Letty Barlow by Joan Mellows

I finished reading this book last night. Though I had started reading it as soon as I had finished my last book posted here it took me a while. Why it took me so long I'm not really sure because every time I re picked it up again I found it interesting. Maybe I just wasn't in a reading mood.

Anyways, while not a super long book, it was a nice story that didn't seem obviously short. Or was that just because it took me so long to read.....hmm? The mystery in the book added nicely to the story and wasn't clear what was going on at first. I would say this book is a nice relaxing read.

She was but seventeen when her father's sudden death wrenched the calm and quiet out of Letty Barlow's existence. Her previously well-ordered schoolteacher's life was about to change forever.

The kindness shown by her late father's employer had been overwhelming and had thrust Letty into a social whirl far above her station. Soon Letty had two admirers-the charming and attentive John Chaplin, and Charles Despard, whose sardonic wit and realist outlook had drawn Letty to him at once.

Now, with two swains and a new job as companion to a young, recently-widowed Countess, Letty had surely entered into a wonderful new world. Until that mysterious face appeared in the window. Then, all to quickly, it became apparent that someone-or something-was trying to frighten the Countess...or worse. Could Letty, aided by the man she loved, solve the puzzle? Or was her own life in danger as well?

A Curious Courting by Elizabeth Neff Walker

I started out reading two other books before I settled on this one. The first I browsed most the way through but didn't feel like reading the whole thing. The second I started reading but it annoyed me right a way so I decided to go no farther with it. It was to painful to read right from the start. So I found myself reading a Curious Courting. While it was in no way up to par with the last few books I have read it also wasn't the worst. My new policy is going to be to put down books that are obviously dreadful reading right from the start.

Selina was a little grumpy. She was in no way fashionably dressed as she is on the cover. Gareth was not setting out to get attached to her. Stuff kept happening. And there wasn't really any romantic intrigue. When you say intrigue I start imagining more complications, excitement, danger, I guess really something that has more adventure in it. There was no adventure here. Sigh. I really do love books that have a dash of adventure and mystery.

"A glorious girl." That's the way Selina was described. She was enormously wealthy, wonderfully beautiful-and very headstrong.

When worldly Gareth Rushton wanted to buy some of her land for a hunting lodge, Selina gave his offer a flat refusal. But Rushton was not the least intimidated. He set about trying to win her confidence-and weaken her resistance. Suddenly he found himself caught up in a merry tangle of romantic intrigue.

Selina was quite a woman. More than enough woman for Gareth Rushton. If only he could find the key to her heart...

Pegasus by Eleanor Anne Cox

I had a very hard time putting this book down. Once I started reading it I was enthralled. I'm not sure why I liked it so much. It started out humorous with some witty comments such as this... "and although he was very tall he was also rather large, thus robbing his six-foot-three frame of the aesthetic graces of a starving hero." And from there it went on to mystery, good characters, and a nice story.

The back cover blurb was again nothing like the book. While she did write books it was not a big part of the story though it did come in to play at the end. I wouldn't say that she was sneaking through the woods but she did help uncover the unpleasant circumstances going around. Mostly because she was a nice person that people trusted and helped the abused from an awful person. You really end up liking her 'can do anything' personality.

By day, Margaret Gorham was a governess-by night she was Madame Fleur De La Coeur!

To all appearances, she seemed to be a drab little nobody in brown serge. But she has secretly penned popular romances based on the characters of her current employers.

And when Margaret, posing as a stiff, starched schoolteacher, found herself in the ancestral home of Sir Hillary Pendragon (London's most dashing, wealthy, eligible bachelor), she found plenty of material for her next romance! Sneaking through the woods of the family estate, she uncovered some frightening things and a side of Sir Hillary that threw her usually calm, steadfast heart into a singed flight of fancy...from which it threatened to never return!

Regency Ball by Miriam Lynch

I don't think that I have ever read anything by this author before. In some ways the book was rather funny in that Elizabeth Dasey barely took part in the book. It was mostly about the going ons in the Rockforth family house. A bit of the story centered on the different schemes the two younger girls came up with to engineer matters how they wanted. With it never working out of course.

Elizabeth spent her whole time avoiding and not speaking to Guy. Not to mention being afraid of him when they first met. The mystery of her circumstances was not reviled until the very end of the book. I'm assuming that they used the story line that they did for the back cover blurb because it would sound more interesting then..."follow the lives of a mother, daughter, son, father, servant, two friends, etc. as the go about their business of "?""

The book was okay. Sometimes it annoyed me with the writing and other times it was fine. Overall it was okay but nothing that I felt I needed to add to my book collection.

"Guy Westcott? Why, he has had more handkerchief's thrown at him than can be counted. He must be the most sought-after man in London!"

Elizabeth Dasey, whose aristocratic bearing and loveliness belied her humble posion as governess to Guy Westcott's niece, could not keep the excitement from shaking her heart. One look at this elegant and dashing young man and she knew love struck.

But what chance had she with someone who would never in a million years look at her twice?

But look at her twice he did. And set in motion a marvelous adventure of romance and deception....

Delsie by Joan Smith

First off the back blurb is a bunch of blah, blah, blah. Don't go by the back cover of this book. On the other hand I enjoyed this book. Again being an older book so it was better written. In the future I think I will abstain from newer Joan Smith books. This had a nice little mystery with smugglers and bags of gold laying all over her house that she was trying to figure out.

Even a schoolteacher is entitled to romantic fantasies. But Delsie Sommers was eminently practical. She never dared to dream of a wealthy, handsome and titled husband.

Then one day fate turned her world upside down and flung her into a marriage with a man she scarcely knew. Fortunately for Delsie, he died within hours of the wedding, leaving her his house, much of his fortune and his young daughter.

Then fate stepped in again.This time in the guise of the wealthy and handsome Lord deVigne-her late husband's brother-in-law-whose attempt to run her life aroused her spitfire temper-and her hopes....

Imprudent Lady by Joan Smith

Yeah! Finally an older Joan Smith book. This book I thought very good. It was longer and went more into the characters and was just better written over all. You could tell more thought was put into it then the newer books that Joan Smith must have just been pumping out. Because those books lost their quality.

I liked the wittiness of the the main characters. Her Uncle in the book was very funny. He saw things only the way he wanted too and was always getting everything wrong. He was in the book a lot. And last, I liked the cover picture so I will put it up. Though I guess I should also add that the blurb on the back isn't a really good description. Guess you can't have everything.

Prudence has seemed such a proper name for her...Until she started writing novels and began dreaming about a love affair with a world-famous author.

Prudence had fallen in love with the celebrated and dashing Lord Dammler from the moment she read his first book. Then she began to have fantasies about him. Then she actually met him.

suddenly Prudence was not living up to her name any more....

A Highwayman Came Riding by Joan Smith

Still a pleasant read but getting a little more stupid. A little more over exaggeration and unrealness of emotion and action. Why is it the newer the book the stupider they get? Yes I know this isn't always true but I just don't like the writing style most books begin to take on in the 90's and on into 2000.

The penny-pinching duchess, determined not to pay for another night's lodging, insists her coach travel the perilous roads outside London, all but begging for the unwanted attentions of a roving thief. It is her companion, Marianne Harkness, who first hears the pounding hoof beats-and who boldly meets the gaze of the handsome highwayman Captain Jack.

However, nothing goes as planned-for the victims or the criminals-and the duchess leaves it to Marianne to rescue her diamonds from Caption Jack's clutches. But soon adventure turns to mayhem, as Marianne discovers that the only way to reform the scoundrel is to fall in love with him!

Gather Ye Rosebuds by Joan Smith

Pleasant read. Still nothing really grand. I feel like I shouldn't complain because I don't hate these Joan Smith books (which I can't say for most of the ones previously read). I just want them to be more in depth and be not quite so light and fast of reading. Did she go down hill after writing "Aunt Sophie's Diamonds"?

She had yet to meet a man she preferred to a paintbrush. Finding art far more satisfying than romance, Zoie had ceased think of marriage and decided to devote her life to her first love-painting. However, while happily arranging her new studio, she discovered a valuable stolen necklace secreted in her late uncle's belongings-and made the mistake of trying to return it to the rightful owner.

Trying to sneak the necklace back, Zoie was caught in the act by a suspicious Lord Weylin, who was not about to let the matter drop-especially when the necklace proved fake. Clearly there was a deeper mystery to be solved. And then there was Weylin himself, whose disturbing interest invited an artist's most scandalous designs....

Winter Wedding by Joan Smith

It's been awhile since I last posted. But I have just ordered some more books from eBay. Hooray!

Anyway, this book was a pleasant couple hour read. Nice way to spend an evening. Not quite up to "Aunt Sophie's Diamonds", which is my all time favorite Joan Smith book. The picture on the cover is too new for me to like. I have several books by Joan Smith to read coming up and I am excited about it. I hope I find a new favorite from her.

It would be placing to much significance on a brief flirtation to say the gentleman had fallen in love. But when Clara Christopher discovered that Lord Allingcote had been invited to the wedding she was busily planning for her cousin, she hoped he might again favor her as his flirt.

She was quite unprepared for Miss Nel Muldoon, as beautiful as an angel and as mischievous as the devil, appearing on the strong arm of Lord Allingcote-while batting her blue eyes at every other gentleman in sight.

Allingcote's deliciously attentive gaze suggested that he had thought of Clara often. Yet it was clear he was mixed up in some close manner with the darling Nel Muldoon. The answer, Clara soon discovered, was one of many surprises!

Romantic Lady by Sylvia Thorpe

Well I don't know that Caroline's actions caused her to lose almost all her friends or that it was dangerous. But she did have a lot of adventure with being kidnapped, imprisoned, having Guy get into fistfights around her several times, embroiled in a robbery scam, and come close to being killed. This is another book that I was quite happy happy with. Somehow I seemed to have lucked out in the last couple I have read.

She was a young red-headed woman with all the impetuous gaiety that goes with red hair. And though her life as governess to her uncle's children seemed rather dreary, nothing could stifle her romantic spirit.

And it was just this romantic spirit that caused Caroline to do a dangerous and impulsive act. An act that would nearly lose her all her friends. An act that would jeopardize both her liberty and honor.

Only one person could save Caroline from such a fate-Guy Ravenshaw. And he had no taste for romantic ladies.

Amber Promise by Margaret Abbey

I really liked this book a lot. I wonder if I will be able to find another book by this author. I thought Margaret Abbey did a good job writting in the time period that this book took place in. And it had all the things that I love in books, nice story that is well written with action, adventure, and a little bit of love thrown in. It was rather fun reading a book in this time period because you don't come upon them that often.

Wealthy heiress to Birlstone castle, Lady Alys possessed a rare and golden beauty, hidden since childhood by the mark of her father's wrath. When Prince John approved her marriage to handsome Baron Geoffrey de Courcelles, the young groom showered Alys with lavish gifts and freed her from the single blemish that denied her loveliness. Yet Geoffrey remained strangely cold and aloof, withholding the affection her virginal heart craved. Then a rival suitor publicly insulted Geoffrey at the Royal Nottingham tournament, and Alys was plunged into a drama of rebellion, secret treachery, and awaking desire.

Here is a romance of England's proud knighthood, of daring outlaws, and a valiant noblewoman held hostage for love, awaiting the passionate fruits of an Amber Promise.

Marriage By Decree by Ellen Fitzgerald

I started out reading a different book but put it down after it became apparent that it would be a painful read. Then I saw this book which is the same author of the last book I read. Since I liked that one quite a lot I was hoping for a nice repeat. While this book wasn't bad I did like 'Julia's Portion' better because it had more adventure in it.

Miss Alice Osborne was newly arrived from America and could not be expected to know the rules of Regency courtship and love. But her ignorance seemed certain to breed folly rather than bliss when she was drawn to not one but two most unsuitable suitors.

One was handsome, gallant Sir Robert St. Aubyn, who would have been a perfect match were he not already pledged to the ravishing Janet Belvoir. The other was the dazzling Lord Ralph Winston, the most infamously irresistible rake in the realm.

A prudent young lady would have steered clear of both. But though the beautiful Miss Osborne had many virtues, prudence was definitely not her strength when it came to romance...

Julia's Portion by Ellen Fitzgerald

Not bad. I was surprised how the book started off. It was pretty fast pace and interesting, then got bogged down with rehashing of feelings in the middle, and then picked up pace again towards the end. Her family was so HORRID in this book that you just want to scream at them. The back cover doesn't really tell you anything about the book and is a little wrong.

Her dress on the cover reminds me of billowing pink bubble gum. That and old fashioned men's arm bands tied around her sleeves and waist. But maybe she didn't care after being almost drowned, shoved off a cliff, and taken prisoner. She probably had more pressing concerns....like trying not to fall in love.

Julia Carleton's relatives agreed on one thing: a mere female was not fit to manage the vast fortune that her father had left her. They would take control of it-and take control of Julia as well.

Julia, however, had her own ideas. With her new wealth, she could afford to lead a new life, be free to do what she wanted and love whom she chose.

But her flight to freedom threw her into the arms of the notorious Lord Alysford, whose reputation as a rake and gambler made him the last man in the world she should trust. And Julia had to risk more than money to find out if the irresistible Alysford was out to steal her fortune or her heart.

The Improper Governess by Carola Dunn

The 'Not So Improper Governess' was not such a dramatic tale as any playwright had ever written. The villain was only in the book for about a page or two and there are various other overstated lines in this back cover blurb. I also hate the cover picture!

A Mysterious Miss...
From the stage of the Royal Coburg Theatre, Lissa Findlay saw Lord Ashe watching her. She knew the notorious rake was looking for a mistress, and though circumstance had forced her to become an actress to survive--a definite lowering of her social status--she would never lose her virtue. Never!

A Dashing Lord...
Lord Ashe was accustomed to pursuing women of "experience." But the innocent-looking beauty at the Coburg had captivated him in unexpected ways. And yet, when he made his advances, the cheeky miss slapped him most roundly. Despite being spurned, Lord Ashe was unable to forget her or her dire situation. If she wouldn't share his bed, perhaps she could share his house.

A Shocking Proposal...
Lord Ashe proposed a new role for Lissa as governess to his nephew. If the ton, or his dowager mother, discovered her real profession, t'would be a scandal. But a take as dramatic as any play write ever writ was unfolding with a villain in the wings, a fortune at stake, and a lord discovering he too had a role to play...as a hero for love!

The Rogue's Lady by Paula Allardyce

This book wasn't too bad. Action, adventure with a little romance on the side made it a pleasing read. The only thing I found odd in the book was the referring to the lady as a bitch quite a few times. That I would have changed.

Ahab had forgotten how lively she was-this spoiled and deceitful "lady" who had once done her best to see him hanged. Now, imprisoned by her marriage to the brutish Lord Dacre, she was desperately begging him to help her escape. It was a moment he had waited for, for six long years. She was at his mercy. He should have savored refusing her, hurting her, but somehow it was not a triumph at all. It was strange and cruelly unfair that his girl, his longtime enemy, should have the power to touch his heart with pity- and with desire.