What do you think?
Rate this book
Friends #3
Harriet's Beau
Ferdinand Andrews was a rake, but he was also up for a challenge. And Miss Harriet Mayne was obviously in need of his help. Her clothes were dreadful and her rides in the park hoydenish. But Ferdy’s lessons in delightful ton behavior left Harriet open to the advances of a fortune-hunter and an obnoxious peer. Harriet was going to need her archery skills—to hit the proper target. Regency Romance by Emily Hendrickson; originally published by Signet
224 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 1, 1997
7 people are currently reading
23 people want to read
About the author
Emily Hendrickson
59 books22 followersDoris Emily Hendrickson lives in Reno, Nevada, with her husband, a retired airline pilot. Of all the many places she has traveled around the world, England is her favorite, and the most natural choice as the setting for her novels. In addition to her Regency romances, she has written a Regency Reference Book.
She is also the recipient of the Romantic Times award for the Best Regency of 1993 for Elizabeth's Rake and the Colorado Romance Writers 1997 Award of Excellence for The Debonair Duke. She is a nominee for the Romantic Times Career Achievement Award for Regency Romance.
Emily also enjoys stamps and stamping, and several of her flower designs, originally created for bookmarks for her Regencies, have been made into stamps.
Many of my books were re-published in England by Robert Hale Publishing House of London. My publisher requested that I use three pseudonyms for my English hard cover books. I chose the names: Emily Hendrickson, Emily Johnson, and Emily Harland.
She is also the recipient of the Romantic Times award for the Best Regency of 1993 for Elizabeth's Rake and the Colorado Romance Writers 1997 Award of Excellence for The Debonair Duke. She is a nominee for the Romantic Times Career Achievement Award for Regency Romance.
Emily also enjoys stamps and stamping, and several of her flower designs, originally created for bookmarks for her Regencies, have been made into stamps.
Many of my books were re-published in England by Robert Hale Publishing House of London. My publisher requested that I use three pseudonyms for my English hard cover books. I chose the names: Emily Hendrickson, Emily Johnson, and Emily Harland.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
May 23, 2020
Red-haired Harriet has known she is not the beauty of the family, but refuses to allow her father to arrange her marriage to an old lecher. When she crosses paths with Mr. Ferdinand Andrews, the man takes pity on her and enlists his sisters to give her some town polish.
This had a rather predictable plot, but it was a charming read all the same! Harriet is a spunky heroine to follow. Her interactions with Ferdy (Mr. Andrews) were delightful, especially when the gentleman refuses to acknowledge he has feelings for her.
The characters are all delightful and livened up the story, especially the children. While this is in a trilogy, it stands alone just fine. The pacing is good, giving our couple time to know each other away from society parties.
For readers looking for a clean Regency romance would not go wrong with this one.
This had a rather predictable plot, but it was a charming read all the same! Harriet is a spunky heroine to follow. Her interactions with Ferdy (Mr. Andrews) were delightful, especially when the gentleman refuses to acknowledge he has feelings for her.
The characters are all delightful and livened up the story, especially the children. While this is in a trilogy, it stands alone just fine. The pacing is good, giving our couple time to know each other away from society parties.
For readers looking for a clean Regency romance would not go wrong with this one.
July 28, 2018
Ok read after 50%. Felt the novel to be dragging till then. Couldn’t connect or like the characters.
June 3, 2020
Terrible--jejeune redheads v. jerky family with 'better' red hair. Even as a redhead I couldn't like it.
March 29, 2016
I have always been fond of characters with red hair. This is important to note because HARRIET'S BEAU features both the title character, Harriet Mayne, and her confidante/friend Mr. Ferdinand Andrews with red hair. Harriet lives up to the characteristics associated with her hair color as well—she is outspoken, a trifle reckless and utterly original in how she views situations. Ferdinand, or Ferdy, is your typical late 20's man-about-town in Regency England—he enjoys going to his clubs, amusing opera dancers and has a variety of sports he indulges in, including archery.
In short, this novel seems deadest on extolling most of the more common Regency Romance tropes. Feisty young heroine, older bored gentleman, meddling sisters, boorish family, heroine becomes an Original, lecherous old suitor, dishonorable younger military suitor—the list goes on. This isn't a bad thing! Harriet is a likable character and you feel instantly for her because of her family's treatment of her (ranging from dutiful neglect from her father, to malicious cruelty from her older, perfect sisters) and she doesn't indulge in fits of resentment.
The true fun in this book is Ferdy's reactions to everything she says and does. The poor man is besotted with her before the third chapter is through, but neither he nor Harriet seem to understand that their friendship is not in the common way of things. Which is refreshing to read. The two of them share a comfortable relationship that allows them to speak their minds to each other, chide each other and be themselves at all times. Moments of discomfort are quickly forgotten until closer to the end when things start to come to a head, but neither seems terribly discontented by this fact. Indeed, even if his two sisters, Diana and Emma (they helped to make her over and introduce her into society), had not interfered, I suspect the outcome would have been the same in the end, just longer to happen.
In short, this novel seems deadest on extolling most of the more common Regency Romance tropes. Feisty young heroine, older bored gentleman, meddling sisters, boorish family, heroine becomes an Original, lecherous old suitor, dishonorable younger military suitor—the list goes on. This isn't a bad thing! Harriet is a likable character and you feel instantly for her because of her family's treatment of her (ranging from dutiful neglect from her father, to malicious cruelty from her older, perfect sisters) and she doesn't indulge in fits of resentment.
The true fun in this book is Ferdy's reactions to everything she says and does. The poor man is besotted with her before the third chapter is through, but neither he nor Harriet seem to understand that their friendship is not in the common way of things. Which is refreshing to read. The two of them share a comfortable relationship that allows them to speak their minds to each other, chide each other and be themselves at all times. Moments of discomfort are quickly forgotten until closer to the end when things start to come to a head, but neither seems terribly discontented by this fact. Indeed, even if his two sisters, Diana and Emma (they helped to make her over and introduce her into society), had not interfered, I suspect the outcome would have been the same in the end, just longer to happen.
March 26, 2016
The summary makes this book seem like a housewife novel or something; not to its credit! It's a clean, entertaining read that I would recommend (although the summary is quite horrible) with the only exception of the brief inclusion of a "lightskirt" on Fredy's account..
September 25, 2009
Regency
August 29, 2017
The use of a dog (with it's fur dyed) as an accessory bothered me.
June 30, 2025
A satisfying, amusing clean regency read, with lovely characters and plenty of sparkling romance. I highly enjoyed this book and will certainly read more of the author's work in future.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews