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Regency Companions #2
A Suitable Wife
Lady Beatrice Gregory has beauty, brains—and a wastrel brother. With her family fortune squandered, her only chance of a Season is as a lowly companion. London's glittering balls and parties are bittersweet when Beatrice has no hope of a match. Still, helping Lord Greystone with his charitable work brings her genuine pleasure…perhaps more than she dares to admit.Even when every marriageable miss in London is paraded before him, the only woman to capture Lord Greystone's attention is the one he shouldn't pursue. Attaching himself to a ruined family would jeopardize his ambitions. Yet Lady Beatrice may be the only wife to suit his lord's heart.
288 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published November 27, 2012
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130 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
March 1, 2020
FULL REVIEW IN MY BLOG: http://abookandateacup.blogspot.com/2...
I was pleasantly surprised by this book. But, although it’s better than the previous one, it’s still brain candy, and I was not expecting a lot from it. It’s a solid three-star book, and as such, I have both good and bad things to say about it.
I was pleasantly surprised by this book. But, although it’s better than the previous one, it’s still brain candy, and I was not expecting a lot from it. It’s a solid three-star book, and as such, I have both good and bad things to say about it.
October 28, 2012
I felt like I was in a more action-packed version of Pride and Prejudice...without the animosity lol. That sounds really funny if I really think about it, but what can I say? Self-denial runs rampant between Greystone and Beatrice, and boy did I feel the tension at times... My favorite quote was when they were having a battle of wits: she said that last winter was so cold, her horses had to drink tea to stay hydrated since all the water was frozen! I had a good laugh at that. Very enjoyable book and I eagerly await the next one:)
March 31, 2016
This started out as a three-star tale. But somewhere just past the rescue of the chimney sweeps, when the characters suddenly began to realize the effects of their personal prides and selfishnesses, the story picked up big time and became really interesting. I loved the standards of the practical applications of each character's beliefs. And the story arc for the brother was especially engaging.
December 8, 2016
Lady Beatrice Gregory has been forced to seek employment as a companion in London due to her wastrel brother's immoral ways. Mrs. Parton has kindly taken Beatrice in but she doesn't treat Beatrice like a companion- more like the daughter of an Earl that Beatrice actually is. When Beatrice meets Mrs. Parton's neighbor, Lord Greystone, she's drawn to him because he seems to share her values. Greystone is striving hard to be the man his mother wants him to be and not the wicked man his father was. However, since a recent bout of illness, Greystone has been drawn more towards Christ's teachings and Christian charity. He has ideas about charity and educating the poor that his mother simply doesn't share. His mother would NOT approve of his growing interest in Lady Beatrice Gregory. Her brother is entirely unacceptable and his loss of his sister's dowry makes her ineligible to be the wife of any good man of the ton. Her brother's solution is to marry her off to his ... friend... Rumbold, a scoundrel of the first degree if there ever was one. Beatrice has no wish to marry without love and she fears her heart is taken, but will Lord Greystone ever marry a mere impoverished companion?
I started this book months ago and read a chapter or two at a time at the library before work. I realized early on the book wasn't worth bringing home. The plot has the tired old gambling brother story, which here takes center stage as the old story of the Prodigal Son becomes the prodigal brother. There's an added subplot about climbing boys, which I actually found the most interesting and one sanctimonious, priggish hero. The story started off well enough. I liked Lady Beatrice and her mischievous employer, who was obviously playing matchmaker from the get go. Lady Beatrice and Greystone have a good connection at first and the praying is kept to a minimum.
As the story went on, I began to intensely dislike Greystone. He's as priggish as he believes Lord Winston to be- even more so, since Greystone is a lot less confident and more snobbish. Greystone tries hard to rely on his religion as the solution to all his problems. Have a problem? Ask the Lord for help. Greystone is also constantly battling self-doubts. He's worried he will become as cruel as his father whenever he becomes angry or shows any spark of emotion. He can not possibly take a wife until he is convinced he will not turn out like his father. He tried to be sympathetic to a situation with a maid, but I thought the solution was pretty harsh. He was very kind to the climbing boys but he distanced himself from them by sending them off to his charity school. This action is more in keeping with a peer of the time than his religious convictions. From what I understand, religion was at this time, mostly out for members of the haut ton but would soon becomes in again as dissenting religions gained popularity during the Victorian period. However, for this particular character, the actions seemed unkind and unnecessarily harsh. Towards the end he takes some action and I liked the action sequence.
The villain was very very bad. He can not possibly redeem himself because he doesn't know Christ. However, Beatrice's brother only has to rediscover his religious teachings to realize he has behaved badly. This sort of thinking annoys me. His redemption seemed a little too quick and easy after being dissipated for so long. His character didn't really develop or grow slowly over time. He could have realized his ways without religion. He could have asked for help from Greystone, which would have made his development more interesting. Gambling and alcoholism are diseases that can't be fixed by praying for help or change. We know this now and so I think Melly would need more help than just discovering the error of his ways and rediscovering religion.
The historical details seem well done. I've read about climbing boys in Arabella and other Regency novels and what happens here seems to be accurate as far as Heyer's research. There's an especially gritty and sad scene towards the end that shows what life was like for women who did not have wealth or family background to protect them.
I've read other Inspirational Regency set novels and this one is just too heavy handed for me. I prefer more character growth and personal action.
I started this book months ago and read a chapter or two at a time at the library before work. I realized early on the book wasn't worth bringing home. The plot has the tired old gambling brother story, which here takes center stage as the old story of the Prodigal Son becomes the prodigal brother. There's an added subplot about climbing boys, which I actually found the most interesting and one sanctimonious, priggish hero. The story started off well enough. I liked Lady Beatrice and her mischievous employer, who was obviously playing matchmaker from the get go. Lady Beatrice and Greystone have a good connection at first and the praying is kept to a minimum.
As the story went on, I began to intensely dislike Greystone. He's as priggish as he believes Lord Winston to be- even more so, since Greystone is a lot less confident and more snobbish. Greystone tries hard to rely on his religion as the solution to all his problems. Have a problem? Ask the Lord for help. Greystone is also constantly battling self-doubts. He's worried he will become as cruel as his father whenever he becomes angry or shows any spark of emotion. He can not possibly take a wife until he is convinced he will not turn out like his father. He tried to be sympathetic to a situation with a maid, but I thought the solution was pretty harsh. He was very kind to the climbing boys but he distanced himself from them by sending them off to his charity school. This action is more in keeping with a peer of the time than his religious convictions. From what I understand, religion was at this time, mostly out for members of the haut ton but would soon becomes in again as dissenting religions gained popularity during the Victorian period. However, for this particular character, the actions seemed unkind and unnecessarily harsh. Towards the end he takes some action and I liked the action sequence.
The villain was very very bad. He can not possibly redeem himself because he doesn't know Christ. However, Beatrice's brother only has to rediscover his religious teachings to realize he has behaved badly. This sort of thinking annoys me. His redemption seemed a little too quick and easy after being dissipated for so long. His character didn't really develop or grow slowly over time. He could have realized his ways without religion. He could have asked for help from Greystone, which would have made his development more interesting. Gambling and alcoholism are diseases that can't be fixed by praying for help or change. We know this now and so I think Melly would need more help than just discovering the error of his ways and rediscovering religion.
The historical details seem well done. I've read about climbing boys in Arabella and other Regency novels and what happens here seems to be accurate as far as Heyer's research. There's an especially gritty and sad scene towards the end that shows what life was like for women who did not have wealth or family background to protect them.
I've read other Inspirational Regency set novels and this one is just too heavy handed for me. I prefer more character growth and personal action.
February 27, 2021
I liked it! But I was a little to annoyed with the whole " I feel attracted to her, but I shouldn't be!" and the " Of course he doesn't like me because of my situation!" So many misunderstandings I felt like skipping some parts unfortunately. I would have liked more witty conversations and stuff like that.
April 21, 2013
Christian inspirational romance.
Entertaining story about decent people trying to apply the theory of Christain behavior with the realities of life.
There's plenty of other story with the romance intertwined. Such as the heroine's brother has gambled away his fortune and behaves improperly. His reputaiton has rubbed off on the heroine so she's not accepted in society.
The hero rescues a wounded child and younger brother. He's determined to care for them despite his mother's disapproval.
As is typical with Christian romance, characters struggle with their personal demons and the bar for human behavior is set higher than for non-Christian romance novels (no sex scenes, gambling and drinking is considered evil, etc).
I didn't miss the sex scenes, or the often stragnely placed references to stiffing and/or heating body parts, lurid thoughts found in non-Christian romance novels. Quite refreshing, actually.
Entertaining story about decent people trying to apply the theory of Christain behavior with the realities of life.
There's plenty of other story with the romance intertwined. Such as the heroine's brother has gambled away his fortune and behaves improperly. His reputaiton has rubbed off on the heroine so she's not accepted in society.
The hero rescues a wounded child and younger brother. He's determined to care for them despite his mother's disapproval.
As is typical with Christian romance, characters struggle with their personal demons and the bar for human behavior is set higher than for non-Christian romance novels (no sex scenes, gambling and drinking is considered evil, etc).
I didn't miss the sex scenes, or the often stragnely placed references to stiffing and/or heating body parts, lurid thoughts found in non-Christian romance novels. Quite refreshing, actually.
September 11, 2013
Genre: Christian romance. A cute story but the main characters were too good to be really engaging and, much as I enjoy happy endings, the ones in this story just didn't do anything for me. It may be that I prefer stories where the characters show shades of grey in their personalities rather than being portrayed as either good or bad, and, where the redemption of a character requires more self-effort and insight than just an appeal to God.
Rating: 2.5 stars rounded up to 3 stars.
December 8, 2012
Because of my own personal tastes I have not read mainstream romances for a few years. One of the genres I miss the most is Regency. A Suitable Wife has all those elements I miss, the societal rules, Parliament, balls, Lords and Ladies and romance. I really like all the little historical tidbits Gouge incorporated into this story without info dumping.
Kudos to the author!
Kudos to the author!
January 22, 2018
The problem with reading a lot of Regency books is that they all start to blur and seem so familiar that you're not sure if you've read them before or not. This book was fine, but all of the plot points seemed very familiar to me. That could be because I've read it before and forgotten to "shelve" it on Goodreads, or it could be because the book is very typical Regency. I'm honestly not sure which. Still cute.
June 8, 2021
I have read many Regency romance novels and this one definitely kept my interest. It was one from the Love Inspired collection from Harlequin publishing.
The characters had flaws but relied on faith in God to help overcome their weaknesses. Although this was listed as the second in a series, it read easily as a stand alone.
The characters had flaws but relied on faith in God to help overcome their weaknesses. Although this was listed as the second in a series, it read easily as a stand alone.
May 4, 2018
Dreadful
May 20, 2025
A good amount of Biblical truth to reflect upon.
March 15, 2014
Louise M Gouge series Ladies in Waiting, book #2"A Suitable Wife"
I always enjoy reading Regencys with their Lords and Ladies...the beautiful balls and all the talk that is so "just right" even though their thoughts may not be so.
Lady Beatrice has a brother that has gambled away most of his inheritance when his father dies and he becomes "Earl". He lost all that would have been a dowry for a nice match for his sister and he has let others influence him to the point that no one in polite society accepts him anymore.
Beatrice becomes a companion to one of the ladies in high society whom wishes to help her to find a husband and get out from under the influence of her brother.
One Lord in particular lives just next door and it is high time that he takes a wife and has a family.
If you like a Regency Romance you will enjoy reading the story of these two as they meet and try to stay away from one another as she thinks she is not good enough for him and he is worried about what his mother and the upper class would think if they knew his heart was sliding towards the lady next door,
I always enjoy reading Regencys with their Lords and Ladies...the beautiful balls and all the talk that is so "just right" even though their thoughts may not be so.
Lady Beatrice has a brother that has gambled away most of his inheritance when his father dies and he becomes "Earl". He lost all that would have been a dowry for a nice match for his sister and he has let others influence him to the point that no one in polite society accepts him anymore.
Beatrice becomes a companion to one of the ladies in high society whom wishes to help her to find a husband and get out from under the influence of her brother.
One Lord in particular lives just next door and it is high time that he takes a wife and has a family.
If you like a Regency Romance you will enjoy reading the story of these two as they meet and try to stay away from one another as she thinks she is not good enough for him and he is worried about what his mother and the upper class would think if they knew his heart was sliding towards the lady next door,
February 12, 2013
Lady Beatrice Gregory is beautiful and smart but her brother has squandered the family fortune. The only way she will get to experience a London season is as a companion. Even though she has no hope of making a match she can at least help Lord Greystone with his charitable work.
Lord Greystone has had every marriageable Miss in London paraded before him. However the only one that has caught his attention is Lady Beatrice. However attaching himself to the ruined family would jeopardize his ambitions. Can true love conquer all?
This is the second book in The Ladies in Waiting series. I enjoyed getting to know Lord Greystone better since he makes an appearance in the first book of the series. I was also delighted that other characters from the first book make appearances as well. It was also nice to have a regency where you see charity to the lower class. I can't wait till the next book!
Lord Greystone has had every marriageable Miss in London paraded before him. However the only one that has caught his attention is Lady Beatrice. However attaching himself to the ruined family would jeopardize his ambitions. Can true love conquer all?
This is the second book in The Ladies in Waiting series. I enjoyed getting to know Lord Greystone better since he makes an appearance in the first book of the series. I was also delighted that other characters from the first book make appearances as well. It was also nice to have a regency where you see charity to the lower class. I can't wait till the next book!
January 19, 2016
Nice read. The hero is a nobleman raised by his mother, the heroine is a lady whose brother has got in with bad company and lost all the family money. She's now a companion for his mother's best friend and next-door neighbor, and the neighbor is trying to throw them together. He's drawn to her, but there's that brother. There's really not much more to the plot. The brother would like to get out of his mess, preferably the easy way, by marrying his sister off to the sleaze who led him astray, but sis won't cooperate. Anyway, it's a nice read. I liked it.
Read
December 27, 2014Miniseries: Ladies in Waiting
Read
December 1, 2012Miniseries: Ladies in Waiting
Category: Inspirational Romance
Category: Inspirational Romance
January 15, 2013
A very enjoyable story in more than one way. This is the third Greystone brother's story.
August 10, 2013
This was a nice little Regency. I really liked how charitable the protagonists were to the needy and how a redemption was brought about.
December 6, 2013
2 1/2 stars
February 17, 2014
Great book for a wonderful time period. Jane Austen lovers will like this foray into the time period. It was like reading my favorite novels all over again.
June 2, 2014
I liked this, but methought the gentleman protested a wee bit too much. And the resolution of the substory of the drunken brother was well done.
April 18, 2020
Enthralling
Lots of ins and outs and ups and downs, but it finally all gets straightened out. Not a book you can put down!
Lots of ins and outs and ups and downs, but it finally all gets straightened out. Not a book you can put down!
January 12, 2013
Sweet. Kit and Ben are darlings.
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews