The Lieutenant's Lady (Zebra Regency Romance)

Rating:
Summary: Strong plot, great heroine, somewhat patchy writing...
Review: First off, I really enjoyed this book, and rank this higher than THE CAPTAIN'S COURTSHIP which I found to have a much weaker plot, less memorable characters, and generally a hero and heroine I could not care much for. By comparison, THE LIEUTENANT'S LADY comes off as a strong spin-off. Yes, the first cousin romance might put off some readers, as would the fact that the couple get along well almost from the start. The family rift is an old plot, but rather well-done in this regard, when we learn what the real reasons for the rift are. [I love the fact that the hero does not rush off to tell the heroine about this either].

The story has been described by the author and other readers. We begin with a slight surprise (from our point as readers of the previous book) - it turns out that the estate that has been carefully improved by Lydia and Vanessa is not theirs, but one entailed upon their uncle and his heirs male, and that they live there on sufferance. The uncle now chooses to toss the family off the estate on a flimsy pretext. [Here, I squawked with outrage - firstly that the author had not warned us about this in the first book, and secondly that the girls Vanessa and Lydia had been silly enough to waste their hard-won capital on an estate where nothing belonged to them apart from a few hangings, a carpet and sundry personal items].

There is a happy turn of events, in that the cousin who is to benefit is actually a relatively honourable man, and also that the family of the Whittaker mother and sisters are to find a new home on the estate of the eldest daughter and her brand-new husband. There are some poignant passages where Lydia discovers firstly that she has no role to play in their new lives and is expected to behave conventionally (after years of managing the household and scrimping and saving), and secondly that her mother and younger sisters do not apparently appreciate her hard work. (This reminds me oddly of a similar discovery made by Minerva in Marion Chesney's novel of that title).

The heroine then embarks upon a futile romance with her cousin, realizing firstly that he is financially dependent on his parents who would strongly oppose the match to her in particular, and to any lady in her situation in general. Edward's predicament is well-narrated; he is expected to do the right thing and not jeopardize his inheritance (incidentally, wouldn't the estate's entail have benefitted him ultimately?). There is an interesting sub-plot where a neighbor from Lydia's old home falls for the woman whom Edward is supposed to marry; the lady does not come across as very appealing, but she is certainly human.

Faced by family opposition and the belief that Edward will not marry her, Lydia announces her engagement to her old friend and neighbor after he has been rejected by his love's guardian. The rest of the story involves a duel with an almost farcical ending, and a happily-ever-after ending. Well, in that, Edward will not inherit his father's fortune nor please his maternal grandfather, but he will have the estate - and Lydia is just the right wife for him with her excellent background in household management on a small budget.

Now why did I like that story? First, I liked Lydia from the start when I met her in the first book [speaking of which, Edward tells his future brother-in-law that he was a fool to choose Lydia's older sister over Lydia, which are my sentiments, exactly]. Secondly, I really felt for her predicament through the first part of the novel, even before she began her romance with Edward. She was out of place, struggling to adapt to her new position in society (which depended itself on her sister's excellent marriage) and unwilling to go along with her mother's plans just to please that lady. Yet, as a young Regency lady, she had few choices in life, even though at one time, she had planned to be a governess. Thirdly, I felt that the romance between Lydia and Edward was well-done, and we saw how it developed slowly. [I like this kind better than the "love at first sight" or "hate first, then love" kinds]. Fourthly, the reasons for the family rift were entirely believable.

A point in Ms Huntington's favor is that she employs no external villains, and even her "villains" in the story have entirely believable and reasonable motives for acting as they do. And their villainies consist of small acts, not some major act such as blackmail, seduction, and murder, not to mention intrigue and mayhem.

The writing is sometimes patchy, and sometimes the plot really slows down. But it was never so slow as to lose my interest, and I confess I prefer slowly developing stories. The issues about unmarried couples writing to each other did not bother me, because it is clearly understood in the book (by the couples) that they are engaging in a clandestine act, that is not approved by society. I found very few of the plot devices unbelievable, and the plot overall was very strong. OK - the main characters were very sweet (and perhaps not appealing to those who prefer more alpha heroes), but the battling mothers more than made up for that. As did the catty rival love interest who is so delighted that men are duelling over her...!

A very pleasant read - although I could not quite take to the secondary romance! (I find it hard to believe that Robert and Madlyn can be happy together... but that is a problem for another book).

Rating:
Summary: Great Regency Voice
Review: Kate Huntington has one of the greatest Regency voices today. I love all of her books.

Rating:
Summary: Delightful Story
Review: This was a thoroughly enjoyable book. It didn't have the passion that "The Captain's Courtship" did and there were a few too many characters to follow but it was definitely a good book. I found myself laughing out loud and cheering Lydia's no-nonsense manner. And Edward was just as likeable. I look forward to reading the next book in this series of the Whittaker sisters.