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Regency #1
The Viscount's Vixen
A GAME OF HEARTS
Lovely Philipa Lambert's rather unseemly interest in Parliamentary politics has labeled her the most outrageous bluestocking in Britain. And now she has agreed to help fellow upstart Arabelle Portham snare a wealthy husband.
Handsome Lord Alexander St. Ives is the ideal matrimonial candidate - but the notorious rake only has eyes for Philipa. The practical miss is perplexed by the unwanted attention - and incensed to discover that Alex's ardent suit stems from the scheming cad's desire to win a wager! But she is determined to outfox the charming deceiver at his own game - embarking on a merry chase that will intrigue and amuse the London ton...and lead Philipa unwittingly straight to Alex's heart.
Lovely Philipa Lambert's rather unseemly interest in Parliamentary politics has labeled her the most outrageous bluestocking in Britain. And now she has agreed to help fellow upstart Arabelle Portham snare a wealthy husband.
Handsome Lord Alexander St. Ives is the ideal matrimonial candidate - but the notorious rake only has eyes for Philipa. The practical miss is perplexed by the unwanted attention - and incensed to discover that Alex's ardent suit stems from the scheming cad's desire to win a wager! But she is determined to outfox the charming deceiver at his own game - embarking on a merry chase that will intrigue and amuse the London ton...and lead Philipa unwittingly straight to Alex's heart.
186 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 1992
About the author
Joan Overfield
27 books12 followersAKA: Carolyn Madison
Joan Overfield (aka Carolyn Madison) has been a published author since winning the Golden Heart Award from Romance Writers of America in 1987 for her Regency, The Prodigal Spinster. Since then she has written a total of twenty-four novels. Along the way Joan has made several bestsellers lists and won numerous awards for her work, including 1998 Career Achievement in Regency Romance from Romantic Times magazine. Her Time Travel, The Door Ajar is in the list of Romantic Times magazine's 200 All-Time Reviewer Favorites.
Joan's varied career has included seven years as a 911 emergency operator. That experience contributed to her writing by training her to assess situations and people – skills she now uses as she develops plots and characters.
Joan uses her stories to showcase characters who reflect her life views. "All of my heroes operate from a strong sense of honor and duty," she says. "I admire that and I believe strongly in right and wrong." The goals of her characters can be summed up in the poem "Ulysses" – "To strive, to find, to seek, and not to yield."
She lives in Oregon with her golden retriever, Libby, and an ornery alley cat named Pounce. She is also a killer Trivial Pursuit player, and loves the smokey wail of a tenor sax and the icy bite of perfectly chilled champagne.
Joan Overfield (aka Carolyn Madison) has been a published author since winning the Golden Heart Award from Romance Writers of America in 1987 for her Regency, The Prodigal Spinster. Since then she has written a total of twenty-four novels. Along the way Joan has made several bestsellers lists and won numerous awards for her work, including 1998 Career Achievement in Regency Romance from Romantic Times magazine. Her Time Travel, The Door Ajar is in the list of Romantic Times magazine's 200 All-Time Reviewer Favorites.
Joan's varied career has included seven years as a 911 emergency operator. That experience contributed to her writing by training her to assess situations and people – skills she now uses as she develops plots and characters.
Joan uses her stories to showcase characters who reflect her life views. "All of my heroes operate from a strong sense of honor and duty," she says. "I admire that and I believe strongly in right and wrong." The goals of her characters can be summed up in the poem "Ulysses" – "To strive, to find, to seek, and not to yield."
She lives in Oregon with her golden retriever, Libby, and an ornery alley cat named Pounce. She is also a killer Trivial Pursuit player, and loves the smokey wail of a tenor sax and the icy bite of perfectly chilled champagne.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
March 14, 2024
This one was harder for me to get into, but only at the very first. I don't know exactly what I found so jarring in the opening pages. I thought, perhaps, it might be the political focus or the sharp and catty (almost cutting) wit of the characters, which was even more pronounced than in the other Overfield books I've had the great pleasure of reading. Whatever it was, that struggle was short lived. I would read this book ten times over to catch the nuances of temper and sentiment in the ebb and flow of Alex and Pip's interactions. It was beautiful to watch their feelings for each other change over the course of the novel, as both did their utmost to maintain their composure in the face of unpleasant and often precarious circumstances and, in the end, developed a lasting trust in one another despite the hurt of their own words and actions and the words and actions of others. I greatly enjoyed this book and would recommend Overfield's whole Regency series. It can be read out of order, as I have done, though I wonder now what it would have been like to read the other three books with this story as the basis for building the particular Regency world these characters belong to. I started with A Proper Taming (#4). After that, I read The Dutiful Duke (#3). I have yet to read book two, Belle of the Ball, having determined after reading the third that the second might be better coming after the first. However they are read, I truly love this series and highly recommend it to any and all Regency fans.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 12, 2011
This is a very good traditional Regency with characters common to the genre: the "plain" bluestocking spinster heroine, Philipa Lambert aka Pip, and the tall, dark and handsome rakish newly-titled viscount, Lord Alexander St. Ives.
(Note: This book was one of the first romance novels I'd ever read around fifteen years ago. It was a library book and, thus, unfortunately not part of my collection. After a couple of years, I decided to add it to my "wish list" on half.com. Obviously, it was memorable enough for me to want to own it and reread it. Finally, I took the plunge and bought a copy recently - some fifteen years after my first reading. I started reading it with a little trepidation, not knowing what to expect with such high expectations for my memorable reading experience that many years ago. Thankfully, I was not disappointed.)
Although it features (on the surface) cliches of the genre, I liked it for revealing a deeper character in each protagonist than just the cliche. The hero is fantastic - rakish, but with a strong and ingrained sense of honor. He has the flaws of a traditional Regency rake - namely, a healthy dose of arrogance and highhandedness - but it works well with the plot and creates fireworks in his interactions with Pip. Pip is a bluestocking and well-read with rather radical ideas and what had always been a firm aversion to submitting herself to the stifling bonds of marriage. That said, she struggles with these strong opinions when it becomes clear to her that St. Ives, with his intelligence and honor, is more than her match in every way.
The plot begins with Pip's friend, a wealthy heiress, deciding she wants to marry for the opportunity to be a political hostess. (The book blurb is wrong in saying the friend needs a wealthy husband.) Pip's friend chooses St. Ives because she (mistakenly) thinks he's just a fashionable fribble who will be easily molded, and she pushes Pip to aid her in this cause. St. Ives, unbeknownst to the ladies, has a gambit of his own to uphold - namely, a wager that involves Pip. (Even though he doesn't want to drag a lady's name into a wager, he is pretty much forced to take it by his friends. In the description of how things played out, this aspect didn't take away from his character/sense of honor in my eyes.) They are thrown together any number of times due to their respective motives, in London and at a house party. To say more after this would give away spoilers. Let's just say the second half of the book is a match of wits between two strong personalities, who ultimately realize they can't live without one another.
Overall, recommended - this book was a pleasure, and I'm happy to have (finally) added it to my collection.
(Note: This book was one of the first romance novels I'd ever read around fifteen years ago. It was a library book and, thus, unfortunately not part of my collection. After a couple of years, I decided to add it to my "wish list" on half.com. Obviously, it was memorable enough for me to want to own it and reread it. Finally, I took the plunge and bought a copy recently - some fifteen years after my first reading. I started reading it with a little trepidation, not knowing what to expect with such high expectations for my memorable reading experience that many years ago. Thankfully, I was not disappointed.)
Although it features (on the surface) cliches of the genre, I liked it for revealing a deeper character in each protagonist than just the cliche. The hero is fantastic - rakish, but with a strong and ingrained sense of honor. He has the flaws of a traditional Regency rake - namely, a healthy dose of arrogance and highhandedness - but it works well with the plot and creates fireworks in his interactions with Pip. Pip is a bluestocking and well-read with rather radical ideas and what had always been a firm aversion to submitting herself to the stifling bonds of marriage. That said, she struggles with these strong opinions when it becomes clear to her that St. Ives, with his intelligence and honor, is more than her match in every way.
The plot begins with Pip's friend, a wealthy heiress, deciding she wants to marry for the opportunity to be a political hostess. (The book blurb is wrong in saying the friend needs a wealthy husband.) Pip's friend chooses St. Ives because she (mistakenly) thinks he's just a fashionable fribble who will be easily molded, and she pushes Pip to aid her in this cause. St. Ives, unbeknownst to the ladies, has a gambit of his own to uphold - namely, a wager that involves Pip. (Even though he doesn't want to drag a lady's name into a wager, he is pretty much forced to take it by his friends. In the description of how things played out, this aspect didn't take away from his character/sense of honor in my eyes.) They are thrown together any number of times due to their respective motives, in London and at a house party. To say more after this would give away spoilers. Let's just say the second half of the book is a match of wits between two strong personalities, who ultimately realize they can't live without one another.
Overall, recommended - this book was a pleasure, and I'm happy to have (finally) added it to my collection.
August 2, 2013
Phillipa Lambert's motto is "better the shroud than the veil" and despises the "fashionable fribbles" of Society who never think of anything more than their waistcoats or drinking, gambling and wenching. Phillipa's lofty intellectual pursuits include studying politics and writing incendiary political tracts. The last thing she wants is a husband telling her what to do! Her best friend, the beautiful heiress Arabelle Portham shares Pip's interest in politics and has also seen fit to avoid being shackled with a husband, which is why Pip is shocked when Belle coolly announces her intention of finding a husband. Belle figures that she will choose a husband who is not very interested in politics so she can influence his opinion and become a great political hostess. She has set her sights on Alexander St. Ives, the new Viscount St. Ives, a handsome, charming rake. Pip is outraged even further when the Viscount begins to pay attention to her instead of Belle! Alex doesn't approve of Pip's hoydenish ways and sees fit to tell her so, frequently, which angers Pip. She can't understand why the Viscount is paying her so much attention until she learns that he has made a bet that he can charm her into attending the Prince Regent's Ball. Pip is determined that Alex will lose the bet but she doesn't count on him to be so honorable or so charming and her stubborn pride nearly costs her the one thing she never thought she wanted.
I identified strongly with Pip and her feelings about the gentlemen of the ton and longing for something more than her existence on the fringes of society. I would have liked to have known more about Pip and her political interests and activities. Alex is an appealing hero most of the time but there isn't much back story so I felt like I didn't really know him very well. Some of the writing is cliched and repetitive (i.e "wolfish smile") and isn't very remarkable. This is a slightly above average Regency romance that I would recommend to those who like romances about strong, independent women.
I identified strongly with Pip and her feelings about the gentlemen of the ton and longing for something more than her existence on the fringes of society. I would have liked to have known more about Pip and her political interests and activities. Alex is an appealing hero most of the time but there isn't much back story so I felt like I didn't really know him very well. Some of the writing is cliched and repetitive (i.e "wolfish smile") and isn't very remarkable. This is a slightly above average Regency romance that I would recommend to those who like romances about strong, independent women.
February 24, 2013
Phillipa Lambert’s friend Belle has determined that she will marry Lord Alexander St. Ives and mold him into the politician husband she wants. Phillipa agrees to help her. At the same time Alex finds himself caught up in a wager to take the Whig sympathizing Phillipa to the Regent’s ball, a place no liberal bluestocking would go. Working at cross-purposes they lead each other a merry chase. A fun Regency romance.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews