What do you think?
Rate this book
Black Sheep Trilogy #1
Black Sheep's Daughter
Teresa Danville, raised in Costa Rica by her "black sheep" father, presents a challenge to the diplomatic skills of Sir Andrew Graylin. Niece of an English duke, Teresa was not raised to London society, but to wielding pistols and overseeing a coffee plantation household. Bringing this exotic beauty to civilization gets the previously affianced Sir Andrew in deep trouble.
397 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1989
31 people are currently reading
147 people want to read
About the author
Carola Dunn
92 books891 followersCarola Dunn is the author of more than 30 Regency romances, as well as 16 mysteries (the Daisy Dalrymple mystery series is set in England in the 1920s). Ms. Dunn was born and grew up in England, where she got a B.A. in Russian and French from Manchester University. She travelled as far as Fiji before returning to settle in California. After 30 years in the US, she says she still sounds as if she arrived a month ago.
Prior to writing, Ms. Dunn’s various jobs included market research, child-care, construction--from foundation trenches to roofing--and writing definitions for a dictionary of science and technology. She wrote her first novel in 1979, a Regency which she sold to Warner Books.
Now living in Eugene, Oregon, Ms. Dunn has a son in California who has just made her a grandmother, and a large black dog named Willow who takes her for a walk by the Willamette River each morning. (www.belgravehouse.com)
Prior to writing, Ms. Dunn’s various jobs included market research, child-care, construction--from foundation trenches to roofing--and writing definitions for a dictionary of science and technology. She wrote her first novel in 1979, a Regency which she sold to Warner Books.
Now living in Eugene, Oregon, Ms. Dunn has a son in California who has just made her a grandmother, and a large black dog named Willow who takes her for a walk by the Willamette River each morning. (www.belgravehouse.com)
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
February 8, 2014
Sir Andrew Graylin arrives in the jungle of Costa Rica on a diplomatic mission to Lord Edward (Don Eduardo) Danville's coffee plantation and is met by gunshots - from a lady no less! The lady, Teresa Danville, is the daughter of Lord Edward, a crack shot and has just saved Andrew's life! He's unsure of what to think of the beautiful, hoydenish daughter of an exiled Englishman and his Spanish wife. Andrew has ample opportunity to get to know Teresa on the journey back to England, where she and her youngest bother will go to meet the family they never knew. Marco wishes to be a scholar and Teresa longs to learn how to become a lady. During the journey, she's taken under the wing of Lady Parr and her daughter Muriel. Muriel is everything an English girl should be, and everything Teresa is not. Teresa can't help but be a little bit jealous, especially since Muriel is betrothed to Andrew! Along the way, the ship has a run-in with a slaver and Teresa's courage rises to the occasion, incurring the wrath of the slave ship captain and earning the admiration of the slaves she has helped rescue. England proves to be a greater challenge than even Teresa is prepared for. In London strict rules, a mischievous cousin, a villain and even her talking parrot nearly cause her downfall. Through it all, her heart remains attached to a certain Englishman with a love of adventure and travel. However, he belongs to another and is unaware of her feelings. Finally, a dangerous adventure will reveal hidden truths and change Teresa's life for better or for worse. This is a very different Regency set novel. The first two chapters take place in Costa Rica and contain incredibly detailed descriptions of the flora and fauna. I could imagine myself right in the middle of the jungle thanks to the fabulous description. The next few chapters take place at sea and contain action, adventure and tutelage in the behavior of the haut ton.
Even the English-set part of the novel contains more liveliness and adventure than a typical novel of the ton. Teresa is an energetic and engaging heroine. She's a free spirit but learns to compromise and outwardly follow the dictates of society without sacrificing who she is, an accomplishment I greatly admire. Andrew has his moments of stuffiness but underneath he's a good guy. John Danville is a typical young rakehell and certainly must be friends with many of the other young gentlemen in Regency novels, just as his brother is equally stereotypical in the opposite manner. My most favorite character, however, is Gayo, the talking parrot who swears in multiple languages. I found myself giggling through all his scenes. I enjoyed this adventure a lot and found that though it's a bit different from the typical Regency set novel, in this case, different is better.
Even the English-set part of the novel contains more liveliness and adventure than a typical novel of the ton. Teresa is an energetic and engaging heroine. She's a free spirit but learns to compromise and outwardly follow the dictates of society without sacrificing who she is, an accomplishment I greatly admire. Andrew has his moments of stuffiness but underneath he's a good guy. John Danville is a typical young rakehell and certainly must be friends with many of the other young gentlemen in Regency novels, just as his brother is equally stereotypical in the opposite manner. My most favorite character, however, is Gayo, the talking parrot who swears in multiple languages. I found myself giggling through all his scenes. I enjoyed this adventure a lot and found that though it's a bit different from the typical Regency set novel, in this case, different is better.
September 11, 2020
A weak but amusing novel. The writing was just this side of professional, the characters were 2-dimensional, and the plot was mostly concerned with propriety in regency England's haut ton. But despite its multiple flaws, I wasn't ever tempted to DNF this book. I wanted to know how the heroes of this fluffy, empty-headed tale would resolve their conundrums and find their HEA. And they did. Besides, the heroine's parrot could swear in several languages. Smiling was almost mandatory.
Overall: strangely satisfying.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Factoid #1: This book has two different titles, probably a difference between the British and the American editions. While the cover of this book on GoodReads says Black Sheep's Daughter , the cover of my library book says The Black Sheep's Daughter .
Factoid #2: It is one of this author's earlier novels, and although it is less polished (or even hardly polished at all) than her later novels, her gentle humor shines through.
Overall: strangely satisfying.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Factoid #1: This book has two different titles, probably a difference between the British and the American editions. While the cover of this book on GoodReads says Black Sheep's Daughter , the cover of my library book says The Black Sheep's Daughter .
Factoid #2: It is one of this author's earlier novels, and although it is less polished (or even hardly polished at all) than her later novels, her gentle humor shines through.
June 7, 2018
3.5 out of 5 stars
August 16, 2020
Chapters: 18
Pages: 210
Black Sheep Trilogy order:
1. The Black Sheep’s Daughter (this review)
2. Lady in the Briars
3. Polly and the Prince
First let me begin this review by saying that I read this book back in 2015. However, after I read a book, I always try to write out my feelings on the story when I finish. Sometimes, I’m moved to write a great deal to type up later. Other times, I just feel up to writing a very basic review. I never intended for it to take me five YEARS to get it on my GoodReads account, but it has. Obviously, by now, I don’t really remember much about the story, though sometimes my notes help jog my memory. So, if the following review doesn’t really say much or deal too much with the story or plot, that’s probably because I wasn’t moved by one or the other or both to write more than I did. However, such as it is I give to you.
Book Summary: Sir Andrew Graylin, second son to a viscount, is dispatched by the Foreign Office to see how things go on abroad. His journey takes him to Costa Rica, where he meets Miss Teresa Danville, only daughter of eleven children to Lord Edward “Eduardo” Danville, son of the former Duke of Stafford. And, as Andrew quickly learns, this is a case of “like father, like daughter.” Lord Edward was a bit of a rake and had to flee England for killing the husband of his mistress in a duel. Joining on with some Spanish privateers, he eventually made his way to Costa Rica, where Teresa’s mother cared for the castaway and then he married her. Edward turned his energies to building up the most prosperous coffee plantation in costa Rica and rearing his ten sons and one daughter to go on as if they were English gentry. So, of course, Andrew’s surprised by Teresa’s dark good looks but also by her flawless English (no hint of an accent), but nothing shocks him more than that of their initial meeting: he’s being shot at—by her!
And so the adventures between them begin.
Andrew’s given charge of escorting Teresa and two of her brothers. In Jamaica, one of the two brothers leaves them behind, while Teresa and Marco travel on with Andrew to London, England, where Marco is to get a tutor so he can begin at the university and Teresa can be introduced into the Haut Ton and find herself a husband.
But, as Andrew soon learns, nothing with Teresa is ever simple, especially when she insists on traveling with her pet parrot (who only knows a couple of tame lines—the rest is swearing in Spanish and, from the boat ride, English) and her black abigail, whom Teresa rescued, along with about forty others, from a sinking slave-trading vessel.
