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Westerby #1
The Westerby Inheritance: Regency Royal 1
Lady Jane Lovelace has conceived the idea of approaching the most notorious man about town, Lord Charles Welbourne, with a most unique proposition.
But when he counters her offer with a condition that he thinks will halt her impudence, much to the surprise of both, she accepts.
A novel of passion and intrigue, The Westerby Inheritance is the first volume of this new and emotionally charged romantic saga all played out against a backdrop of elegant eighteenth century society.
But when he counters her offer with a condition that he thinks will halt her impudence, much to the surprise of both, she accepts.
A novel of passion and intrigue, The Westerby Inheritance is the first volume of this new and emotionally charged romantic saga all played out against a backdrop of elegant eighteenth century society.
340 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1982
72 people are currently reading
381 people want to read
About the author
Marion Chesney
145 books740 followersMarion Chesney Gibbons
aka: Ann Fairfax, Jennie Tremaine, Helen Crampton, Charlotte Ward, M.C. Beaton, Sarah Chester.
Marion Chesney was born on 1936 in Glasgow, Scotland, UK, and started her first job as a bookseller in charge of the fiction department in John Smith & Sons Ltd. While bookselling, by chance, she got an offer from the Scottish Daily Mail to review variety shows and quickly rose to be their theatre critic. She left Smith’s to join Scottish Field magazine as a secretary in the advertising department, without any shorthand or typing, but quickly got the job of fashion editor instead. She then moved to the Scottish Daily Express where she reported mostly on crime. This was followed by a move to Fleet Street to the Daily Express where she became chief woman reporter. After marrying Harry Scott Gibbons and having a son, Charles, Marion went to the United States where Harry had been offered the job of editor of the Oyster Bay Guardian. When that didn’t work out, they went to Virginia and Marion worked as a waitress in a greasy spoon on the Jefferson Davies in Alexandria while Harry washed the dishes. Both then got jobs on Rupert Murdoch’s new tabloid, The Star, and moved to New York.
Anxious to spend more time at home with her small son, Marion, urged by her husband, started to write historical romances in 1977. After she had written over 100 of them under her maiden name, Marion Chesney, and under the pseudonyms: Ann Fairfax, Jennie Tremaine, Helen Crampton, Charlotte Ward, and Sarah Chester, she getting fed up with 1714 to 1910, she began to write detectives stories in 1985 under the pseudonym of M. C. Beaton. On a trip from the States to Sutherland on holiday, a course at a fishing school inspired the first Constable Hamish Macbeth story. They returned to Britain and bought a croft house and croft in Sutherland where Harry reared a flock of black sheep. But Charles was at school, in London so when he finished and both tired of the long commute to the north of Scotland, they moved to the Cotswolds where Agatha Raisin was created.
aka: Ann Fairfax, Jennie Tremaine, Helen Crampton, Charlotte Ward, M.C. Beaton, Sarah Chester.
Marion Chesney was born on 1936 in Glasgow, Scotland, UK, and started her first job as a bookseller in charge of the fiction department in John Smith & Sons Ltd. While bookselling, by chance, she got an offer from the Scottish Daily Mail to review variety shows and quickly rose to be their theatre critic. She left Smith’s to join Scottish Field magazine as a secretary in the advertising department, without any shorthand or typing, but quickly got the job of fashion editor instead. She then moved to the Scottish Daily Express where she reported mostly on crime. This was followed by a move to Fleet Street to the Daily Express where she became chief woman reporter. After marrying Harry Scott Gibbons and having a son, Charles, Marion went to the United States where Harry had been offered the job of editor of the Oyster Bay Guardian. When that didn’t work out, they went to Virginia and Marion worked as a waitress in a greasy spoon on the Jefferson Davies in Alexandria while Harry washed the dishes. Both then got jobs on Rupert Murdoch’s new tabloid, The Star, and moved to New York.
Anxious to spend more time at home with her small son, Marion, urged by her husband, started to write historical romances in 1977. After she had written over 100 of them under her maiden name, Marion Chesney, and under the pseudonyms: Ann Fairfax, Jennie Tremaine, Helen Crampton, Charlotte Ward, and Sarah Chester, she getting fed up with 1714 to 1910, she began to write detectives stories in 1985 under the pseudonym of M. C. Beaton. On a trip from the States to Sutherland on holiday, a course at a fishing school inspired the first Constable Hamish Macbeth story. They returned to Britain and bought a croft house and croft in Sutherland where Harry reared a flock of black sheep. But Charles was at school, in London so when he finished and both tired of the long commute to the north of Scotland, they moved to the Cotswolds where Agatha Raisin was created.
