The Loving Seasons

by Elizabeth Walker

THE BESIEGED MISS BERRYMAN

Miss Emma Berryman's friend Maggie Sommervale had a father to arrange a marriage for Maggie, even though it was to a notorious rake. Her other friend, Lady Anne Parsons, had vast wealth to attract a swarm of suitors. But Emma had neither family nor fortune. She had only beauty and wit to make her mark in the London marriage mart.

This was enough for two of society's most handsome bluebloods: the elegant, arrogant Viscount Dunn, and the scandalously seductive Sir Nicolas Dyrham. Unfortunately both these gentlemen seemed less keen on winning Emma's hand than her favors-in a tug-of-love that could lose her far more than her heart....

Genres: Historical Romance, Regency, Regency Romance, Romance, Historical, Traditional Regency

1 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published April 1, 1983

Reviews

[Naksed · Rating 3 out of 5]

Engrossing read about three very different best friends who experience their first London season, first love and first heartbreak, in the Regency era. Ultimately though, each of the romances left me, personally, wanting, because none of them left me with the impression of all encompassing love.

Couple 1 is a marriage of a convenience between a timid "mousey" girl and a reluctantly reformed young rake. The rake is forced into marriage because he lost an immensely stupid bet in a drunken bout with his cunning future father-in-law. The mouse never finds out about the reasons for her arranged marriage, even though her sister-in-law kindly offers to share the details, the rake is never confronted with it, nor is this issue with the horrible, abusive dad ever resolved.

The consummation of the marriage takes place in the wee hours of the morning when the sleepy, hungover, disoriented rake thinks he is in bed with his mistress and starts to fondle the warm, soft body next to his, only to find out, after he has already penetrated her, that it is his panicked, virgin wife that is lying beneath him. He curses his mistake then proceeds to finish the job as fast as he can to get it over with. The mouse is understandably traumatized.

This issue is similarly just swept under the rug and the spouses continue their nightly conjugal visits with ostensibly the mouse getting no enjoyment but just gritting her teeth, closing her eyes, and thinking of England. Until one day, inexplicably, the rake decides on a whim that he is going to be magnanimous and teach his wife the pleasures of her body. Follows a short, very artificial sex scene in which we are supposed to believe this emotionally and physically traumatized mouse suddenly responds to the blissful manipulations of her sexy husband. Puh-leeze!

Mouse gets pregnant. Rake goes back to mistress and his own fun and friends. Miscarriage. Lather, rinse, repeat. Mouse gets pregnant again. Rake goes back to mistress again but overhears a conversation of his wife and her friend where she bemoans the fact that he has taken up with his mistress again. This martyr feels guilty because she cannot give her husband the only pleasure he gets from her, which is a willing body, and blames her pregnancy for driving him back to his mistress! Rake decides then and there to give up the mistress at least on some nights so mouse doesn't feel abandoned anymore.

As far as MOC tropes go, this was an epic fail. I understand and agree that what the author describes at the outset is very realistic and plausible of the upper class marriages of convenience of the era, with the husband treating the wife as an obligation, the ignorant wife thinking she has to endure it, and the mistress being available for the "real" fun. But in a romance, I need to be shown the process during which the players build up friendship, then intimacy, then love between each other. I need for the mouse to evolve into someone who can stand up for herself and the callous, selfish, arrogant cad to be taken down a few notches, at least get some insight, some remorse into his past actions and try to be a better version of himself. I did not feel that I got that here. Not enough development, probably because the author is tackling three different relationship over the same number of pages that it normally takes one single romance to develop.

Couple 2 is the nice, aristocratic heiress who has her pick of the ton's most eligible bachelors but instead chooses to fall in love with a penniless artist. I am not going to dwell on this one because it was too boring.

Couple 3 was the most interesting. I really, really liked the unconventional heroine. She was forever toeing the line between respectability and becoming a demi-mondaine. You felt a sense of danger for her because it was unpredictable which fork in the road she would take.

But what I liked most about her was her development. The author spent a long time on it and it paid off, making her a living, breathing, fresh, modern woman without being anachronistic. She had insight into herself, took the advice of her aunt (another wonderful character) to heart and took her destiny into her own hands, refusing to let flirts and fashion fill up her life,but striving to become an artist, use her intelligence, and make a mark. Bravo!

Unfortunately, in my opinion, her romance was ultimately a fail because the OM ended up being a more attractive, complex, and charismatic character than the hero, and I am not wholly convinced that the heroine and the OM would not have made a smashing success of a marriage if they both hadn't got cold feet.

There was more affection, witty banter and sexual tension between the feisty heroine and the cynical, attractive, worldly OM than there was between heroine and grumpy, cold hero, a Lord Darcy prototype without the warmth. Actually there isn't much between the two other than a prolonged bickerfest.

Adding to these three plots, the author gives us two more sub-plots with the heroine's aunt and her estranged husband, and an eccentric, white-haired, twenty year old recluse who falls for a mysterious fencer she spies on from the window of her house. Nice characters and stories but just too much! It thinned out the already pretty thin three main stories.

Overall, I think most fans of this genre would like this book. It is certainly very engrossing and unputdownable. I stayed up til the wee hours to finish it, once I had started, which is unusual for me these days. It is just my personal opinion that I did not find it ultra romantic. I like leaving a romance feeling happy that the protagonists conquered obstacles to be with each other because a life without each other would be a life not worth living. Unfortunately, I did not get that feeling here.

[boogenhagen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is hands down my favoritist Regency ever. This is an all star ensemble cast and it follows the lives of three ladies from leaving school to the Marriage Mart and beyond. I adore this book and reread it when ever I am in the mood for a well rounded and complex Regency that doesn't rely on smuggling, spying or intense passionate liaisons with dubious scenes that would be more fitting in a contemporary than a trad Regency.

Give this one a go if you like character driven plots that really envelope you in the world of the Regency and all it's attendant conventions.

[Lyuda · Rating 5 out of 5]

My battered paperback copy was almost falling apart and now the book, I am happy to say, is available electronically. I loved it on re-read! You'll get, actually, at least three very different romances in one book. At the beginning, we meet three lovely young ladies with "proper backgrounds, adequate dowries" on the verge of leaving their school to an exciting world of balls, rides and everything else they dream London season has to offer. The girls, Maggie, Anne and Emma, could not be more different form each other but they were the best friends. "Anne was always willing to listen to the complaints of the younger girls, and Maggie to console them, Emma was the one who made them laugh and forget any disagreeable incident". "Their dream of how their lives would progress had not a shred of practicality. Things had started to go wrong even before they left school. Reality had intruded on their make-believe world and they had been powerless to handle even that first crisis". The author cleverly presented the plot as three seasons in London highlighting the changes, the growth, the maturity of the heroines. Each of them chose a different path to their eventual HEA and some had to accept the choice made by others. For Maggie, it was a marriage arranged by her father to the man she never met. For Anne, it was a trial and turbulence of falling in love with someone not her socially equal and for Emma, well for Emma, with her exotic looks, high spirit, unbound curiosity, you just have to read the story to find out. Her path to happiness was actually the longest and the most fun to read. Even though there were many secondary characters in the story, I didn't get lost or overwhelmed by them. If you are looking for a serious, believable Regency romance with well developed characters, don't miss this wonderful book.

[Leona · Rating 4 out of 5]

A story about three young women making their debut into London society. The story takes place over a three year period and tells each of their personal journeys to a HEA. There were some truly sad moments mostly based on the societal restrictions that limited women of that time period. Yet, there were also some fun escapades that lightened the story and balanced it out nicely.

My only negative is the writing got complicated in places and the overall progression of the story slowed down a bit. I also found some editing errors in my online copy. Professional editing would have helped, but overall it's very well done and highly entertaining.

[Preeti ♥︎ Her Bookshelves · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75*
This was somewhat of a charming surprise. But the length (the seasons, you see!) didn’t do much for my patience (or lack of it.) And few other things put me off as well. As the blurb says, its’s the coming of age kind of story of three friends just waiting to get out of school and excited for their new life to begin. Of at least two of them are.

Major spoilers For the third, the quiet and diffident Maggie, her father fixes her marriage even before she’s out of school. Her reluctant husband, only a few years older than her, is a carefree and careless young man not quite ready for such a responsibility. He hurts her often without meaning to. He’s a nice guy but without much depth or maturity and certainly no sensitivity. He has a mistress (off-pages) and so the question is whether he’ll give her up and come to appreciate the quiet charms of his bride. Suffice it to say that they will manage a comfortable marriage - nothing terribly romantic or loving. But good solid comfort!

First, I thought Maggie would be the main h but actually it’s Emma - confident, vivacious and flirtatious - and her frolics that get the starring role in the book. And she's a loyal, likable and big hearted girl who, though she considers herself more worldly than her years warrant, isn’t peevish when given good advice and does mend her ways somewhat at one point in the story.
But, still it’s a marvel she didn't get ruined by gossip - because of her unconventional and outrageous behavior, her flirtatious ways and her love of painting. She definitely flirts on the brink of disaster many a times. Certainly her aunt was not a fit person to bring her out, or to house her - what with her much sullied reputation, and her inability to give up her lover/s even when she has young, unmarried girls living under her roof. Oh, she tries to be discreet but no one can be that discreet!
And I am not sure I like how her story/romance progresses after the initial setting of tone. She and Dunn (Always Dunn. Does he have a given name?) are perfect for each other but too much space and leeway is given to Sir Nicholas, the much older om. Complete older-male-in-his-prime privilege that he can so easily 'pair' with a barely-out-of-schoolroom miss.
I abhorred how openly and discourteously the om flirts and talks about subjects not quite right for such a young girl. Okay, so she dons much more sophisticated airs than her age warrants and her aunt doesn’t really put out a good example but it jars still. Especially the way he speaks to her about her aunt and what happens in the bedroom, like once when they go out into the garden at a ball. They claim to be kindred spirits and they - 'Emma' and 'Nick' - do seem to be just that.
But it put me off considerably as it takes away from the h/H equation and interactions. And what to speak of the sexual attraction she feels for the rakish om and their almost couplings. Certainly many occasions of touching and more of second base! Btw, the poor H gets to witness the ardor. And no, I will not state the obvious here. The H already seems quite redundant!
This follows the MU - the kind where Lady Bessborough is invoked and the seasons becomes longer than long. All said, Emma is an exceptional h - strong and unforgettable.

Anne, the last girl is the most balanced of them and the author forgets her for a while. And her story/romance begins in a tepid way and with much uninspiring conversations. But I think I liked her story the best in the end! Really sweet and formulaic in the ways of a true love story!

Apart from the length., the much loose morals of those times put me off considerably. Cheating in a story usually adds angst and I actually lap it up if it adds raw, see-sawing emotions followed up by a redeeming and a grovel.
But here, it’s not only pervasive but also considered as customary and common-place as a cup of tea. Emotions are not invoked at all. The characters (not most mcs, of course) in this book think nothing of adultery, sleeping around or plain sexual pull - even when they ‘love’ somebody else! So the needs of the body are separated from that of the heart’s desires. Reality? I found it distasteful and dissatisfying.

So, three seasons for the three girls. They couldn't all settle down in one, could they? Plus, two minor romances and we have a really long 'loving'!

[Mou: Fae of Heartfelt ARC]

It's realistic in that era, but I like my romance without cheating.
Naksed's review

[Olivia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Three friends leave their school for adventure in London. This book follows their three london seasons. The depth of characters is amazing. We meet Maggie days before her arranged marriage and watch her blossom to a charming young women. Anne, the daughter of a marquees, is expected to make a suitable match, but heart rules instead of the head. Emma, by far the most lively, is enjoyable to watch as her follies take her on a whirlwind season. By far, one of my most favorite traditional regencies.

[Amy S · Rating 4 out of 5]

I almost want to give this one 5 stars but it was only very good for me and not quite magical. It took me a little while to really get into this one, there are A LOT of characters to keep track of.
Somewhere in the first section of the book I began to see how the book was an excellent study of human nature. There are several couples with all their communication problems and hang-ups and dilemmas... the story is not simple or sweet. There are places where I cringed and places where I found myself connecting emotionally to the struggles of the different characters.
The story begins with three young women with high expectations of what life will be like for them. Right off the start one of them ends up pretty much having her dreams crushed. Not your normal romance novel plot line. I'm going to say this one won't be for everyone and I would have hated it when I was younger.
The ending is basically happy but also makes the clear point that finding love doesn't solve all your problems and that it takes effort from both people in a relationship to maintain any kind of connection.
Minimal violence, brief sex scenes and a few make out scenes, some language, themes of miscarriage, adultery

[K · Rating 1 out of 5]

Liked the character of Maggie, irritated by the character of Emma. Before I got too far into the book, it became apparent that things were going to become inappropriate, so I decided to stop reading it. After checking some reviews, it sounds like it's a good thing I did.

[Patrizia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un romanzo completo, con tre amiche protagoniste destinate a tre strade diverse. Mi è piaciuto molto.
L'autrice è talvolta affrettata e contraddittoria, specialmente nei finali; ma in questo caso, a parte qualche 'americanismo' non ho trovato nulla da rimproverarle

[Angelica · Rating 4 out of 5]

"4.5 ⭐️" ...🩷

[Cathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did not like Maggie's story which began the book. Anne's story was just okay and Emma's story went off the rails.

[Frances · Rating 3 out of 5]

All three stories were good, but she would have been better served to have had three books in a series and linked them.

[Susannah Carleton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding! There is something about this story, these characters, or, most likely, the combination of characters and story that really resonates with me. I've read this book many times, and it's as delightful after 15 or 20 readings as it was the first time.

[Lynn Calvin]

Fictionwise multiformat ebook

[Marya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good character development

[Abra · Rating 5 out of 5]

re-read 9/5/15; re-read again August 2017