Fortune Favors the Wicked Benedict Frost is a celebrated lieutenant in the Royal Navy, but is forced to leave his naval career after an illness leaves him incapable of serving on a ship. He’s hoping to supplement his not very generous pension by having a book of his memoirs published, but that proves more difficult that he initially thought. He wants the money to provide a dowry for his younger sister, so when he hears that a large shipment of gold from the Royal Mint […]
A historical romance with horse racing
Sir Bartlett Crosby is training the last of his promising horses, Golden Barb, in the hopes that it will win him a sizable prize purse in the upcoming race. Due to his mother’s compulsive gambling, he’s had to sell off most of the horses in the stable, a lot of land and furniture, and reduce staff considerably. So when Miss Hannah Chandler turns up with a bill of sale that suggests his mother has sold Golden Barb, HIS horse, to the Chandlers, he is less […]
Racing to Romance
This is a dual review, starting with the novella ‘The Sport of Baronets’, the first part of Romancing the Turf series. The series is based on horse racing, and the people who live in that world, specifically the Crosbys and the Chandlers. The two families have been feuding as long as they can remember, for reasons that have largely been forgotten over time. As this novella begins, the Crosby family fortunes have taken a downturn and hopes are pinned on the colt Golden Barb to […]
A historical romance with seasonal cheer
3.5 stars After Miss Louisa Oliver broke her betrothal to Viscount Matheson, her step-sister and former intended was subjected to quite a scandal, due to the gossipping ways of Matheson’s friend, the dissolute Alexander Edgware, Lord Xavier. Matheson and Louisa’s step-sister got married, and the scandal passed, but Xavier isn’t really a favourite in the Oliver or Matheson family circles any more. So when Louisa, with her formidable aunt as chaperone, receives an invitation to his house party, rumoured to be quite a raucous event, […]
Should have been a novella
James, Viscount Matheson has newly come into the title and wishes to marry a suitable young lady as quickly as possible, seeing as his sister, now widowed, was embroiled in a terrible scandal due to her philandering husband and a very public scene with a mistress before he died. Matheson’s mother wishes him to restore the family reputation. So he is very pleased when he meets the quiet and pleasant Miss Louisa Oliver in the library at a society ball. Proposing to her after but […]
Four Regency Christmas Romances – How Timely!
Confession: I blasted through all four books in the Season Series some weeks ago and while they left an impression, they did not leave a great deal of detail. No disrespect to Theresa Romain intended, I would recommend them as pleasant escapism, but everyday life has been quite busy of late and reading these books was taking a hit of reality evasion followed by a black out. Season for Temptation (James/Julia) James has come to spend Christmas with his fiancee’s family. Neither he, nor Louisa, are […]