Regency romp

-

To Love and to Loathe (Regency Vows #2) by Martha Waters          

⭐️⭐️⭐️


A bet, a house party, a philandering Marquess, and a not so Merry Widow. Lady Diana Templeton had fought battles with handsome rake and scoundrel Jeremy Overington, the Marquess of Willingham, since she was a child. Their latest scrimmage is a bet that Diana takes with Jeremy that he’ll be married before the year's out (even if she has to parade every young woman she knows before him, or have him caught in a compromising position.) 
A disgruntled remark thrown at Jeremy by his last mistress as he disappeared from her life had him reviewing his performance as a lover. Meanwhile, determined never to marry again the widowed Diana is wondering if she should indeed take a lover. When Jeremy inquires about her openness to a liaison between the two of them, there’s an emphatic No! and a reconsidered Maybe!
All the marks of an excellent regency romp, with a wonderful grandmother to the Marquess who was so delightful I'd wished she'd been even more front and center, a rather desperate single woman who frequently strikes the wrong note, and whom Diana sees as the perfect opportunity for her to win her bet with Jeremy, and friends whose lives have visceral ups and downs.
I’m a tad nonplussed by Diana’s terrible maid Toogood. I can't decide if she's the perfect maid for Diana or if she have other uses. But as Diana muses, "It was refreshing to know exactly what one’s help thought of one, rather than having to guess."
And then there’s Diana’s painting abilities, a well kept secret.
There’s a whole lot thrumming along in the background, various relationship circling around, the buzzing so busy that it runs the risk of impinging  on the main story in a distracting sort of way.
A pleasant romp with some great lines that never quite achieved the peaks it sought, or even ought.

An Atria Books ARC via NetGalley 
Please note: Quotes taken from an advanced reading copy maybe subject to change

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Things aren’t as they seem!

-
Image
A Murderous Tryst  (Beatrice Hyde-Care Mystery #11) by Lynn Messina    ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Oh my! Bea certainly has a lot to contend with. Bea’s rattled! The Duke has been missing from their bed for a night. When a distraught Bea come downstairs the next morning she finds her beloved husband Damien clasped in the arms of a glamorous female. A female who turns out to be Kesgrave’s first mistress, Mrs. Penelope Taylor! What?! Of course Bea’s heart sinks and she falls back on her painful memories of Aunt Vera’s responses to such a situation. Bea is both shaken and traumatised, but determined not to show it.  It seems Penny has been accused of murder. Actually  Penny’s desperately trying to avoid Newgate.    As a former mistress Penny does the unthinkable thing in society’s eyes. She asks for help from Bea. Bea’s response is just as shocking. She says yes. Kesgrave is as usual inscrutable. Of course this is the beginning of a harebrained chase, complications between Bea  and Amien,  and an investiga
Read more

Women in war—Internment by the Japanese 1942-45.

-
Image
Sisters Under the Rising Sun  by Heather Morris    ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ A fitting tribute to the women interred by the Japanese in Indonesia and Malaya during 1942 until liberation in 1945. Amongst the internees are a group of Australian Army nurses who were not given recognition by the Japanese as members of the armed forces and therefore not prisoners of war according to the Conventions of war.  Sister Vivian Bullwinkle is the only survivor of the massacre of a group of soldiers and nurses on Radji Beach, Bangka Island near Sumatra  in 1942, after the sinking of  HMS Vyner Brooke. There are a number of civilian prisoners in the camps like Norah Chambers and her sister Ena.  Combined, the story of these women interred under terrible conditions, their struggles and achievements are monumental.  Their gifts to their fellows beyond speech. Music plays an important part in uplifting the prisoners’ spirits. It’s truly a privilege to read about their plight, their vows to each other, and their braver
Read more

The Three Muscateers—three widows, three sets of different circumstances

-
Image
The Widows' Wine Club  by Julia Jarman    ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Different enough to be interesting but I kept losing which character was which. I almost feel I need to read it again to follow who’s who. I do know that three women came together to form a support group, going to the pub for lunch etc. Better than the local widow’s group in the church hall.  All three had recently lost their husbands and now had to find a way to face their new lives. Viv Halliday is a knowledgeable gardener. Zelda Fielding is setting herself up with internet dates and searching the web for her unknown father. Janet had a controlling husband who it turned out was having affairs, and their son is just as controlling. How their lives unfold is the new challenge. A Boldwood Books ARC via NetGalley.                                               Many thanks to the author and publisher.
Read more