Marry in Haste

This Regency is all it should be and far less formulaic than many. Serendipity: a discussion came up on refugees and I was able to talk reasonably about the Napoleonic invasion of Portugal.

The novel starts out like a Gothic with a young governess (Camilla Forest) unjustly dismissed from her first position as a governess. The dark and mysterious Lord Leominster rescues her and proposes marriage the first night. Here the Gothic falls firmly back into Regency territory with its marriage of convenience and an interesting matriarch pulling the purse strings. Everyone knows how this will end; the interest is in how they get there. Adding to the interest is Chloe, sister to Lord Leominster, who manages to get into scrapes ... "why" would be show more giving away too much plot.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed it. I'd suggest it for readers who enjoy the Regency time period and also like history and intrigue mixed into their fiction. show less

Camilla Forest, having lost her post as a governess because of the attentions of her employers' oldest son, accepts Lord Leominster's sudden offer of a marriage in name only. He is on the verge of leaving for a diplomatic post in Portugal and needs a wife to placate his grandmother. His flibbertigibbet sister, Chloe, accompanies them when they go. As they attempt to forge a marriage, they find themselves plagued by secrets and misunderstandings, as well as the wider dangers of 1807 Portugal.

First published in 1969, and now available as an ebook, this classic Regency romance holds up well. The only jarring note is the repeated reference to both 17-year-old Chloe and 20-year-old, newly married Camilla as "the girls." Worth reading.

When she is dismissed from her position as a governess, Camilla Forest, daughter of a French nobleman who fled France, makes a marriage of convenience with Lord Leominster, who is a diplomat. She accompanies him and his sister to Portugal, where she slowly falls in love with her husband.

This Regency-era novel I found to be intriguing. Camilla was a sympathetic lead, even though at times I wanted to shake some sense into her. Her situation and, in the beginning, her choices made sense for her.

Lord Leominster was harder to read. He wasn't present for most of the narrative, which made the romance more difficult to understand. His sister was a terror and needed to be sent back to the schoolroom. Her character arc was the least believable show more part of the novel.

Overall, not a bad read, and I would recommend this to readers of the Regency era, looking for a more historical edge.

I received a free copy from netGalley for reviewing purposes. show less

This was a paper keeper of mine for a long time. I decided to get the Kindle edition because it was on sale.

Alternative title Camilla