Regency Gold by M. C. Beaton Published by Rosetta Books on November 30, 2011
Genres: Fiction / Romance / General, Fiction / Romance / Historical / General
Pages: 224
Format: eBook
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A sudden inheritance puts a young woman in danger in this novel from “the best of the Regency writers” (Kirkus Reviews).
Jean Lindsay lives a rather dismal life with her nasty, drunken uncle, and has little to live on but her romantic daydreams—which frequently star the dashing Marquess of Fleetwater.
She was used to being an object of others’ ridicule. Then she received an unexpected inheritance—and as news of her good fortune spread, suddenly her worn dresses became “quaint,” and her forthright manner turned magically into “charming.” But while some seek to flatter her, one person seems to want her dead—and she may need the marquess to save her pretty neck . . .
Originally published under the name Marion Chesney, this is a twist-filled tale of romance and suspense in Regency England by a beloved New York Times–bestselling author.
First things first, this is no great sweeping romance where you find yourself in sympathy or in love with the MCs. The heroine is a day dreaming, sheltered young miss who hurtles from one scrape to the next, meanwhile being hounded by would-be murderers. And the hero is vain, stubborn, and at times I really wanted to smack him.
But this was a funny book. I haven’t laughed out loud to a Regency in a while, and this was jammed packed with those moments for me. The supporting characters are delightfully awful or eccentric, the melodrama chased by a fair amount of levity that reminds me a bit of Northanger Abbey, tweaking the nose of gothic romance, and the dialogue is spanking. So if you go into it (and I recommend, its pretty cheap right now on Amazon for Kindle), know its not a book to take seriously. Instead, have some fun, have some laughs, and romp along with the ridiculous.
This book, originally under the Marion Chesney pen name, was first published in 1980. So one of the eyebrow raising portions of this book is the age gap between the young heroine and the hero. Seeing as how I never really at any point in reading this book (it was a quick read) was actually invested in the romance or these characters, it didn’t bother me but if you are sensitive to that, be forewarned. There is also some slapping of the MCs that teeters on problematic.
The majority of the plot are these melodramatic moments with the villains trying to bump off poor, silly Jean, so there is some violence. There are some deaths where the bodies are described. Its not terribly graphic, but again not everyone favors plots with murder/death. There is a bit of discussion of Fallen Women, but not much else in the way of mature content. This book is kisses only.
Normally, I get tired by melodrama. And if this wasn’t constantly delivered with absurdities or eccentric characters saying something outrageous and funny, it would have been boring.
For these reasons, and the lack of character depth and the fact they are both a bit unlikeable, a lot of reviews DNF or give this book low stars. By contrast, other readers felt the same as I did and gave it five stars appreciating the humor and ridiculousness of it all. In other words, if you have heartburn about any of the above, maybe check out a few other reviews before you buy.
This is part of a newly packaged “Regency Intrigue” series from M.C. Beaton which I am going to give another go on the hunt for some haunts.
I don’t know if I would read this one again. Probably at least once for the laughs, for I do love to laugh.