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 76 reviews
March 29, 2019
Rating: 3 1/2 stars
This dynamic, shifting myriad of complicated relationships, wonderfully well-researched descriptions and Ms. Chesney's realistic narrative --author is aka MC Beaton--was an enthralling read to say the least. Loads of amazing supporting characters includes a family of villains that would give Walt Disney a run for his money.
What kept this from being a four & more star hit for me was the plot device "Big Misunderstanding" between Lady Jane and Lord Charles that was a continuous option for angst. And the ending. Despite its obvious HEA. Although realistic in feeling and execution, it left me hanging on a precarious ledge of wondering about the fate of the newlywed lovers I had invested so much time discovering in this novel. All in all, the narrator is brilliant and for this reason alone it vaulted this book to a higher tier whenever it stumbled and stalled.
This dynamic, shifting myriad of complicated relationships, wonderfully well-researched descriptions and Ms. Chesney's realistic narrative --author is aka MC Beaton--was an enthralling read to say the least. Loads of amazing supporting characters includes a family of villains that would give Walt Disney a run for his money.
What kept this from being a four & more star hit for me was the plot device "Big Misunderstanding" between Lady Jane and Lord Charles that was a continuous option for angst. And the ending. Despite its obvious HEA. Although realistic in feeling and execution, it left me hanging on a precarious ledge of wondering about the fate of the newlywed lovers I had invested so much time discovering in this novel. All in all, the narrator is brilliant and for this reason alone it vaulted this book to a higher tier whenever it stumbled and stalled.
August 1, 2015
Initially, I had this fist-waving defiance as I started the unknown road leading into this poorly reviewed, wrong era labeled story, but mainly because the usual harping done, where these old relics are concerned, is an unwavering modern day contempt to any Literature falling below the well-groomed grace of commonly accepted Regency authors or Jane Austen abiders. Simply put – I was expecting an amazingly hidden, SO misunderstood & neglected gem that cannot be recognized from devotion to a saccharine diet of perpetual pleasantry encased within the Love Conquers All bouncy house rule.
The cut & dry ending, I suspected, could simply be a cleverly devised wrap-up to fuck with my emotions in fallout from the darkness and disturbing happenstance that prevailed, but I was wrong; wrong that the Seriously Dark vibe could carry over with such aplomb and have the audacity to bend the reader to its whim. Marion Chesney has a gifted talent to spin beautifully gilded wording and prose, but without the support of characterization pillars to solidify the story. Also, I read elsewhere that Chesney outgrows this fledgling state, but I’ll be rummaging through her Kindle backlist to give it a go & looksee for myself.
Jane Lovelace's story comes without the glitz & grandeur most noble houses are known for. The Marquess of Westerby was a self-inflicted loser, in the literal sense as well; impoverished through his drunken belligerence, which ultimately coerced him into marrying beneath his rank. His bouts of alcoholic gambling and incessant buffoonery keep the family on the verge of starvation, if it weren’t or that classless gypsy wife of his; and boy what a gutsy, rustic little true-blooded hoyden SHE was! Hetty truly saved this novel from complete, vapid icing filling fluff of nothingness. Was she a gold digger? Maybe, but I first thought she’d simply be fleshed out as the wicked stepmama; the dweller of tersely pointed features and a cameo broach of her satanic cult leader and all the darkly embroidered nightmares of her seemingly harmless knitting sessions where she carefully plots Jane’s life from cradle to ultimate ruin. Alas, nothing NEAR that took place at all; Hetty was a stepmother who kept their family from utter starvation by pistol-packing, shotgun-waving poaching sessions. Her and her two ragamuffin daughters brought Jane great depression a time or two, but once Jane realized Hetty kept them from DYING & a little showdown with one of Jane’s village admirers, she changed her tune.
Come to me. Hetty will fight all your dragons.
Hetty’s the sort of iron-fisted Maiden who survives the smallpox, plagues, typhoid & cholera and can sell you the cure for them out of a hollowed out tree. The sort of stronghold that outlives five husbands and hides the bodies of the lawless brigades set to oppress her and her loved ones. The type to burn the world down around that which threatens the serenity of those in her momma hen reaches and shamelessly exclaims, “Well, it’s insured, ain’t it!?” Ignorant to a certain degree, which adds a sweet vulnerability to her that’s both likeable and kept me hoping she’d land on her feet, as I knew she would, whereas Jane seemed to entice victimization and the scheming she’d done in her poor condition seemingly shed itself for whomever she was conversing with.
The Bentleys were distant relatives who took ownership of Eppington Chase, the Westerby’s ancestral home, in a card game, along with their family fortune. These Bentleys were the snooty little bunch of upstarts, designed to ping Jane’s endurance AND tolerance off of. They loathed Jane for no real reason than other being alive. That was also mutual, as Jane’s forced audience with that pack manifested the most brilliantly elaborate schemes of her own.
Jane was too preoccupied in worrying over the future to care about Fanny Bentley’s attention. In her mind, Jane killed all the Bentleys. In her mind, she stood at the graveside as the four coffins were being lowered into the ground. The local pastor would, of course, perform the burial service, which would be poetic justice indeed. Jane could hear the clatter of the dry earth as it fell on Fanny’s coffin.
However, it’s snippets as that that kept my propellers going through the muddle of endless description, references and info-dumpery of all dumpfests. There are literally paragraphs of descriptions—sometimes without flow, that are practically pulled from books such as: Drinks to have in Georgian Era Coffeehouse. I ADORED this book mostly for that itself; as a reference guide, some of those exotic drinks, the décor, women’s apparel descriptions, would be ideal in the hands of a responsible writer. I recommend it for that!
There was an endless choice of drinks with colorful names---purl, Old Pharaoh, knock down, humtie dumtie, stripleshouldree, possets and punches in the hundred and fifty varieties, raw shrub, porter cup, cider cup, port-wine cup, egg flip, and rum-booze, among many others. French wines fortified with brandy by London merchants; port, Lisbon, canary, madeira, and gin.
Jane hopes to land a decent husband and perhaps a fortune of her own, were nearly snuffed out completely until it was made known she had a godmother in London. Well, her and the local pastor’s scheming daughter cook up this letter that is eventually received by the godmother’s moment of clarity through her deep depression & likely devolving states of Alzheimer’s & she is invited to London for a season. Lady Comfrey wasn’t a bad sort, and she held some shining moments, but even her bird’s nest of orderliness surpassed Jane. Jane never quite truly found her footing.
This is where the true characterization flaws and bipolar tendencies came in full throttle. From the moment Jane arrived in London, she instantly decided that trading her BODY for a cardsharp’s winning her family estate back, was the ONLY alternative. This is after it being drilled into our head’s that her only chances of success were wrapped up in marriage. Fear not, the hero, Lord Charles, is as equally shabby a character, whose instantaneous love vibes, despite his lifelong debauchery and acidity in the Face of Luzz, were enough to gag a maggot at this point. Those two deserved each other; no true thought-out love entanglement between them – only a fall in and out of love upon every page, when there wasn’t truly enough in-the-moment or confrontation TO fall in love. They just suddenly decided it was Meant To Be, and we’re dragged along for the bottomfeeding frenzy of the Jealous side-characters who stand in their way of Twu Luzz. Big Misunderstanding’s kept these two from whatever sort of fucktarded Nirvana they thought either could provide. Those two internally vowed their endless, undying love to each other, like a Shakespearean soliloquy, NEARLY at the same exact moments. I know, coma-inducing. And despite it all, when Bad Men Doing Bad Things speak a word AGAINST Jane, Lord Charles instantly believes it to feed that Big Misunderstanding of shameful ineptitude. What a weak, tired old trope to prop up such beautiful visionary with. This has to be the Alice in Wonderland of book developments to ever have been. A tiny morsel of relevancy pocketed down into various sized gift box, only to find the tacky, inconsiderate bauble in the bottom of needless packaging; the most expensive gift-wrap and ribbons EVERAH. FFS. Even the pastor’s daughter Philadelphia was more tactful and adaptable than Jane.
She loathed them more for their inability to control and school their emotions.
Philadelphia was a social climber and clever girl whose only means of finding her own wealthy husband is through the connections with Jane and the Bentleys. Of course, part through, she becomes Team Bentley, and Jane & her have few confrontations, although the fan veiled glances could roll the paint off of any French whorehouse wall; all the while pretending that neither of them exists.
Suffice to say, what turned dark for the Regency dietary guidelines MADE Jane all the more likeable, however, it was overshadowed by, you guessed it; the inevitable---all of a sudden, “WAH…SHE DON’T LOVE ME, AFTERALL! THIS SHOWS IT!” And it would have been all the more acceptable and tolerated, if they’d have fought most of the tit-for-tat battles out in bed.
There are a myriad of loose-ends and half-solved mysteries simply hanging out, with no real finale at all. There are words left unsaid, unspoken, and no cliffhanger dots or point of event change. If this was intentional, I feel that Chesney should re-edit this book because none of the main characters were at all HEA mode, prepared for the cut-off or anything of the sort; it's like the page was ripped out and the book thrown at inquiring questions that followed. That's not enough, I'm sorry. I gave the book two-stars for Hetty, Godmammy & at times, the secondary hero's drag queen antics. I'll be reading the next installment to clarify whether there is any continuation or more dead-ends awaiting me.
Update:
Apparently the second book, The Westerby Sisters, is the second installment, but, I imagine, the girls have their names switched. Oh, joy! :D
The cut & dry ending, I suspected, could simply be a cleverly devised wrap-up to fuck with my emotions in fallout from the darkness and disturbing happenstance that prevailed, but I was wrong; wrong that the Seriously Dark vibe could carry over with such aplomb and have the audacity to bend the reader to its whim. Marion Chesney has a gifted talent to spin beautifully gilded wording and prose, but without the support of characterization pillars to solidify the story. Also, I read elsewhere that Chesney outgrows this fledgling state, but I’ll be rummaging through her Kindle backlist to give it a go & looksee for myself.
Jane Lovelace's story comes without the glitz & grandeur most noble houses are known for. The Marquess of Westerby was a self-inflicted loser, in the literal sense as well; impoverished through his drunken belligerence, which ultimately coerced him into marrying beneath his rank. His bouts of alcoholic gambling and incessant buffoonery keep the family on the verge of starvation, if it weren’t or that classless gypsy wife of his; and boy what a gutsy, rustic little true-blooded hoyden SHE was! Hetty truly saved this novel from complete, vapid icing filling fluff of nothingness. Was she a gold digger? Maybe, but I first thought she’d simply be fleshed out as the wicked stepmama; the dweller of tersely pointed features and a cameo broach of her satanic cult leader and all the darkly embroidered nightmares of her seemingly harmless knitting sessions where she carefully plots Jane’s life from cradle to ultimate ruin. Alas, nothing NEAR that took place at all; Hetty was a stepmother who kept their family from utter starvation by pistol-packing, shotgun-waving poaching sessions. Her and her two ragamuffin daughters brought Jane great depression a time or two, but once Jane realized Hetty kept them from DYING & a little showdown with one of Jane’s village admirers, she changed her tune.
Come to me. Hetty will fight all your dragons.
Hetty’s the sort of iron-fisted Maiden who survives the smallpox, plagues, typhoid & cholera and can sell you the cure for them out of a hollowed out tree. The sort of stronghold that outlives five husbands and hides the bodies of the lawless brigades set to oppress her and her loved ones. The type to burn the world down around that which threatens the serenity of those in her momma hen reaches and shamelessly exclaims, “Well, it’s insured, ain’t it!?” Ignorant to a certain degree, which adds a sweet vulnerability to her that’s both likeable and kept me hoping she’d land on her feet, as I knew she would, whereas Jane seemed to entice victimization and the scheming she’d done in her poor condition seemingly shed itself for whomever she was conversing with.
The Bentleys were distant relatives who took ownership of Eppington Chase, the Westerby’s ancestral home, in a card game, along with their family fortune. These Bentleys were the snooty little bunch of upstarts, designed to ping Jane’s endurance AND tolerance off of. They loathed Jane for no real reason than other being alive. That was also mutual, as Jane’s forced audience with that pack manifested the most brilliantly elaborate schemes of her own.
Jane was too preoccupied in worrying over the future to care about Fanny Bentley’s attention. In her mind, Jane killed all the Bentleys. In her mind, she stood at the graveside as the four coffins were being lowered into the ground. The local pastor would, of course, perform the burial service, which would be poetic justice indeed. Jane could hear the clatter of the dry earth as it fell on Fanny’s coffin.
However, it’s snippets as that that kept my propellers going through the muddle of endless description, references and info-dumpery of all dumpfests. There are literally paragraphs of descriptions—sometimes without flow, that are practically pulled from books such as: Drinks to have in Georgian Era Coffeehouse. I ADORED this book mostly for that itself; as a reference guide, some of those exotic drinks, the décor, women’s apparel descriptions, would be ideal in the hands of a responsible writer. I recommend it for that!
There was an endless choice of drinks with colorful names---purl, Old Pharaoh, knock down, humtie dumtie, stripleshouldree, possets and punches in the hundred and fifty varieties, raw shrub, porter cup, cider cup, port-wine cup, egg flip, and rum-booze, among many others. French wines fortified with brandy by London merchants; port, Lisbon, canary, madeira, and gin.
Jane hopes to land a decent husband and perhaps a fortune of her own, were nearly snuffed out completely until it was made known she had a godmother in London. Well, her and the local pastor’s scheming daughter cook up this letter that is eventually received by the godmother’s moment of clarity through her deep depression & likely devolving states of Alzheimer’s & she is invited to London for a season. Lady Comfrey wasn’t a bad sort, and she held some shining moments, but even her bird’s nest of orderliness surpassed Jane. Jane never quite truly found her footing.
This is where the true characterization flaws and bipolar tendencies came in full throttle. From the moment Jane arrived in London, she instantly decided that trading her BODY for a cardsharp’s winning her family estate back, was the ONLY alternative. This is after it being drilled into our head’s that her only chances of success were wrapped up in marriage. Fear not, the hero, Lord Charles, is as equally shabby a character, whose instantaneous love vibes, despite his lifelong debauchery and acidity in the Face of Luzz, were enough to gag a maggot at this point. Those two deserved each other; no true thought-out love entanglement between them – only a fall in and out of love upon every page, when there wasn’t truly enough in-the-moment or confrontation TO fall in love. They just suddenly decided it was Meant To Be, and we’re dragged along for the bottomfeeding frenzy of the Jealous side-characters who stand in their way of Twu Luzz. Big Misunderstanding’s kept these two from whatever sort of fucktarded Nirvana they thought either could provide. Those two internally vowed their endless, undying love to each other, like a Shakespearean soliloquy, NEARLY at the same exact moments. I know, coma-inducing. And despite it all, when Bad Men Doing Bad Things speak a word AGAINST Jane, Lord Charles instantly believes it to feed that Big Misunderstanding of shameful ineptitude. What a weak, tired old trope to prop up such beautiful visionary with. This has to be the Alice in Wonderland of book developments to ever have been. A tiny morsel of relevancy pocketed down into various sized gift box, only to find the tacky, inconsiderate bauble in the bottom of needless packaging; the most expensive gift-wrap and ribbons EVERAH. FFS. Even the pastor’s daughter Philadelphia was more tactful and adaptable than Jane.
She loathed them more for their inability to control and school their emotions.
Philadelphia was a social climber and clever girl whose only means of finding her own wealthy husband is through the connections with Jane and the Bentleys. Of course, part through, she becomes Team Bentley, and Jane & her have few confrontations, although the fan veiled glances could roll the paint off of any French whorehouse wall; all the while pretending that neither of them exists.
Suffice to say, what turned dark for the Regency dietary guidelines MADE Jane all the more likeable, however, it was overshadowed by, you guessed it; the inevitable---all of a sudden, “WAH…SHE DON’T LOVE ME, AFTERALL! THIS SHOWS IT!” And it would have been all the more acceptable and tolerated, if they’d have fought most of the tit-for-tat battles out in bed.
There are a myriad of loose-ends and half-solved mysteries simply hanging out, with no real finale at all. There are words left unsaid, unspoken, and no cliffhanger dots or point of event change. If this was intentional, I feel that Chesney should re-edit this book because none of the main characters were at all HEA mode, prepared for the cut-off or anything of the sort; it's like the page was ripped out and the book thrown at inquiring questions that followed. That's not enough, I'm sorry. I gave the book two-stars for Hetty, Godmammy & at times, the secondary hero's drag queen antics. I'll be reading the next installment to clarify whether there is any continuation or more dead-ends awaiting me.
Update:
Apparently the second book, The Westerby Sisters, is the second installment, but, I imagine, the girls have their names switched. Oh, joy! :D
June 13, 2017
A very modern plotline written way back in the day.
Lady Jane is the only daughter of a marquess who gambled all his estates and fortune away to a second cousin, the Bentleys, and they lord it over them at every opportunity as all still reside in the same county. The Marquess has subsequently married a bar innkeeper's daughter who has two daughters from a previous marriage to a blacksmith. The stepmother, Hettie, is probably the hidden jewel of a character in this book, being lusty, generous, and with a heart of gold.
Lady Jane's consuming passion in life is to rid herself of her hovel (for a hovel she does live) and regain her former status in life, and by a turn of events aided by the vicar's vain daughter, she's able to ingratiate herself to a rich aunt and go to London.
All does not go smoothly however, because her elderly aunt goes precisely nowhere and is accounted a bit mad. But Lady Jane has a light-bulb moment of a grand idea -- the same idea that would inundate the Regency romance novel world of the 90s -- she would ask this infamously lucky gambler Lord Charles to gamble against the Bentleys and win back her family estate for her, er...giving herself as the prize.
It does work out like she imagined, and she regains the family estate, as well as inheriting her rich aunt's fortune, and suddenly they are the target of the remaining Bentley's envy and hate. Lord Charles somehow has contrived of a hatred for her. The two dance around each other, each thinking the other has only used them when they had fallen so madly in love.
It would almost have been a decent HEA if not for the weird last line of the book that establishes an eerie dark undertone when I for sure thought it was a standalone. The premise of the book is similar to Marion Chesney's Daughters of Mannerling, in which the six daughters scheme to regain their lost estate, but that series was infinitely better written.
Lady Jane is the only daughter of a marquess who gambled all his estates and fortune away to a second cousin, the Bentleys, and they lord it over them at every opportunity as all still reside in the same county. The Marquess has subsequently married a bar innkeeper's daughter who has two daughters from a previous marriage to a blacksmith. The stepmother, Hettie, is probably the hidden jewel of a character in this book, being lusty, generous, and with a heart of gold.
Lady Jane's consuming passion in life is to rid herself of her hovel (for a hovel she does live) and regain her former status in life, and by a turn of events aided by the vicar's vain daughter, she's able to ingratiate herself to a rich aunt and go to London.
All does not go smoothly however, because her elderly aunt goes precisely nowhere and is accounted a bit mad. But Lady Jane has a light-bulb moment of a grand idea -- the same idea that would inundate the Regency romance novel world of the 90s -- she would ask this infamously lucky gambler Lord Charles to gamble against the Bentleys and win back her family estate for her, er...giving herself as the prize.
It does work out like she imagined, and she regains the family estate, as well as inheriting her rich aunt's fortune, and suddenly they are the target of the remaining Bentley's envy and hate. Lord Charles somehow has contrived of a hatred for her. The two dance around each other, each thinking the other has only used them when they had fallen so madly in love.
It would almost have been a decent HEA if not for the weird last line of the book that establishes an eerie dark undertone when I for sure thought it was a standalone. The premise of the book is similar to Marion Chesney's Daughters of Mannerling, in which the six daughters scheme to regain their lost estate, but that series was infinitely better written.
August 16, 2018
What can I say? I absolutely loved this book UNTIL, the end. This book just left you hanging at the very end. The two main characters work out their problems and it seems like everything is falling into place and loose ends are about to be tied up , then BAM!!!, the story ends. I did some research and found out there is a sequel but it's not in the second book of this so called series plus no one names the book that ties up all the loose ends. Someone even mentioned that that particular book was no longer available. So what is a reader to do when left with a cliff hanger and no resolution? The story is about a young lady whose father looses the family fortune and estates at the gambling table to a hated cousin. She hatches a plan to get the most notorious man-about-town and noted gambler to help win her family's fortune back with herself as payment in return. Typical story line for 18th century society romance books. It is the supporting characters in this book that make things interesting and provide the loose ends that need to be tied up. The story reels you in and gets you hooked then leaves you with a bunch of questions. Chesney (aka M C Beaton) played us well with this story.
September 3, 2017
A Heyer-esque wanna be, WI is a misogynistic tour de force, with all of the gloom of Heyer's These Old Shades, and none of the grace. The women run from pathetic to evil, and the men from wastrel to loser, but while the men manage to garner reader sympathy [at least mine] the women repel. Even our requisite elbow high fairy waif of a heroine. No heroine she. Of course, we're to blame it on the house [it's evil] but even this isn't well done. If you're an evil house fan, try Beaton's Mannerling series, as WI is hardly worth the effort to read. However Beaton is adept at describing landscape, clothing, food, houses, horses etc. if you like this sort of thing.
October 22, 2019
First of all, it wasn't Regency romance. It took place in 1751/52.
The world of the Georgian era was shown in a satirical eye - I loved it. Yes, I did feel a bit nauseated, because of that powder, dirt, and unwillingness to wash. Nonetheless, I was enjoying those descriptions.
The second best part was Hetty. I adored her. Her harshness and a big heart. There were other characters worth mentioning, but not as wonderful as Hetty, e.g. Philadelphia, Lady Comfrey, Bella, The Bentleys. Note: I don't name here two main characters.
I liked also an interesting setting: a wealth lost in gambling, a marriage to an innkeeper.
There was humor (apart from satirical parts) too. Not much, but I smiled a few times.
The romance annoyed me for most of the part. All those misunderstandings and "he is good, I love him", "he is bad, I hate him" and so on (on both sides). I like misunderstandings, let's face it, it is a common thread in romances but here I found it annoying - perhaps I wasn't in a mood for such silliness.
So, I have mixed feelings. It wasn't a typical romance, for sure. If you look for a light love story - look elsewhere. But I wouldn't discourage reading it, especially fans of the author and the genre. It was one of those unusual examples that you will like for its untypicality or hate it for a rather feeble love story.
