You are the plucky but penniless heroine in the center of eighteenth-century society, courtship season has begun, and your future is at hand. Will you flip forward fetchingly to find love with the bantering baronet Sir Benedict Granville? Or turn the page to true love with the hardworking, horse-loving highlander Captain Angus McTaggart? Or perhaps race through the chapters chasing a good (and arousing) man gone mad, bad, and scandalous to know, Lord Garraway Craven? Or read on recklessly and take to the Continent as the “traveling companion” of the spirited and adventuresome Lady Evangeline? Or yet some other intriguing fate? Make choices, turn pages, and discover all the daring delights of the multiple (and intertwining!) storylines. And in every path you pick, beguiling illustrations bring all the lust and love to life.
Some readers, those who favor snappy, tongue in cheek writing that satires purple prose and the application of liberal puns (especially during love scenes) will absolutely adore this choose your own adventure Regency era romance. Others will find it exhausting and the writing not unlike the surface treading tradition of the Choose Your Own Adventure books of childhood.
I landed somewhere in the middle, adoring the concept, wishing for a bit more; the sex scenes were so busy trying to be funny they weren’t sexy, and the romance was of the sudden and often incomprehensible variety. Not surprising given the shortness of each “chapter” of the adventure, but still a little lacking when, at the end of the day, its sold as a romance. In other words, read it more as a romantic leaning comedy book and you will fine.
I think I made it through all the various twists and turns, and the sheer variety and interesting subplots was more than enough to keep me engaged. I was amused, more than laughing, at the often over the top humor and satire of some favorite romance tropes. Not wanting to overly spoil the plot for those whose interest in peaked, I can say that there is a variety of heroes (and a heroine) for you, the heroine to choose from, as well as some interesting vignettes where you have liaisons without regard for your HEA and that seem to have no real impact on the respective plot, except to satiate your rampant lust. Yep, whatever timeline you choose you are a lusty lady. So although the love scenes are light and not graphic, there is a whole lot of rocking (so if you are a kisses only reader, don’t go knocking).
You start the adventure as an impoverished companion to a dragon old lady, so there is definite incentive to follow the various white rabbits down the rabbit hole. The cast of characters is very often overblown in adhering to the tropes and types, so if you are new to historical romance some of the winks and chuckles may be missed on you. I assume, however, as a Regency Reader you are well versed in the historical romance world enough to spot the stereotypes and enjoy how the authors toy with them.
I liked that I could travel to Scotland, Egypt, and a variety of other locations and exercise a bit of influence over the plot. There are some paranormal timelines, villainous subterfuge action, spies, and even a chance for you to turn bad if you so choose.
I finished pretty quickly, over two days of several hours of reading, but it’s definitely something you could take your time with and enjoy. I would recommend this for readers wanting to stay in their genre lane but needing something a bit different, easy and breezy (but not afraid of ridiculous similes and metaphors, particularly of the lewd variety).
4 out of 6 Choose your own adventure style Regency with lots of silliness
| Content Rating/Heat Index | |
|---|---|
| Mature Content |   |
| Lots of romping, villainy and other mature content | |
| Intimacy | |
| A whole lot of sex, although not graphic | |
| Violence | |
| Some assaults and fight scenes | |
| Overall | |
|---|---|
| Better for mature readers | |
