An Affair of the Heart

by Joan Smith

The Marquis of Claymore had been rejected by the Beauty of the Season and he was determined to marry the first beautiful woman he could find to assuage his pride. There were the Wanderley twins, with Wanda as gorgeous as could be, and her twin, Ellie, obviously not in the same class. But Wanda was almost engagedâ ¦

Regency Romance by Joan Smith; originally published by Fawcett

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

239 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published December 12, 1976

About the author

Joan Smith is a graduate of Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, and the Ontario College of Education. She has taught French and English in high school and English in college. When she began writing, her interest in Jane Austen and Lord Byron led to her first choice of genre, the Regency, which she especially liked for its wit and humor.
Her favorite travel destination is England, where she researches her books. Her hobbies are gardening, painting, sculpture and reading. She is married and has three children. A prolific writer, she is currently working on Regencies and various mysteries at her home in Georgetown, Ontario.
She is also known as Jennie Gallant

Reviews

[QNPoohBear · Rating 1 out of 5]

The Marquis of Claymore is broken-hearted or at least his pride is wounded, when the belle of the season Gloria "The Golden Rose" rejected his marriage proposal in favor of an elderly Duke. Clay is determined to marry another beauty to flaunt around town. He can think of only one young lady from the current crop of debutantes, a mysterious dark haired girl who disappeared after only a few weeks. Luckily Clay's friend Rex Homberly knows just who the beauty is, Wanda Wanderley, his neighbor in Sussex. Rex warns Clay that Wanda is a spoiled beauty and unofficially engaged to the Squire's son, but nothing will do for Clay but to entice the girl to marry him with his title and fortune. After a drunken binge, Clay and Rex arrive at the Wanderleys in the middle of the night and discover Wanda's twin Ellie dreaming of true love at her window. She instantly falls in love with the Marquis's pretty words, but to her dismay, he later doesn't remember the moment at all and continues to court her sister. Ellie was not presented this Season because she's a late bloomer. She doesn't really mind. She would rather stay home, care for the roses and research the family history, but with three beautiful sisters, she can't help but be a bit jealous of her twin. blah blah blah same old story... fill in the blanks with plots about twins and marriages of convenience.

This is the same old boring story. The plot doesn't make any sense whatsoever. The hero has zero redeeming qualities. When the going gets rough, he gets drunk. He gets drunk during key moments of the story and so drunk he doesn't even remember he was drunk once he's sober. He thinks he can have any woman because of his title and fortune and gets mad whenever a lady rejects him. His friend finally tells Clay that he uses people, a fact Clay denies, but the accusation isn't far from the truth. He doesn't really learn much of a lesson. He falls in love suddenly and randomly and proceeds to make a mull of things. He had help from his best friend Rex, who is a slowtop if there ever was one. Rex means well but he puts his foot in his mouth and manages to wreck his best friend's life over and over without realizing what he's done and the hero continues to be best friends with the man. Mr. Wanderley is the only likeable man in the story. Though he spends all the family money on rare flowers and plants, he cares about his daughters and wants them to be happy. He comes up with a way to test his daughters' suitors and ensure their future welfare.

The female characters are all stereotypes culled from the standard book of Regency characters. Ellie is the only one I liked, at least at first. She's a bit shy and socially awkward but she's kind and intelligent. However, her lack of self-esteem annoyed the heck out of me. In almost every scene she doubts anyone could love her because she's not as pretty as her sister. She doesn't really come to believe in herself. I stopped liking her after about the third time she doubted that someone loved her. I didn't like the way she handled things but she did handle herself better than most heroines do in similar situations. I really wanted her to confront her sister and stop being jealous. Wanda is a spoiled, nasty brat who doesn't deserve a happy ending. If she were my sister, we would have had some serious violent fights. Clay's mother is Wanda grown up and not a very good mother. Yet she does a 180 at the end which is weird and random. Wanda and Ellie's sisters are older versions of them and even Joan is not always very nice.

[ChristineZ · Rating 5 out of 5]

A five star for Joan Smith, despite the other poor reviews. The misunderstandings in the book are incredible, hilarious and believable. The main characters are flawed and their misunderstandings are brilliant. The bumbling hero’s friend always manages to tell it like it is.

[GG · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rex oh Rex! Loved so much about this book. Ellie comes in to her own and Claymore grows up. I laughed out loud & enjoyed the many characters, especially Rex. Recommended.