The world of the Georgian era was shown in a satirical eye - I loved it. Yes, I did feel a bit nauseated, because of that powder, dirt, and unwillingness to wash. Nonetheless, I was enjoying those descriptions.
The second best part was Hetty. I adored her. Her harshness and a big heart. There were other characters worth mentioning, but not as wonderful as Hetty, e.g. Philadelphia, Lady Comfrey, Bella, The Bentleys. Note: I don't name here two main characters.
I liked also an interesting setting: a wealth lost in gambling, a marriage to an innkeeper.
There was humor (apart from satirical parts) too. Not much, but I smiled a few times.
The romance annoyed me for most of the part. All those misunderstandings and "he is good, I love him", "he is bad, I hate him" and so on (on both sides). I like misunderstandings, let's face it, it is a common thread in romances but here I found it annoying - perhaps I wasn't in a mood for such silliness.
So, I have mixed feelings. It wasn't a typical romance, for sure. If you look for a light love story - look elsewhere. But I wouldn't discourage reading it, especially fans of the author and the genre. It was one of those unusual examples that you will like for its untypicality or hate it for a rather feeble love story.
May 5, 2013
I wish that I had known that this book was the first in a series before I had bought it. Yes it is book one of "Regency Royal" - but this book ends very abruptly, almost in mid sentence, leaving lots of loose ends. The sequel is not book 2 of the Regency Royal series, and is not available at the moment on kindle. There are second hand paperback copies available but I am not prepared to pay £40 for a second hand copy.
I would have given more stars because I did enjoy the book - right up to the last chapter when it all went downhill rapidly.
I would have given more stars because I did enjoy the book - right up to the last chapter when it all went downhill rapidly.
June 4, 2015
I think it's interesting/funny that many reviewers didn't like it because it was dark. But neither love, poverty, alcoholism, nor Georgian England were happy pretty things. I liked it!
And it is a romance in the classic term, so fear not!
And it is a romance in the classic term, so fear not!
August 23, 2022
8+ hrs of suspense and the ending provides no closure and is quite aggravating. I liked it very much until the end!
June 22, 2013
I knew this book was one of MC Beaton's earlier works, and indeed you can see some of the characters are earlier versions of some who appear in her later (and better) books. My first problem with this book is that it is advertised as Regency - when it's not - it's set during the reign of George II (who appears as a character in the book so there's no excuse for that piece of mis-advertising). But the bigger issue is that the book ends on a cliffhanger (and it's a big one, with lots of plot threads left unresolved) for a sequel which is not available in Kindle (or indeed in affordable paperback form). I had this on pre-order based on the product description (and it's taken a month for it to get to the top of my to-read list) and I was really disappointed that it had been mis-sold as Regency - and that the sequel's not available (because although I wasn't massively keen on the book itself, I don't like leaving stories unresolved!).
October 11, 2018
Unfortunately I didn't really like the heroine, which made this story rather hard to care about. But more importantly, the genre of the book changed rather randomly and left me feeling that the author changed the goal posts on me as to what the story was actually about.
This starts off as a romance; girl meets boy, they fall in love but are kept apart by misunderstandings, yadda yadda. But then, in the last third of the book, the relationship issues are abruptly resolved and the story shifts and becomes some kind of gothic horror / mystery, focusing on a weird vibe from an old property instead of the romance.
The ending was also very sudden and mid-story, which I dislike.
This starts off as a romance; girl meets boy, they fall in love but are kept apart by misunderstandings, yadda yadda. But then, in the last third of the book, the relationship issues are abruptly resolved and the story shifts and becomes some kind of gothic horror / mystery, focusing on a weird vibe from an old property instead of the romance.
The ending was also very sudden and mid-story, which I dislike.
July 30, 2021
mcb writes the most incredible queer coded characters. she’s such a talented character creator, and many of her characters code as asexual/aromantic, genderqueer, and others across the lgbtqia spectrum. this is an effortless part of the character rather than an outright declaration. she writes women who don’t want kids. she writes queer people somewhat accidentally, but without parody or condescension- in 1982.
October 4, 2017
YIKES! What is going to happen? This one ends with a cliffhanger. Although usually, I read this author's mysteries I wanted to read more of the author's books. I am more of a mystery reader rather than a romance reader so perhaps my ideas are related to this but some of the happenings in the story seemed odd given the personality of the characters.
January 17, 2020
The heroine and hero are only on stage together about 25% of the book. There are a lot of sad and sometimes macabre events in this book that make it rather depressing. I definitely am not going to read the sequel, The Westerby Sisters, because Marion Chesney kills off the two romantic protagonists of this book!