The one difficulty to any love affair between Andrew and Teresa lies in the inconvenient fact that Andrew Graylin is engaged and to a girl Teresa quickly learns she enjoys having as a friend.
With such a dicey love triangle, Teresa and Andrew almost forget to credit the danger around them in the form of revenging slave traders and her reputation’s constantly being put into jeopardy by one thing or another. But the most damaging thing to their love is the name Andrew whispers just before passing out from a bullet wound that he took to save Teresa’s life.
And the name isn’t Teresa’s!
My Review (spoiler alert!): I liked this very much. The only annoying character was Andrew’s fiancée, Muriel Parr, but she redeems herself at the end. Everyone else is perfect. Teresa’s a good heroine (strong but not at all bitter or carrying a chip on her shoulder that prevents her from taking a man’s advice or help or that keeps her from conforming to the proprieties of her station as best she can. Andrew’s firm, brave, caring, likes animals and people, is great with Teresa’s family (of all ages), and strong enough to deal with Teresa as she needs to be dealt with. Lord John, Teresa’s cousin and second in line to the dukedom, is a romp. Marco is a sweet young boy who’s the right mixture of boyishness and Adventurer to be engaging and fun. The duke and duchess of Stafford are good in their respective roles—the former open, amiable, and fun-loving, the latter using her wiles to wield power but also being a dear in the end. Annie, Teresa’s abigail, is perfect for Teresa. Lady Parr, Muriel’s mother, is just as a woman in her position should be. Muriel’s a bore at first, but, in the end, comes around. And even Gayo the parrot is great, adding the right touch of whimsy to Teresa’s façade and also humor to any scene he’s in with his “Hello, hello, dinner, hello,” and “Misbegotten son of a sea snake!”
And the scrapes Teresa gets in! Each proves to be fun and not always her fault. The first is when she shoots at Andrew when he arrives. It turns out there was a snake just above his head. The next comes when she’s on her way to the boat with Andrew and her two brothers as she’s stopped by a jaguar in a tree above HER head in which Gayo saves the day. Then, on the boat, they overtake and capture a slave vessel, which begins to sink, so Teresa rushes with Andrew and Marco to save the helpless and bound slaves in the cargo hold from which she acquires Annie. Then they arrive in England. En route to London, Teresa becomes famous for her black abigail and her garrulous parrot. And then comes her entrance into society. Unsure of how to get on in various situations, her cousin, 24-year-old Lord John the Corinthian, manages to put her reputation to the test (not purposely to harm her but because he’s just a reckless, thoughtless “devil-may-care” fellow) by engaging in a shooting competition (Teresa wins but scandalizes the entire family and household—her cousin, Lord Danville, heir to the dukedom, must come to her reputation’s aid here) and by getting Marco in a curricle upset at the hands of Gayo. Teresa is whisked astride Andrew’s horse at a gallop during the hour in which everyone walks in Hyde Park. So, ASTRIDE Andrew’s horse, she’s taken ACROSS a crowded Hyde Park to see to her brother. She’s rescued from this scandal by her uncle’s decision to remove her from Society into the country to be “out of sight and mind.” This turns out to be a fortunate plan because of yet ANOTHER scandal that she’s unwittingly gotten herself into at the same time. It seems her aunt learns that Teresa’s also involved herself in TRADE—but only to fulfill her father’s request of securing contacts for their coffee plantation. So her aunt determines that a move to the country’s needed before the duke ever hears of THIS scandal. Of course, it’s in the country where Teresa and Muriel are kidnapped by Harrison, the captain of the slave vessel, at the behest of Carruthers, the owner of the operation. Teresa, of course, manages to handle the situation after a fashion (and with the surprising help of Muriel, who says she was acting in the past at Teresa’s scrapes the way her mother said all ladies should, “but I was never really all that scandalized” [paraphrased]), but the men contribute, too. Andrew sustains a bullet wound to the ribs in order to save Teresa’s life from the shot that likely would’ve killed her. Of course, this is at the end of the story. Before this, Marco gets into his own “scrape” at John’s hand, who leads him into a gaming hell. Carruthers, intending to do the boy harm by getting him to gamble, instead learns it’s better to know something of your mark before setting out to trap him because Marco, mathematician that he is, wins (not loses) 500 guineas! So his scrape isn’t really all that damaging; besides, a boy’s reputation is harder to damage than a girl’s. However, it all leads up to the bullet. Having been rescued, Muriel runs not into Andrew’s arms but Tom Danville’s (he’s the heir to the dukedom—the two having been falling in love since they first met), and Andrew realizes he gets to love Teresa now. However, there’s one obstacle: He whispers Muriel’s name before fainting, with Teresa kneeling over his bleeding body. It’s too much for her to bear. It takes almost a week before Andrew confronts her and learns of it and is able to tell her the truth: He only meant to say Muriel loves Tom, so he’s free to be with Teresa.
Love triumphant. (With one or two thoughts from Gayo, which bring smiles.)
As to the duchess: At first you don’t like her because she acts as if she’s going to be mean to Teresa, but she quickly turns around, the same as Lady Parr, who takes to Teresa despite her ill breeding. Really, because everyone changes so quickly, the only annoying one is Muriel, who does reveal she’s been playing her mother’s missish game and isn’t really so timid and delicate. (Though, I have to admit, Tom’s liking her at the outset—even when he learns she was so delicate—didn’t make me like him overly much. Granted, to have a wife be decorous is a GOOD thing, but to have such a wet blanket must be a bore! Yet he declared she was just the sort to be a duchess. Good grief. He sets the Duchess bar low, apparently.)
Grade: A+
Oh, there is just one thing that confused me. Beginning on page 89, Carola Dunn calls Tom Danville, the heir of the duke, Viscount Danville, but, in my research (Georgette Heyer has inspired me to try my hand at writing Regencies of my own), the heir of a duke is a marquis—the heir of an earl is a viscount. I thought at first it was a typo, but, for the rest of the book, she continues to label him “the viscount,” which was the only odd, confusing thing I found in the story. It didn’t take away from it for me, but I’m kind of a stickler for continuity, so it jumped out at me as a possible error. (Unless, of course, my research was wrong.) (8/2020—As I write up my notes, another possibility came to me, but, not having read the book in quite a while, I can’t remember the Danville family tree. But, perhaps, though he’s the heir of the duke, he’s not the actual son of the duke. Perhaps Tom’s the duke’s nephew or something and, in his own right, is a viscount. So perhaps there wasn’t a continuity issue but an oversight on my part.)
Pages: 210
Black Sheep Trilogy order:
1. The Black Sheep’s Daughter (this review)
2. Lady in the Briars
3. Polly and the Prince
First let me begin this review by saying that I read this book back in 2015. However, after I read a book, I always try to write out my feelings on the story when I finish. Sometimes, I’m moved to write a great deal to type up later. Other times, I just feel up to writing a very basic review. I never intended for it to take me five YEARS to get it on my GoodReads account, but it has. Obviously, by now, I don’t really remember much about the story, though sometimes my notes help jog my memory. So, if the following review doesn’t really say much or deal too much with the story or plot, that’s probably because I wasn’t moved by one or the other or both to write more than I did. However, such as it is I give to you.
Book Summary: Sir Andrew Graylin, second son to a viscount, is dispatched by the Foreign Office to see how things go on abroad. His journey takes him to Costa Rica, where he meets Miss Teresa Danville, only daughter of eleven children to Lord Edward “Eduardo” Danville, son of the former Duke of Stafford. And, as Andrew quickly learns, this is a case of “like father, like daughter.” Lord Edward was a bit of a rake and had to flee England for killing the husband of his mistress in a duel. Joining on with some Spanish privateers, he eventually made his way to Costa Rica, where Teresa’s mother cared for the castaway and then he married her. Edward turned his energies to building up the most prosperous coffee plantation in costa Rica and rearing his ten sons and one daughter to go on as if they were English gentry. So, of course, Andrew’s surprised by Teresa’s dark good looks but also by her flawless English (no hint of an accent), but nothing shocks him more than that of their initial meeting: he’s being shot at—by her!
And so the adventures between them begin.
Andrew’s given charge of escorting Teresa and two of her brothers. In Jamaica, one of the two brothers leaves them behind, while Teresa and Marco travel on with Andrew to London, England, where Marco is to get a tutor so he can begin at the university and Teresa can be introduced into the Haut Ton and find herself a husband.
But, as Andrew soon learns, nothing with Teresa is ever simple, especially when she insists on traveling with her pet parrot (who only knows a couple of tame lines—the rest is swearing in Spanish and, from the boat ride, English) and her black abigail, whom Teresa rescued, along with about forty others, from a sinking slave-trading vessel.
The one difficulty to any love affair between Andrew and Teresa lies in the inconvenient fact that Andrew Graylin is engaged and to a girl Teresa quickly learns she enjoys having as a friend.
With such a dicey love triangle, Teresa and Andrew almost forget to credit the danger around them in the form of revenging slave traders and her reputation’s constantly being put into jeopardy by one thing or another. But the most damaging thing to their love is the name Andrew whispers just before passing out from a bullet wound that he took to save Teresa’s life.
And the name isn’t Teresa’s!
My Review (spoiler alert!): I liked this very much. The only annoying character was Andrew’s fiancée, Muriel Parr, but she redeems herself at the end. Everyone else is perfect. Teresa’s a good heroine (strong but not at all bitter or carrying a chip on her shoulder that prevents her from taking a man’s advice or help or that keeps her from conforming to the proprieties of her station as best she can. Andrew’s firm, brave, caring, likes animals and people, is great with Teresa’s family (of all ages), and strong enough to deal with Teresa as she needs to be dealt with. Lord John, Teresa’s cousin and second in line to the dukedom, is a romp. Marco is a sweet young boy who’s the right mixture of boyishness and Adventurer to be engaging and fun. The duke and duchess of Stafford are good in their respective roles—the former open, amiable, and fun-loving, the latter using her wiles to wield power but also being a dear in the end. Annie, Teresa’s abigail, is perfect for Teresa. Lady Parr, Muriel’s mother, is just as a woman in her position should be. Muriel’s a bore at first, but, in the end, comes around. And even Gayo the parrot is great, adding the right touch of whimsy to Teresa’s façade and also humor to any scene he’s in with his “Hello, hello, dinner, hello,” and “Misbegotten son of a sea snake!”
And the scrapes Teresa gets in! Each proves to be fun and not always her fault. The first is when she shoots at Andrew when he arrives. It turns out there was a snake just above his head. The next comes when she’s on her way to the boat with Andrew and her two brothers as she’s stopped by a jaguar in a tree above HER head in which Gayo saves the day. Then, on the boat, they overtake and capture a slave vessel, which begins to sink, so Teresa rushes with Andrew and Marco to save the helpless and bound slaves in the cargo hold from which she acquires Annie. Then they arrive in England. En route to London, Teresa becomes famous for her black abigail and her garrulous parrot. And then comes her entrance into society. Unsure of how to get on in various situations, her cousin, 24-year-old Lord John the Corinthian, manages to put her reputation to the test (not purposely to harm her but because he’s just a reckless, thoughtless “devil-may-care” fellow) by engaging in a shooting competition (Teresa wins but scandalizes the entire family and household—her cousin, Lord Danville, heir to the dukedom, must come to her reputation’s aid here) and by getting Marco in a curricle upset at the hands of Gayo. Teresa is whisked astride Andrew’s horse at a gallop during the hour in which everyone walks in Hyde Park. So, ASTRIDE Andrew’s horse, she’s taken ACROSS a crowded Hyde Park to see to her brother. She’s rescued from this scandal by her uncle’s decision to remove her from Society into the country to be “out of sight and mind.” This turns out to be a fortunate plan because of yet ANOTHER scandal that she’s unwittingly gotten herself into at the same time. It seems her aunt learns that Teresa’s also involved herself in TRADE—but only to fulfill her father’s request of securing contacts for their coffee plantation. So her aunt determines that a move to the country’s needed before the duke ever hears of THIS scandal. Of course, it’s in the country where Teresa