The Ivory Dragon (Signet Regency Romance)

Rating:
Summary: charming sequel to "Lord Huntingdon's Legacy"
Review: "The Ivory Dragon" is a sequel to "Lord Huntingdon's Legacy," and tells of the romantic ups and downs of the younger Huntingdon daughter, Lady Harriet. And, I think that it would be safe to say that this Regency romance (at least) does not seem to have any of the plot 'flaws' that generated so much debate in "Lord Huntingdon's Legacy" -- save for an instance in chapter three where Harriet suddenly descends into 20th century colloquialisms -- and is quite a charming follow-up to "Lord Huntingdon's Legacy" esp since it seems to be chock-full of eccentric characters and strange goings-on.

Lady Harriet is visiting with her aunt in the country while both her mother and sister are off on their respective honeymoons, where she spends most of her days rambling about the countryside and painting water colours of flora and fauna. A sudden downpour one afternoon causes her to take shelter in a barn, where she comes across a curiously carved wooden box, a litter of new born kittens, and the incredibly handsome and flirtatious Lord Stanhope. This chance meeting also propels her into The Adventure Of The Stolen Ivory Dragon Pin (Lord Stanhope's younger brother has been falsely accused of stealing the pin from their neighbour, Baron Rothson, and Stanhope is trying to return the pin unobtrusively), as well as a rather heady flirtation with the incredibly charming Lord Stanhope. However, Stanhope also seems to be courting the extremely fetching daughter of the village vicar, Nympha Herbert. What is Harriet to make of Stanhope's alternate pursuit of her and his equally serious courtship of Miss Herbert? Especially when the beautiful and sweet natured Miss Herbert makes it only all too clear that she feels that she has the inside track to Stanhope's heart?

While I rather enjoyed "The Ivory Dragon," I did think that it was not quite so riveting a read as "Lord Huntingdon's Legacy." And that was mainly because of the character of the 'other' woman. Nympha Herbert was just not unlikeable enough for this novel. She's pretty much a young woman who mistakenly assumes that Stanhope's attentions to her are serious and hangs about the place driving Harriet into paroxysms of jealously. As such, while I wanted Harriet and Stanhope to clear the air and realise that they had fallen in love with each other, I also felt sorry for Nympha for the blow that she was about to experience.

However there is also much to laud about this novel, most especially the realistic manner in which Emily Hendrickson has 'fleshed' out the character of Lady Harriet. It is very seldom that we get to see all facets of a heroine's character, and I liked that Hendrickson made Harriet human enough to experience jealousy over Stanhope's seeming courtship of Nympha. And I loved the subplots involving the disappearing ivory dragon pin and the goings-on at the Stanhope estate -- golf mad brother who is suspected of theft, bird enthusiast father who has abdicated his responsibilities in order to dissect birds, a mother who dresses absurdly in a bid to get her husband's attention and the relatives who have descended upon them and refuse to leave -- these subplots provided just the right kind entertaining diversion, and worked well as a counterpoint to the romance subplot.

All in all, I'd say that "The Ivory Dragon" is an entertaining read; and even if it did not quite compare to "Lord Huntingdon's Legacy" (for me anyway), I would still recommend it as a pleasing and charming diversion.

Rating:
Summary: charming sequel to "Lord Huntingdon's Legacy"
Review: "The Ivory Dragon" is a sequel to "Lord Huntingdon's Legacy," and tells of the romantic ups and downs of the younger Huntingdon daughter, Lady Harriet. And, I think that it would be safe to say that this Regency romance (at least) does not seem to have any of the plot 'flaws' that generated so much debate in "Lord Huntingdon's Legacy" -- save for an instance in chapter three where Harriet suddenly descends into 20th century colloquialisms -- and is quite a charming follow-up to "Lord Huntingdon's Legacy" esp since it seems to be chock-full of eccentric characters and strange goings-on.

Lady Harriet is visiting with her aunt in the country while both her mother and sister are off on their respective honeymoons, where she spends most of her days rambling about the countryside and painting water colours of flora and fauna. A sudden downpour one afternoon causes her to take shelter in a barn, where she comes across a curiously carved wooden box, a litter of new born kittens, and the incredibly handsome and flirtatious Lord Stanhope. This chance meeting also propels her into The Adventure Of The Stolen Ivory Dragon Pin (Lord Stanhope's younger brother has been falsely accused of stealing the pin from their neighbour, Baron Rothson, and Stanhope is trying to return the pin unobtrusively), as well as a rather heady flirtation with the incredibly charming Lord Stanhope. However, Stanhope also seems to be courting the extremely fetching daughter of the village vicar, Nympha Herbert. What is Harriet to make of Stanhope's alternate pursuit of her and his equally serious courtship of Miss Herbert? Especially when the beautiful and sweet natured Miss Herbert makes it only all too clear that she feels that she has the inside track to Stanhope's heart?

While I rather enjoyed "The Ivory Dragon," I did think that it was not quite so riveting a read as "Lord Huntingdon's Legacy." And that was mainly because of the character of the 'other' woman. Nympha Herbert was just not unlikeable enough for this novel. She's pretty much a young woman who mistakenly assumes that Stanhope's attentions to her are serious and hangs about the place driving Harriet into paroxysms of jealously. As such, while I wanted Harriet and Stanhope to clear the air and realise that they had fallen in love with each other, I also felt sorry for Nympha for the blow that she was about to experience.

However there is also much to laud about this novel, most especially the realistic manner in which Emily Hendrickson has 'fleshed' out the character of Lady Harriet. It is very seldom that we get to see all facets of a heroine's character, and I liked that Hendrickson made Harriet human enough to experience jealousy over Stanhope's seeming courtship of Nympha. And I loved the subplots involving the disappearing ivory dragon pin and the goings-on at the Stanhope estate -- golf mad brother who is suspected of theft, bird enthusiast father who has abdicated his responsibilities in order to dissect birds, a mother who dresses absurdly in a bid to get her husband's attention and the relatives who have descended upon them and refuse to leave -- these subplots provided just the right kind entertaining diversion, and worked well as a counterpoint to the romance subplot.

All in all, I'd say that "The Ivory Dragon" is an entertaining read; and even if it did not quite compare to "Lord Huntingdon's Legacy" (for me anyway), I would still recommend it as a pleasing and charming diversion.