Jane Dunn (1)

Are you a fan of Georgette Heyer?

Jane Dunn’s An Unsuitable Heiress has all the feels of a Georgette Heyer novel. It’s a delightful Regency romp with a slow burn romance, hidden identity, humor, a touch of suspense, and a mischievous poodle.

Corinna Ormesby is the illegitimate daughter of an Earl who’s lost touch with her father after her mother’s death. When her cousin is pushing her to marry an unsuitable man, she runs away to London to find her father. Knowing the dangers for a show more unaccompanied young gentlewoman, she dresses as a young man. When she gets into a scuffle, three handsome gentleman come to her rescue.

Suddenly, Corrina known as Cory gets the inside scoop of the life of a young gentlemen & becomes fast friends with the attractive Alick Wolfe, the dandyish Ferdinand Shelton, & Lord Purfoy. When she finally finds her father, she now has to figure out how to reveal her identity to her friends and hopes that Alick especially will appreciate her for the woman she is. Unfortunately, with her father’s dwindling health, there’s a battle over the potential inheritance involving Alick’s volatile brother Darius which puts her in danger.

This was a fun, madcap Regency with plenty of twists and turns. The characters were endearing with the exception of Darius. My favorite moments were when Corinna was trying to navigate a gentleman’s world. The author did a fantastic job showing the contrasts between what men could do versus women during those times. I do wish the conflict with hiding her identity had gone on a little longer. I felt like there were some missed opportunities with her identity reveal being anticlimactic.

I enjoyed the slow build romance between Alick & Corinna. I especially enjoyed how Alick remained a proper gentleman throughout. I loved Piro and felt like this little pocket poodle stole the show every time he was on the page.

While it’s a fairly clean romance, there is some mild swearing including taking the Lord’s name in vain. There’s also some innuendo and crassness especially in regard to Darius and his mistress, yet everything is kept closed door.

If you’re a fan of Bridgerton or Georgette Heyer, you might enjoy this fun Regency. Thanks to AustenprosePR for the advanced copy. All opinions are my own and voluntarily given. show less

"They grew old in their separate citadels but were united forever by bonds of family and place"
By sally tarbox on 31 January 2018
Format: Paperback
Fascinating biography of the three du Maurier sisters, born into celebrity and privilege at the turn of the century; Daddy was a charming and successful actor - he adored his children but was able to cut them down with a barbed comment, and as they grew up he sought to control their lives entirely, jealous of any suitors. His wife was also a former show more star of stage who had given it up to devote herself entirely to her husband. Remote, cold, she was perhaps jealous of Gerald's love for his favourite daughter, Daphne.

And into this world came the three girls: eldest Angela was hungry for affection and marriage, but as her father stymied any possible match, she turned to other women for love. Always considered the plainest, her later efforts at writing were as nothing compared to Daphne's (such that when asked if she was the writer, she answered 'no, just the sister'), yet despite her early years cowed by her family and her emotions, she broke away to live a very unconventional life.

Daphne was the beautiful one; her books were made into movies, she earned big money - and she was the only sister to marry and have children. Certainly she comes across at times as quite self-centred and ruthless, barely seeing her children while occupied with her work.. As her marriage to a much-decorated army man grew stale, she grew obsessive over certain women of her acquaintance, and channelled all her feelings into the Cornish hideaway she had created.

Youngest sister Jeanne was her mother's favourite; she became a painter and for much of the time took responsibility for caring for their elderly mother, before breaking away to live a life of art and gardening with her long-term love, a poetess.

The biography follows them from infancy to old age; from the influence of their parents through to the health problems of later life. Their interesting lives form a most readable biography. show less

A beautiful story, impossible to put down. A Scandalous Match blends the social and political history of Regency England with a riveting and thought-provoking romance between a member of parliament and an actress.

There are plenty of characters in this book who delight and entertain. I couldn't help but adore Lord Latimer and Mr Locke as they both appeared very genuine in their friendship and admiration for Angelica.

The theatre scenes were riotous and I could almost hear and feel the show more responses of the audience to Angelia's portrayal of Ophelia's death.

The slow burn enemies to friendship to lovers romance between Angelica and Ivor Asprey was fun to watch and a very charming read. Despite his protests to her suitability for his nephew he couldn't help but come to her aid whenever she was in trouble. He is kind and has a social conscience. Child labour reform is at the heart of his parliamentary endeavours and he is careful with his reputation to prevent opposition from latching on to anything scandalous that might derail his efforts. He didn't anticipate an emotional attachment to Angelica to put a spanner in the works.

There is a nice amount of humour in the story as Ivor's daughter, Elinor also develops a fondness for Angelica and is determined to play matchmaker. She is a lovely and endearing child and I couldn't help but want this trio to become a little family.

I enjoyed every minute of this book. It has depth, emotional charge, suspense and drama in addition to being a sparkling romance. show less

As a long-time fan of Elizabeth I, I read this book with great interest. It tackles the character of Elizabeth and Mary in the context of their relationship which was physically remote - contrary to Hollywood and TV, they never actually met. The author explains that this led to them magnifying the threat posed by the other on the basis of the reports of third parties, who often had axes to grind.

The book gave further insight into Elizabeth's tricky, vacillating character, the reasons behind show more it and the radical nature of her decision not to marry at a time when a queen was seen as having the perceived weaknesses of women in general and needing the steadying presence of a husband to whom her council would then defer. Also it showed how Mary's fatal flaws were partly down to her upbringing in a pampered luxurious French court where she was kept away from any responsibility and never developed feelings of loyalty for her remote Scottish kingdom. She totally lacked the serious commitment which Elizabeth had to her role as ruler and her responsibility to her people. She also seems to have had possible medical problems, which might have included bipolar disorder: whatever the explanation, she was prone to emotional collapses but also to a kind of adrenalin junkie high when danger and excitement offered itself. This fatally led her into plotting against Elizabeth's life when she was deprived of more physical types of risk taking.

The only reason I am withholding the full 5 star rating for this book is that in places there were irritating typing mistakes, and also the author had a tendency to restate the same facts and sometimes to dart around in the timeline - I was then brought out of the narrative with an "Oh, this is before the events I just read about" reaction, having to then mentally shuffle the events into order. But otherwise an enjoyable and informative 4 star read. show less