and Muriel are kidnapped by Harrison, the captain of the slave vessel, at the behest of Carruthers, the owner of the operation. Teresa, of course, manages to handle the situation after a fashion (and with the surprising help of Muriel, who says she was acting in the past at Teresa’s scrapes the way her mother said all ladies should, “but I was never really all that scandalized” [paraphrased]), but the men contribute, too. Andrew sustains a bullet wound to the ribs in order to save Teresa’s life from the shot that likely would’ve killed her. Of course, this is at the end of the story. Before this, Marco gets into his own “scrape” at John’s hand, who leads him into a gaming hell. Carruthers, intending to do the boy harm by getting him to gamble, instead learns it’s better to know something of your mark before setting out to trap him because Marco, mathematician that he is, wins (not loses) 500 guineas! So his scrape isn’t really all that damaging; besides, a boy’s reputation is harder to damage than a girl’s. However, it all leads up to the bullet. Having been rescued, Muriel runs not into Andrew’s arms but Tom Danville’s (he’s the heir to the dukedom—the two having been falling in love since they first met), and Andrew realizes he gets to love Teresa now. However, there’s one obstacle: He whispers Muriel’s name before fainting, with Teresa kneeling over his bleeding body. It’s too much for her to bear. It takes almost a week before Andrew confronts her and learns of it and is able to tell her the truth: He only meant to say Muriel loves Tom, so he’s free to be with Teresa.
Love triumphant. (With one or two thoughts from Gayo, which bring smiles.)
As to the duchess: At first you don’t like her because she acts as if she’s going to be mean to Teresa, but she quickly turns around, the same as Lady Parr, who takes to Teresa despite her ill breeding. Really, because everyone changes so quickly, the only annoying one is Muriel, who does reveal she’s been playing her mother’s missish game and isn’t really so timid and delicate. (Though, I have to admit, Tom’s liking her at the outset—even when he learns she was so delicate—didn’t make me like him overly much. Granted, to have a wife be decorous is a GOOD thing, but to have such a wet blanket must be a bore! Yet he declared she was just the sort to be a duchess. Good grief. He sets the Duchess bar low, apparently.)
Grade: A+
Oh, there is just one thing that confused me. Beginning on page 89, Carola Dunn calls Tom Danville, the heir of the duke, Viscount Danville, but, in my research (Georgette Heyer has inspired me to try my hand at writing Regencies of my own), the heir of a duke is a marquis—the heir of an earl is a viscount. I thought at first it was a typo, but, for the rest of the book, she continues to label him “the viscount,” which was the only odd, confusing thing I found in the story. It didn’t take away from it for me, but I’m kind of a stickler for continuity, so it jumped out at me as a possible error. (Unless, of course, my research was wrong.) (8/2020—As I write up my notes, another possibility came to me, but, not having read the book in quite a while, I can’t remember the Danville family tree. But, perhaps, though he’s the heir of the duke, he’s not the actual son of the duke. Perhaps Tom’s the duke’s nephew or something and, in his own right, is a viscount. So perhaps there wasn’t a continuity issue but an oversight on my part.)
March 10, 2014
Teresa Danville is beautiful and brave, and she wants to see more of the world than just her Costa Rican farm. She convinces her father to let her have a Season in London. Just getting to England is an adventure, and once she's there Teresa is enthused by the people she meets but disappointed with how shallow their interests are. The only person who shares her love of travel and excitement is Sir Andrew, but he is engaged to marry their mutual friend Muriel. Teresa finally resolves to quit England so as not to torment herself with unrequited love any further, but then she and Muriel are kidnapped!
Very pleasant story, with a wider view of the Regency-era world than one usually gets from historical romances. I appreciated that Teresa and Muriel really were friends; Muriel's doll-like beauty and lady like timidity didn't exist just as a foil to Teresa.
Very pleasant story, with a wider view of the Regency-era world than one usually gets from historical romances. I appreciated that Teresa and Muriel really were friends; Muriel's doll-like beauty and lady like timidity didn't exist just as a foil to Teresa.