[Flo · Rating 4 out of 5]

After reading a silly love story by Joan Smith, I decided I needed to read a not so silly one and chose An Affair of the Heart. After laughing a few times during Chapter 1, I decided to keep a record of every time I laughed while reading this book. The trouble was that there were too many very funny moments so I gave it up quite soon. Lord Claymore offers for the Incomparable of the London season but is turned down. It seems the lady has a good chance to snare a duke, while he is only a marquess. Claymore leaves London with a friend and decides to offer for the first beautiful woman he meets which happens very soon at the home of the Wanderleys where he meets Wanda who is no less beautiful than his recent passion. He also meets her twin sister, Ellie, quite a different proposition: quiet, shy, careless about her looks. Whom should he choose?
Joan Smith is very funny and very witty and writing a light, delightful love story seems to request some really good writing--something she does easily. This is also a long book--over 400 pages. It was extremely enjoyable and I finished it in 1 day. I recommend it highly.

[Olivia · Rating 2 out of 5]

A typical regency where she doesn't want him and leads a merry chase until he convinces her he is sincere.

[Shawna · Rating 2 out of 5]

2- I like Joan Smith’s books. They are clean regency with wit and likable characters - all except this one. Read almost any of her other books. You’ll like them more.

[Shelley Knapp · Rating 5 out of 5]

funny and charming

Picked this up and read it and found I really enjoyed the characters and their interactions together. Definitely loved this book.

[Claire S · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really enjoy Joan Smith's books, especially her humor, but this one is very close to a dud. If you're looking for your first Joan Smith book to read do not choose this one. She writes much more interesting stories than this one.
Clay's pride is wounded when he's (cruelly) rejected by the season's incomparable, so he decides to find another beautiful young lady to marry before the gossip starts. He first chooses Wanda for her beauty but soon realizes that she has a terrible personality. Eventually he starts seeing her fraternal twin sister Ellie under a new light, especially when she dresses up for an assembly, and falls in love with her. Misunderstandings then take over the rest of the book.
The main issue with the story is that both characters are very immature. Clay is infatuated with every female very quickly and I saw no reason why he thought he loved Ellie besides the fact that he really wanted/needed to get married. I was hoping to see some growth for him as the story progressed but he continued to be arrogant and spoiled. Ellie seemed like a good character at first but, after falling in love/getting engaged to Clay, became just another meaningless character used to advance the plot. It felt like the second half of the book was all about a lack of communication and I could not believe how long this plot device was used. In the last scene, everything seems to be resolved and the character will have their HEA, except that there was no growth or change within the characters from the previous misunderstandings, so I could see another miscommunication in the morning and the cycle beginning again.
The only thing that saves this book from one star is Clay's best friend, Rex. Even though he's supposed to be the goofy/brainless character, Joan gives him glimpses of genius and her humor can be found in the character. He's the only one who's direct to a fault and tells it like it is. I love that he calls on Clay's attitudes and behaviors and that he completely despises Wanda and says so at every opportunity. He was worth the time I spent reading this book. I just wished he had gotten his tall lady in the end :)

[Margaret Brannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Joan Smith's Best

Claymore is a dashing, prideful spurned lover bent on showing Society that he is not still carrying a torch for the fabulous Gloria Golden. He rushes off to Sussex to find a young bride who can rival Gloria's beauty. The antics of him and his best friend Rex Homberly as they try to preserve Claymore's proud reputation are laugh-out-loud funny. Ellie is a self-respecting ingenue who can't resist Claymore's charms, but can't settle for less than full love and commitment either. If you are a Georgette Heyer fan, you will enjoy this light-hearted sweet regency comedy.

[Caroline]

82%
So this isn't a five star book, but I might rate it 5 stars.
It's not perfect, but it's subtly lovely.
The misunderstandings are aggravating, but the characters response is so charming, and immediately genuine and honest, that it's really just charming. They are both trying and trying. That the missed opportunities feel light and silly
They are so young! But so charmingly so. In some ways they both seem mature, but romantically so young, and they match in this way.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think I’m being generous giving this 3 stars. Although it was very clean, I couldn’t connect with the main characters. There were so many unlikeable periphery characters, too, that it brought the tone of the whole book down. And it was waaay too long. But ultimately, I read the entire thing, and that’s telling. Maybe I’ll read more from this author. Maybe not.

[Laurie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some good side characters--a flower growing father, a devilish dowager-- but the hero and heroine are a bit tiresome. The hero goes through three debutantes and a lot of wine before he supposedly settles down. As is common in these tales, the heroine is shy and mousy, but with a better coiffure and nicer clothes, wins his fickle heart.

[Bookish · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5-4⭐️
Somewhat different than the books I read previously from Joan Smith but not of less quality. The side characters were funny with Rex being my favorite character in the book. Misunderstanding was a big factor in the plot but humanly reasonable. An entertaining book.

[Sue Allyn · Rating 1 out of 5]

Unfortunately, couldn't give this one a good rating, because I felt that so many of the female characters, not least the female lead and her new mother-in-law, are just so VERY unlikeable. I really felt sorry for the marquis having to deal with their unrealistic behaviors. Very silly.

[Fluttershy · Rating 3 out of 5]

2 1/2 stars

[Jumi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very nice!

[Jobelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a mess but I did enjoy this one. 😅😅😅

[Lesley-Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Relationship dynamics require a suspension of disbelief but it is a light easy read in the style of Georgette Heyer.

[Book Addict · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is Joan Smith’s first book (Dec 1976) and you can see that she is just getting started in her trademark style – there’s the banter between the main characters; the slightly dim male friend; and finally the independent heroine.

In my opinion the plot of the story was heavily influenced by Georgette Heyer’s Friday's Child – there’s certainly some very similar elements, but it is definitely it’s own story.

What did I like?
I liked the (initially) strong heroine and fact the hero wasn’t overbearing (I get sick of Alpha males after a while) – in fact he made quite a few mistakes and admitted to them! I also liked the humour provided by Giles’ friend Rex, as well as the fact there’s more romance in this book than in many of Ms Smith’s later books.

Giles (the hero) does show signs of maturing through the story though it is odd just how often he resorts to getting drunk – probably not the most mature way to deal with adversity to be honest.

What did I dislike?
I really disliked Giles’ mother’s attitude towards him. There’s no explanation for her behaviour and although it is a major plot point it seems forced and unnecessary.

There’s also no real understanding of how the heroine and hero fall in love – in fact at one stage Ellie herself questions this “They had not been often together, and when they had, it was mostly Wanda he was paying attention to. So when had he fallen in love with herself?”

Having said that though, this is a fun, light-hearted Traditional Regency Romance that, whilst not my favourite of Ms Smith’s books, is definitely one I am happy to dip back into now and again.

(Check out my personal blog for more Traditional Regency Romance reviews)

[A · Rating 2 out of 5]

Perhaps two-and-a-half stars, but I rounded down because An Affair of the Heart doesn't offer much in terms of characters or plot, despite its potential. Giles Darrow, Marquis of Claymore (and better known as Clay), is proud and superficial. He decides to court Wanda Wanderley after a season wasted in pursuit of Gloria "Golden Rose" Golden, a woman even more mercenary than he is. His best friend-and-hapless-sidekick tells him that Wanda is attractive enough to rival the Rose and for Clay, it's reason enough to marry her. I expected Clay to realize that petty revenge isn't worth it once he finds love with the less attractive Elinor "Ellie" Wanderley. No such luck.

I liked Ellie when she spoke with Clay in the library. She is content to defy social convention to pursue her interests (and/or assist her father with his botany) and she's insightful, at least compared to her contemporaries. I would've liked to watch their relationship unfold through dialogue, not least because Ellie is more interesting than Clay. Instead, there's very little interaction between the characters after that.

Clay seems to talk himself into a relationship with her because a) Ellie is less demanding than his last two prospects and almost as attractive, b) he's run out of alternatives, and c) absence makes the heart grow fonder. It helps that he tells a notorious Bath gossip that he's engaged to Ellie, not that his deception has any consequences at all. For her part, Ellie is only in love with Clay because the plot insists she must be and/or because he's the first man to take an interest in her. Eventually. There's no explanation for the personality transplant, however.

The rest of the novel doesn't build on their feelings for one another. In fact, Ellie and Clay spend most of their engagement and the first week or so of their married life apart in a comedy of errors that dragged on for much too long. Joan Smith's An Affair of the Heart makes for a decent parody or deconstruction of the Regency romance, but I think it's supposed to read more like Heyer's romantic farce and I could never quite enjoy it on those grounds.

[Mo]

due mcl Feb 25