strength of character from time to time.

From the back of the Signet paperback edition...

The charms of Vienna are certainly not lost on Cornelia, the widowed Countess of Wyckend. But she has come to this beautiful city with a very important responsibility-she must look after a young relative whom she and her distant cousin, Alastair Russell, recently rescued from a French convent.

Cornelia knows from experience that selfish, frivolous rogues like Alastair are simply not to be trusted. But while trying to shield her innocent young charge from the attentions of unscrupulous suitors, Cornelia encounters a devious man from her own past-and finds that Alastair may be the only one who can save her....

Rating:
Summary: good but...
Review: This book is a really a sequal of "The Scotish Legacy", a book I found very boring. The hero of this book, the god-like Alastair, was the cad from "The Scotish Legacy". This book was better. Cornelia goes to France to retrieve a young relative from a convent and asks her distant cousin, Alastair, a known London man about town, to escort her. And she offers to pay him, money which he needs. She is annoyed at him for not being manly enough in the beginning. She thinks he is a fop. A 1/4 of the way through, she revises her opinion and starts to fall for him. Not only is he gorgeous, he is nice, smart and funny, something one would not really expect after "The Scotish Legacy". Perhaps that is part of the problem. Tigers rarely change there stripes so quickly. But I liked him. I agree that is was strange the neither one explained the danger of Weston to Lili. Sometime regencies try to hard to be "sweet" and innocent. The reality is if you bring a man of Weston's stamp in the story, it should have logically been explained. Also, with the physical attraction between the two, and the fact that Cornelia was a widow, the fact that they did not, well, sleep together, when both wanted to, was silly. Widows had lots of freedom in those days to do so, especially since they were on the road together. Also, this really is one story that could have used an epilogue. Alastair would be a fish out of water in the country, where they would live on her money in the home she inherited from her dead husband, a gay Earl. So how did they do? Did they go to London? Live in the country? How did his family, who could have no great love of him after "The Scotish Legacy" react to the new Alastair? That would have shot my review to a 4 star one. Not a bad read, in the end, but could have been better.

Rating:
Summary: good but...
Review: This book is a really a sequal of "The Scotish Legacy", a book I found very boring. The hero of this book, the god-like Alastair, was the cad from "The Scotish Legacy". This book was better. Cornelia goes to France to retrieve a young relative from a convent and asks her distant cousin, Alastair, a known London man about town, to escort her. And she offers to pay him, money which he needs. She is annoyed at him for not being manly enough in the beginning. She thinks he is a fop. A 1/4 of the way through, she revises her opinion and starts to fall for him. Not only is he gorgeous, he is nice, smart and funny, something one would not really expect after "The Scotish Legacy". Perhaps that is part of the problem. Tigers rarely change there stripes so quickly. But I liked him. I agree that is was strange the neither one explained the danger of Weston to Lili. Sometime regencies try to hard to be "sweet" and innocent. The reality is if you bring a man of Weston's stamp in the story, it should have logically been explained. Also, with the physical attraction between the two, and the fact that Cornelia was a widow, the fact that they did not, well, sleep together, when both wanted to, was silly. Widows had lots of freedom in those days to do so, especially since they were on the road together. Also, this really is one story that could have used an epilogue. Alastair would be a fish out of water in the country, where they would live on her money in the home she inherited from her dead husband, a gay Earl. So how did they do? Did they go to London? Live in the country? How did his family, who could have no great love of him after "The Scotish Legacy" react to the new Alastair? That would have shot my review to a 4 star one. Not a bad read, in the end, but could have been better.

Rating:
Summary: good but...
Review: This book is a really a sequal of "The Scotish Legacy", a book I found very boring. The hero of this book, the god-like Alastair, was the cad from "The Scotish Legacy". This book was better. Cornelia goes to France to retrieve a young relative from a convent and asks her distant cousin, Alastair, a known London man about town, to escort her. And she offers to pay him, money which he needs. She is annoyed at him for not being manly enough in the beginning. She thinks he is a fop. A 1/4 of the way through, she revises her opinion and starts to fall for him. Not only is he gorgeous, he is nice, smart and funny, something one would not really expect after "The Scotish Legacy". Perhaps that is part of the problem. Tigers rarely change there stripes so quickly. But I liked him. I agree that is was strange the neither one explained the danger of Weston to Lili. Sometime regencies try to hard to be "sweet" and innocent. The reality is if you bring a man of Weston's stamp in the story, it should have logically been explained. Also, with the physical attraction between the two, and the fact that Cornelia was a widow, the fact that they did not, well, sleep together, when both wanted to, was silly. Widows had lots of freedom in those days to do so, especially since they were on the road together. Also, this really is one story that could have used an epilogue. Alastair would be a fish out of water in the country, where they would live on her money in the home she inherited from her dead husband, a gay Earl. So how did they do? Did they go to London? Live in the country? How did his family, who could have no great love of him after "The Scotish Legacy" react to the new Alastair? That would have shot my review to a 4 star one. Not a bad read, in the end, but could have been better.