October 12, 2018
The settings are what really stand out in this story as it moves from South American hacienda to the jungle then onto a British sailing ship and into the drawing rooms of London before concluding in the English countryside. The plot is pretty good and the story flows smoothly. The main characters are smart and strong and interesting. It’s an enjoyable Regency romance/adventure. The happy ending was a bit of a twist and I liked it.
Violence, no sex, swearing in multiple languages mostly by an endearing parrot
Violence, no sex, swearing in multiple languages mostly by an endearing parrot
September 24, 2018
This was a fun adventure story set in Costa Rica, England, and in the travels in between, sometime in the 1800s. The novel reminded me a little bit of Nancy Drew with a fearless heroine. It was an adventure and romance, mixed in with some comedies of manners. A fun, light read which was what I was looking for (I found this by searching for books set in Costa Rica, since we are planning a trip there later this fall).
February 21, 2023
I came very close to putting this book down for good and never thinking about it again. The writing is weak. The characters aren't developed. The heroic heroine is improbable.
Halfway through, I decided to read it as if it were a Young Adult Fantasy book instead of a Regency Romance. How nice it would have been to read about such a strong, self-sufficient female character when I was a youth.
By the end, I felt better about the book, although I won't be continuing with the series.
Halfway through, I decided to read it as if it were a Young Adult Fantasy book instead of a Regency Romance. How nice it would have been to read about such a strong, self-sufficient female character when I was a youth.
By the end, I felt better about the book, although I won't be continuing with the series.
June 5, 2022
Veramente, Carola Dunn mi ha stavolta sorpreso: una storia originale, ben condotta, meno melensa del solito. Ho apprezzato la competente descrizione dell'ambiente sudamericano del tempo, e mi son lasciata conquistare dal pappagallo ciarliero, che mi ha strappato più di una risata.
E se la storia, nel complesso e nelle singole scene, è spesso fortemente improbabile, che dire? Fa parte del gioco.
E se la storia, nel complesso e nelle singole scene, è spesso fortemente improbabile, che dire? Fa parte del gioco.
February 7, 2024
Teresa is a likable character - she can shoot and tend to wounds and is, of course, beautiful, but is not annoying. Andrew is a great character - trying to do what is right for his fiancé while fighting his growing love for Teresa.
January 21, 2018
Enjoyable and fun read
December 6, 2018
Great story
A feisty heroine from Costa Rica introduced to the ‘ton’ and an English ambassador who is already engaged are the protagonists in this story. Nary a dull moment!
A feisty heroine from Costa Rica introduced to the ‘ton’ and an English ambassador who is already engaged are the protagonists in this story. Nary a dull moment!
August 31, 2019
Quick, fun read. Carola Dunn never disappoints. And it's apparently the first in a trilogy, the rest of which I will now track down.
April 7, 2020
A delightful and unusually self sufficient heroine for a Regency.
October 27, 2022
Two and a half stars rounded up to three - I'm not sure if my standards are just too low for any Romance novel (that isn't Heyer) because "it was OK" describes it better than "I liked it".
April 26, 2014
As with all the books written by Carola Dunn I have read, I quite enjoyed this book. I like the characters and the plot. And the romance portion of the story is PG. But I was almost to the end of the book and I could tell that the story would end at the proposal. And then I would reach through the book to smack the author. Much to my surprise, there were several paragraphs after the proposal. It's amazing what a difference an extra 100 words makes. I think this is my favorite book by her so far.
April 24, 2012
A nice fluff Regency romance piece with all the standard requisite characters - lovely but feisty young ladies, handsome men, and the occasional villain. A perfect light vacation read and a good change of genre from my usual mystery/thriller/murder and mayhem choices. The beginning of the book is set in Costa Rica and as I visited there some years ago, it was interesting to read about life there in the early 1800s.
September 10, 2016
Black Sheep's Daughter is a swashbuckling Regency romance in the tradition of Georgette Heyer, thoroughly enjoyable, with a spunky, likeable heroine, an intelligent, likeable hero and a lot of interesting information about Costa Rica and the politics of the time. Looking forward to reading more Dunn!
September 25, 2009
Regency
November 11, 2013
The first one of Carola Dunn's books that I haven't finished. It failed to interest me within the first chapter and showed no promise of improving.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews