The Best Intentions (Signet Regency Romance)

Rating:
Summary: Possibly the best series Regency book
Review: At least it's the best I have yet read. Hern does an excellent job of creating a memorable and well-developed heroine in Hannah. She is clumsy, outspoken, witty, intelligent, and vivacious. She's often like a fawn taking his first gamboling race across the meadow. Miles is not as well-developed, but he has the right sort of personality for this sort of more "innocent" romance. Moreover, he is a man who loves deeply and well. Sister Charlotte's personality seems to waver over the course of the book, and the reconciliation does feel somewhat false. The aged rector has much in common with the lively Hannah.

There are some very humorous moments; the romance builds steadily and gently. This quote sums up the tone: "She was a mess. She was the most adorable thing he'd ever seen."

For a quick but delightful Regency romance, this is the ticket!

Rating:
Summary: Candice Hern's best yet!
Review: Rejoice--Candice Hern is back with her best one yet!

Miles Prescott, Earl of Strickland, always welcomes his sister Winifred for visits home to Epping Hall, but this time, in addition to her husband and sons, she is also bringing along two distant cousins: one young lady just about to make her debut, and her chaperone, a widow. Miles knows that whatever matchmaking plans Winifred has won't be easy to thwart. He asks his friend and neighbor, Joseph Wetherby, to also join them to make the numbers even. Miles, a widower, knows that he should remarry to provide his daughters with a mother and also to try to beget an heir, but a chit just out of the schoolroom isn't what he had in mind--perhaps the widowed chaperone...?

Hannah Fairbanks does not want a Season in London, nor to become a lady. Though she is nearly twenty, she is interested only in her studies of ancient architecture. The only reason she agrees to go to Epping Hall is to visit the nearby St. Biddulph's, a church built in Saxon times. She will never be a charming beauty like her older sister Charlotte and she doesn't wish to marry, so why must she learn all those rules of proper behavior--why can't she just be herself?

Hannah steals the show with her innocent, delightful enthusiasm for historic buildings, keeping children amused, and making people smile. It is a joy to join her on this leg of her journey of self-discovery. The romances (yes, more than one) build slowly, but build they do in sometimes surprising ways. Ms. Hern has a special knack for creating a marvelous blend of incredibly true-to-life, sympathetic characters; touching scenes and emotion; and subtle humor. THE BEST INTENTIONS will send Candice Hern to the top of the Regency charts.

Kimberly Borrowdale Under the Covers Book Reviews

Rating:
Summary: Falls short of expectations
Review: This book started out very well and I had high hopes of it being a winner, but was a bit disappointed. The humor is definately there, and one or two scenes were laugh out loud funny, but the characters weren't as fully developed as I hoped. The heroine's sister who is her competitor for the hero's attention is more than a little unreal. The only character that I felt was really fully developed and that I could relate to was the heroine. The fact that the author could create a character with such depth proved she could have done the same for the others. Towards the end is when I felt the book fell flat as the two sisters who have been at odds with each other until that point suddenly become best friends again. It was a good read until that point, but I think the ending could have been improved.