Kathleen Baldwin

each story will be reviewed individually

The Highwayman Came Waltzing--I enjoyed this for the most part. I thought that Ryerton was a little bit hasty in his judgment of why Elizabeth and her relatives had resorted to waylaying travelers and his stepfather, Lord Mulvern, was definitely neglectful of his duties. The romance however was nice and if it felt rushed, a lot can be forgiven in a short story.

The Rebel and the Rogue--I liked this story the most. The romance part of it made me raise an eyebrow (if I understood correctly Vivian was 18 and her beau was at least 36, since he was a childhood friend of Vivian’s best girl friend’s mother), but it was such a sweet story. Vivian had sass and fire within her--she didn’t let anyone order her around or demand she submit.

Dance With Me--I’ll be honest I read the first five pages and had to stop. Even my sense of disbelief was put to the test with this story.

Overall the book was an interesting good time and I am glad to (finally) have read it!… (mais)

This book really surprised me!
I spent the first chapter thinking it would be a run-of-the-mill Regency romance, and one in which I wouldn't like the heroine very much. She is full of self-pity and dramatic forebodings about what her future will be, now that her fiance has publicly jilted her because she nags him.

But then things really kicked off when her aunt Honore arrives from London, ready to take Kate back with her and help her get over her broken heart. Her aunt is a piece of work, one of those characters who says the most shocking things and gets away with it, but who, you are almost sure, has a good heart. Somewhere.

And her three younger sisters all manage to get invited too.

And her ex-fiance follows the whole gang, because he really does love her and wants her back.

And then they all stop at an inn along the route. And then there's an incident with a gun, and things start to veer a bit away from the tried-and-true Regency tropes I am so accustomed to.

The scenarios sometimes feel absurd, especially if one is used to reading more earnest Regency romances. Ultimately I just assumed that the absurdity was by design and rolled with it, because the humor was so good! The dialogue had me snorting my laughter in various passages.

Take this exchange between Kate and her 10-year-old sister...
Tilly harrumphed the same exact way Aunt Honore does. "You heard me. He's acting like a lovesick donkey."
"Monkey," Kate corrected and tried to rub the sleep out of her eyes.
"I said donkey because I was trying not to say jackass. But if you prefer--"
"No. No, donkey is fine."

Yes, this is a clean romance, but slightly more irreverent than what you might be used to from this genre. ;) I really liked it.

By the end of the book, I was also moved by deeper themes. Children handling the responsibilities of an adult. Doing it all on your own vs. asking for help. Learning to be ok with the fact that love means both good things and hard things will come your way.

Like I said, really pleasantly surprised!

This book is part of a series, but I had not read any of the others, and it easily stands on its own.

Thanks to NetGalley and Ink Lion Books for this advance review copy!… (mais)

Georgiana is never going to fit the mold of the perfect Regency miss -- she's too impulsive, and too fond of unladylike pursuits like scientific experimentation. When her parents dump her at Stranje House, a boarding school with a reputation for strictness that borders on cruelty, she fears that her life is over. However, as she gets to know the other girls, and the school's enigmatic headmistress, she learns that all is not as it seems. Can this school be the key to her finding a way to live life on her own terms?

I love the premise of this story, but it never came together for me. Part of it was the rushed timeline: no sooner did Georgie arrive at the school than she was immediately pressed into perfecting the invisible ink recipe that got her sent there (after an unfortunate explosion in her father's stables). Within days, she's off to avert war, and I never felt like we got a good feel for the school, nor was there time to develop relationships -- either the ones between the students, or the insta-love between Georgie and a young man conveniently on site. To top it off, the writing is very purple, downright florid in places. I could look past a little of that, given the nature of the book, but it felt over-the-top to me. This is the first book in a series, but I won't be going on with it.… (mais)