November 24, 2022
A nice easy read , quite enjoyable
April 24, 2012
I feel cheated. I'm disappointed. I realize that this was an early book by Marion Chesney and so understand why it isn't as well-written as her later books. The characters are very superficial with apparently only sex on their minds. So much so that there has to be a scene - something I find distasteful in what has been described as a "Regency". This description is inaccurate since it takes place in the mid-1700's under George II. I was also surprised by it's lack of an ending and have discovered that there is a sequel. I'm not sure if I'll bother with it. I know Marion Chesney has written much better books since this one. I'll stick to her more recent ones.
May 4, 2015
It's like all of the characters where schizo or had split-personalities. Jane went from brave to scared and simpering to proud and arrogant, it was so confusing and annoying. Just about all of the other characters transformed from chapter to chapter as well. I don't even know how Jane could scheme up the main "plot" since she isn't exactly playing with a full deck. Also a 17 year old and a 35 year old is just creepy. The writing and story was all gentle and simpering and then BAM some guy blows his brains out and BAM the 17 and 35 year old are banging. Not my fav, gotta say.
February 22, 2020
I don't like the Georgian period as a setting in historical romance generally but I enjoyed this one. The descriptions of the everyday activities of life were informative and well-researched. It did confirm in my mind, that it was a time I would not have liked to lived in. The main characters were well developed and described. Hetty was one of my favourites. My only complaint about the book was it was a bit too long - a lot seemed to happen in the last few chapters. All in all though, I enjoyed it and will probably try the second one in the series.
February 26, 2018
I listened to this book rather than read it. (A lot depends on the skills of th narrator & this one did an excellent job).
This is a well crafted story which held my interest, not least for the very great detail of life on the late 1700’s, both in the country & in town (London).
The ending was quite abrupt however & made me go looking for a sequel (which I haven’t yet found but see the huge number of other works by this author using different names).
This is a well crafted story which held my interest, not least for the very great detail of life on the late 1700’s, both in the country & in town (London).
The ending was quite abrupt however & made me go looking for a sequel (which I haven’t yet found but see the huge number of other works by this author using different names).
March 17, 2025
I flip flopped between liking and despising the main characters, depending on their behavior and actions of the moment. I also have little patience for misunderstanding due to lack of communication and assumptions. Overall I liked it okay, but I’m in agony of the cliffhanger ending that seems that the author may have never resolved it in any of her other novels.
October 8, 2016
it almost only got two because of the ending .I liked it till then. it ends in a cliffhanger. I started the sequel right away and was so furious about what happened to Charles and Jane that I stopped reading 5 pages in. if you like Charles and Jane then trust me you don't want to know
May 5, 2017
What happened?
This is a great book. I love the characters. However, what happened to the end of the book? It ends abruptly and isn't finished. I have read a lot of this author's books and never had this problem before. Oh well. On to book two.
This is a great book. I love the characters. However, what happened to the end of the book? It ends abruptly and isn't finished. I have read a lot of this author's books and never had this problem before. Oh well. On to book two.
June 1, 2017
No ending, it just stops mid story.
What is up with this? It stops mid story with no resolution and a lot of relatively unhappy people. Not at all like some of her other novels I have read. Lord Charles seems more than a little immature and lady Jane is bland.
What is up with this? It stops mid story with no resolution and a lot of relatively unhappy people. Not at all like some of her other novels I have read. Lord Charles seems more than a little immature and lady Jane is bland.
August 24, 2018
I liked the book but the end, as many other users say, is incomplete, in the middle of a sentence, so I wonder what happens to Lady Jane and Lord Charles afterwards. I have not been able to find the sequel to this novel, so I think we will have to imagine an ending to the story...
April 1, 2021
I enjoyed the beginning, the middle, and did not like the end at all. It's basically an incomplete story. Then I was trying to figure out if there was a sequel, a continuation, anything...and I found out a bit and am so disappointed. Not liking this one at all.
December 15, 2018
It has a WTF ending. It's as if Chesney got bored one day and decided to give an out of nowhere "surprise ending".
December 17, 2018
Half a story
I feel like I read half a story with no ending but couldn't find part 2. Very odd leaving you in suspense.
I feel like I read half a story with no ending but couldn't find part 2. Very odd leaving you in suspense.
May 31, 2023
..um. well. FUCK!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 27, 2025
Review
Where is the rest of the book. No ending or continuation. So what happens. Will not recommend this one book.
Where is the rest of the book. No ending or continuation. So what happens. Will not recommend this one book.
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