Victoria
Growing up in far-off India, wealthy young heiress Lady Victoria Arbuthnot was accustomed to handling her own affairs — not to mention everyone else’s. But in her sixteenth year, Vicky is unceremoniously shipped off to London to find a husband. With her usual aplomb, however, Lady Victoria gets herself engaged to the perfect English gentleman, even before setting foot on British soil.
The Rogue
Hugo Rothschild, ninth earl of Malfrey, is everything a girl could want in a future husband: he is handsome and worldly, if not rich. Lady Victoria has everything just as she’d like it. That is, if raffish young ship captain Jacob Carstairs would leave well enough alone.
Jacob’s meddling is nothing short of exasperating, and Victoria is mystified by his persistence. But when it becomes clear that young Lord Malfrey just might not be all that he’s professed to be, Victoria is forced to admit, for the first time in her life, that she is wrong. Not only about her fiance, but about the reason behind the handsome ship captain’s interference.
I breezed through this breezy, clean Regency in about two hours after it was recommended as a super funny read along the lines of Heyer. There are some definite threads of The Grand Sophy here, but the pacing, language and some of the reference clearly land it in this century. Despite this, a funny banter between H/h and enough sensibility for the era make this a great foray for younger readers into the Reg Rom world.
I wouldn’t say it was lol funny for me, but I also am clearly a little (ahem) outside the target audience age range. At fifteen or sixteen (the age of the heroine) I probably would’ve adored the characters, dialogue, and scenes and not minded the very glossy version of a character arc.
The tension between the H/h is spot on, and will be relatable to even the modern teen, and the supporting characters lend enough foil and humor to keep the the pace moving along. There is also a semi-villain (styled after P&P’s Wickham) who is a bit pattern card (I would’ve loved him to be a little less predictable, at least in execution) which adds a little bit of excitement to the second act.
I have to say with so much modern influence on the characters, I would’ve loved a bit of commentary on the idea of a sixteen year old getting shackled to a twenty something, because regardless of what I think about it now I think at the tender age of sixteen had I read this I would’ve thought it was funny and maybe a little gross. The fact that my favorite ingenue Austen character, Catherine Morland, does not marry until she is 18 puts in into further perspective…I would’ve liked the “I want to do a bit of travel and have my fun before I find a husband” rather than the dogged determination to find a husband fresh out the gate of being 16. Its all well and good to hem and haw about it being “just a sign of the times” but the fact that a Duke’s daughter gets engaged before her debut is a little eyebrow raising.
Yes, I know, being a stickler.
The reality is this, no matter your age, is a book to enjoy quickly, with a lot of levity, on the beach or before bed. Regardless of age, everyone can appreciate the tension between a will they won’t they kind of relationship and a slightly eccentric character like Victoria who has been raised a bit improperly makes for great comedy of errors material.
Kisses only, so safe for clean readers and definitely recommended for younger readers looking for historical romance.
4 out of 6 Short and sweet, sometimes funny, YA Regency with traditional leanings
| Content Rating/Heat Index | |
|---|---|
| Mature Content |   |
| Limited adult themes | |
| Intimacy | |
| A kiss or two | |
| Violence | |
| One or two minor scrapes | |
| Overall | |
|---|---|
| Clean, geared towards a young audience, this is a great YA read. | |
