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Rating: 
Summary: Fun and Romantic
Review: After fighting in the war and losing the sight in one of his eyes, Lord Stoneforth comes home to London to find his brother, Mr. Attenbury, near death from a wound inflicted during a duel. The duel was over a slur cast upon one Melody Harriman, whom Mr. Attenbury believes he loves. Our hero, Lord Stoneforth braves Almack's--without a ticket!--in order to meet Miss Harriman and convince her to come to his brother's sickbed. He doesn't plan on falling in love with her himself. Judith Lansdowne is **such** a delight to read. Her sweet stories are filled with lively characters we cannot help but love. In addition, we have three other love stories, comedy, adventure, and a delightful portrayal of Lady Jersey! Judith Lansdowne has what I consider to be one of the really unique voices in Regency romance today. Dare I call it magical? I do. Rosemary Stevens
Rating: 
Summary: Good Book-but not very believable
Review: I am a regency fan and have read many of Lansdowne's books. This is one of my favorites-I loved the triplets. However........I find it hard to believe that three new beauties could immediately "save" their unpopular friend. It just was too impropable. But Beatrice's deeds and character were very entertaining and refreshing-she probably saved the book from being one of the "normal" regency stories. Worth reading
Rating:
Summary: Good Book-but not very believable
Review: I am a regency fan and have read many of Lansdowne's books. This is one of my favorites-I loved the triplets. However........I find it hard to believe that three new beauties could immediately "save" their unpopular friend. It just was too impropable. But Beatrice's deeds and character were very entertaining and refreshing-she probably saved the book from being one of the "normal" regency stories. Worth reading
Rating:
Summary: Another nice Lansdowne work, but . . .
Review: I enjoy her books for the quality of the characters--not many authors seem capable of writing heros that aren't busy either sneering at the heroine or making bets about how fast they can seduce someone. OK, that's an exaggeration, but it just seems so common in most Regencies to have a hero you'd like to see take a pratfall rather than someone you'd like to fall in love with and with whom you'd like to spend your life. Ms. Lansdowne's heroes are genuinely nice guys, which makes her books very pleasant to read. However, in this book...a mistake [has been made] with Lady Sally Jersey. Lady Jersey did NOT elope to Gretna Green with her husband, and she was NOT the daughter of a banker. It was her mother who was the daughter of Robert Child,a banker, and who eloped with John Fane,the 10th Earl of Westmorland. Sally was the first born daughter of this couple and was named for her mother, and subsequently inheirited a substantial sum from her grandfather Child. In fact, when she married the soon-to-be 5th Earl of Jersey (he acceded to the title the next year), the family name of that line was changed from Villiers to Child-Villiers, which had to be a reflection on the wealth brought into the family by Sally from her Grandfather Child...
Rating:
Summary: Another nice Lansdowne work, but . . .
Review: I found this book oddly disappointing, after having more than one person recommend this highly to me. Perhaps my expectations are unrealistic. The hero was certainly fascinating, a war hero who finds the social mores and the flightiness of Regency England to be unbelievable (OK - I find his disbelief a little unrealistic but...). He strikes up an unlikely friendship with that cold statesman Lord Castlereagh, and fineagles his way into that renowned bastion of social snobbery, Almack's. Here I have to say two things - firstly, that the title in no way describes what really happens in the book, and secondly, that the book is worth reading for the author's portrayal of the Castlereaghs and Lady Jersey alone. Mild spoiler ahead - [In no other book I have read, is Lady Jersey acknowledged to be a young relatively newly married young matron; and in no other book is any kind of relationship between the Patronesses and their spouses described, let alone the kind of relationships shown between the Jerseys and the Castlereaghs). This part of the book was delightful, and I thought I was on to a winner - except that I was rather disappointed by the lack-lustre heroine. The second part of the book, which includes the almost-requisite spy element cum villainy cum intrigue, was rather more disappointing. This was in part because the love interest faded to the background, in part because the antics of the heroine's triplet cousins took up center stage, and in part because of the long separation between hero and heroine (fuelled by the Big Misunderstanding). I wish that I could have skipped to the ending, which takes us back to Almack's, and reunites hero and heroine. Quite frankly by the end, I had no idea why the hero wanted to marry the heroine (except that she was a little more mature than the usual Miss), and I had no idea why the heroine could not have simply talked to the hero to clear up the Big Misunderstanding. In conclusion, I thought the book wasted a good hero and a wonderful situation (with the ability to either spoof Almack's completely, or to show us more of the inner workings of that club, or for that matter to show us life from the perspective of a wallflower). If you have read a lot of books featuring Almack's, you might want to read this book all the same.
Rating:
Summary: Worth reading mainly for the hero and the Patronesses...
Review: I found this book oddly disappointing, after having more than one person recommend this highly to me. Perhaps my expectations are unrealistic. The hero was certainly fascinating, a war hero who finds the social mores and the flightiness of Regency England to be unbelievable (OK - I find his disbelief a little unrealistic but...). He strikes up an unlikely friendship with that cold statesman Lord Castlereagh, and fineagles his way into that renowned bastion of social snobbery, Almack's. Here I have to say two things - firstly, that the title in no way describes what really happens in the book, and secondly, that the book is worth reading for the author's portrayal of the Castlereaghs and Lady Jersey alone. Mild spoiler ahead - [In no other book I have read, is Lady Jersey acknowledged to be a young relatively newly married young matron; and in no other book is any kind of relationship between the Patronesses and their spouses described, let alone the kind of relationships shown between the Jerseys and the Castlereaghs). This part of the book was delightful, and I thought I was on to a winner - except that I was rather disappointed by the lack-lustre heroine. The second part of the book, which includes the almost-requisite spy element cum villainy cum intrigue, was rather more disappointing. This was in part because the love interest faded to the background, in part because the antics of the heroine's triplet cousins took up center stage, and in part because of the long separation between hero and heroine (fuelled by the Big Misunderstanding). I wish that I could have skipped to the ending, which takes us back to Almack's, and reunites hero and heroine. Quite frankly by the end, I had no idea why the hero wanted to marry the heroine (except that she was a little more mature than the usual Miss), and I had no idea why the heroine could not have simply talked to the hero to clear up the Big Misunderstanding. In conclusion, I thought the book wasted a good hero and a wonderful situation (with the ability to either spoof Almack's completely, or to show us more of the inner workings of that club, or for that matter to show us life from the perspective of a wallflower). If you have read a lot of books featuring Almack's, you might want to read this book all the same.
Rating:
Summary: Light hearted Regency
Review: Light hearted, fun, pure escapism. Possibly treads close to the limits of realism, but well worth reading.
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