Goodreads Review: “Never a Mistress, No Longer a Maid”

Never a Mistress, No Longer a Maid by Maureen Driscoll

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

In order for me to really enjoy a book, I need to feel like the characters are real. That’s especially true of romance novels, where plot and prose can sometimes be iffy things. While Never a Mistress, No Longer a Maid features an interesting premise and sometimes-inspired prose, there were too many holes in the story and deviations from period language and mores to make the story really come alive.

If a book is going to rely on the met-cute-separated-reunited trope, then the initial meeting really has to stand out, and for the right reasons. The initial meeting between Ned and Iris/Jane that is the catalyst for the entire book was too rushed, and the characters themselves were not nearly fleshed out enough for me to understand their motivations. How and why Jane, an unmarried woman from a noble family, would even be in Spain(I may have the country wrong) during wartime, working as a “surgeon” to begin with, much less why she’d agree to have sex with a man with she knew not at all, is still a mystery to me. I don’t mind women in historical romances doing things that would seem verboten according to the mores of the day, so long as I understand why. I never did, with Jane. Nor did I understand why she made such an impression on Ned that he’d ostensibly spend 6-7 years looking for her. What that means, unfortunately, is that the rest of the book is a leap of faith.

It doesn’t get much more sensible from there. Characters use language that is jarringly out-of-period (I counted several “okays”). Ned’s 130 siblings are dumped on us for no better reason than to set them up for books of their own. The book also relies more on external conflict than the internal conflict that a premise like this is rich with; when you’ve established a female “surgeon” (no, she’s not a surgeon, and I’m unclear as to why she’s being called such) who has traveled to a foreign country during wartime, who then sleeps with and becomes pregnant by a man we’re led to believe is a spy (not that it’s ever really referred to again), you have enough plot for a wonderful book — there’s no need to gild the lily by throwing in everything but the kitchen sink.

That being said, the author’s voice is enjoyable. The pacing of the book is excellent, and secondary characters are well-developed. It’s a quick read.

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Tiny Little Goodreads Review: Susanna and the Spy by Anna Elliott

Susanna and the Spy by Anna Elliott

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Susanna and the Spy melds two of my favorite romance subgenres — the Gothic and the Traditional Regency. While the book has the Napoleonic War setting and slow-burn sensuality of the Traditional Regency, it also features many of the conventions of the Gothic: woman in peril (in this case almost-governess, penniless Susanna), a family estate complete with unexplained deaths and a mixture of kind and not-so-kind family members, a dark, dangerous, very evocative hero and a mystery to tie it all together. It’s Victoria Holt crossed with Elisabeth Fairchild, what with Ms. Elliot’s fluid, lovely prose and the excellent story. You’ll love getting to know Susanna, and fall in love with James, the book’s hero, right along with her. I’d recommend Susanna and the Spy wholeheartedly!

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Goodreads Review: Lady Elizabeth’s Comet by Sheila Simonson

Lady Elizabeth’s Comet by Sheila Simonson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Lady Elizabeth’s Comet is a quirky, unusual Regency that features a first-person narrator, in the form of the titular Lady Elizabeth who is likely the least romance-minded romance heroine in the history of the genre. Unfortunately, the first-person narrator is the book’s best and worst attribute.

For a first person narrator to be successful, the narrator must be, if not reliable, likeable. Lady Elizabeth is not particularly likeable heroine — she’s probably an anti-heroine. She’s short-tempered and snobbish, treating the hero (and various other characters in the book) unkindly or dismissively during much of the rest. Yet she’s also funny and smart, if in a mean-girl sort of way. Interested more in astronomy than the people around her, it seems amazing that she could somehow attract not one but two suitors, her father’s heir, Tom Conroy, Lord Clanross, and Clanross’ close friend, Lord Bevis.

Here’s Lady Elizabeth’s Comet’s biggest problem — Lady Elizabeth is, as I state previously, the least romantic female lead I’ve ever personally encountered. However, the hero is a honorable, lovely man. But because we never see the relationship from his point of view, which is probably as much to create a sense of drama around who Lady Elizabeth will choose as anything else, this unfortunately means there is very little romance in the book. It also makes you wonder what on earth the hero sees in Lady Elizabeth.

Despite this glaring problem, I really enjoyed Lady Elizabeth’s Comet. It’s a fun read, but it’s no romance. Rather, it’s an amusing Austen clone that’s an entertaining way to pass an afternoon.

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Quick Goodreads Review: Curricle & Chaise by Lizzie Church

Curricle & Chaise by Lizzie Church
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Synopsis (edited):

…Of course, it was entirely natural that two young ladies of 19 and 7 would feel bereft at the loss of their mama, but to Miss Lydia and Miss Susan Barrington their change in circumstances demanded a total and somewhat painful adjustment to their whole way of life…
…It is 1810. Lydia, now penniless, is forced to seek a home with an aunt and uncle who have no interest in her whatsoever. But there are plenty of others with an interest in her – including the handsome but selfish son of the family – her cousin Charles – and two elegant brothers who live nearby.
Each, in his own way, poses an intriguing challenge to her. Luckily Lydia is well able to look after herself but she gets into a number of scrapes which almost cost her any chance of happiness before finally managing to sort things out in the end…

Fans of Regency romances and Jane Austen alike will appreciate the author’s effort, if not the actual execution. Like the traditional Regency romance, “Curricle & Chaise” features a warm, but certainly not burning hot romance that’s a pull and tug for most of the book. Like a Jane Austen book, the story features a large ensemble cast and continuous play on the manners of the Regency period. However, the book is neither fish nor fowl as far as Regency or Jane Austen clone goes; it goes on too long and has too little action to be a Regency, but is too light and frothy to mimic the insight of Austen. And I still have no idea what the title means. A pleasant, but unmemorable read.

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