Book 7: The Heart of a Duke (anthology)

The Heart of a Duke by Samantha Grace
My rating: 3 of 5 stars on Goodreads

What I liked best about The Heart of a Duke was the interconnectivity of the stories. Thematically, the anthology was about this group of five young Regency women (from upper society) searching for love. With the help of a gypsy charm (a locket), they find it. I really enjoyed how each woman found success and passed the locket onto the next one. Also, not only did the individual stories worked well, but the epilogue and prologue, which covered the group together and how they received the locket, worked extremely well. The gypsy in that story had her own love story to go through. So overall, I don't think I've ever seen a Regency anthology's individual stories fit so well together.

Book 6: Dame Fortune's Fancy by Phyllis Taylor Pianka

Dame Fortune's Fancy by Phyllis Taylor Pianka
My rating: 2 of 5 stars on Goodreads

Altered Goodreads review.  Contains minor spoilers.

I wasn't sure whether to rate this one star or two stars.  I rated a previous Regency by another author two stars (Scandal Broth by Marian Devon), but these two aren't of equal nature, since I enjoyed the other much more than this one.   But I'm not quite sure this novel deserves an one-star rating, because I didn't strongly dislike it.  That's the problem with this one. I didn't strongly dislike this novel, but I didn't really like it either.

Book 5: Cupboard Kisses by Barbara Metzger

Cupboard Kisses by Barbara Metzger
My rating: 5 of 5 stars on Goodreads

Modified from Goodreads review; will contain a few spoilers.

There is so much to enjoy about this novel. Such as the first meeting between the hero (Captain Chase/Lord Winstoke) and heroine (Cristobel Swann), although I have to admit I don't like have his rakish behavior thrown so hard in my face. The two get off on the wrong foot right away, but in such a funny way (including some literal tripping over Cristobel's harp)! But how could things not get off on the wrong foot, given that he "stole" (won in a card game) her inheritance. I can't help but think how differently this novel would have gone if Chase could have seen her, but I'm glad he didn't. Anyway, despite the less than pleasant meeting, Chase is a good guy. He tries to help Cristobel.

Book 4: A Gift of Violets by Janette Radcliffe

A Gift of Violets by Janette Radcliffe
My rating: 3 of 5 stars on Goodreads

This is an altered version of my Goodreads review.  It contains more details from the novel, so it may contain spoilers.

To be honest, I'm not exactly sure why I liked A Gift of Violets as well as I did.   There are some copy-editing errors and some craft flaws, the most notable of the latter deal with characterization of the heroine, Viola Marchmont.

A Goodreads To-Read Bookshelf Dedicated to the 500!

I got industrious today and started cataloging my 500.  These are a mixture of Regency, Georgian, and Gothics.  My main reason for doing this was because I want to reorganize my Regency shelves so that the traditional or sweet Regencies can sit side-by-side, no matter where I found them.  Before I had to keep the 500s on the 500 bookcase, to make sure I wouldn't forget their origin.  This way I don't have to worry about it.

Also, I'm just a little curious to see how many books my trove actually contains.  I'm still holding at around 560 as an estimate, but I'm not sure how far off this is.

Anyway, today, I did one layer of one shelf--except for 5 books that I will have to manually add to Goodreads.  The total?  37 (+5).  So on one layer of one shelf I have 42 books.  Wow.  :-)  I have some reading ahead of me, don't I?


ETA:  It seems like there may be fewer than 500 actual Regencies: about 480 out of 558.  I filtered out the most obvious non-Regencies, but I a few I won't find until I start reading.

A Ton of Books

Bride of Vengeance

by Rose Marie Abbot

tagged: a-500-regency-shelf-to-read

Falconer's Hall

by Jacquelyn Aeby

tagged: a-500-regency-shelf-to-read

The Five-Minute Marriage

by Joan Aiken

tagged: a-500-regency-shelf-to-read

The Smile Of The Stranger

by Joan Aiken

tagged: a-500-regency-shelf-to-read

The Prudent Partnership

by Barbara Allister

tagged: a-500-regency-shelf-to-read

Completed Review - Book 3: Regency Christmas Wishes by Multiple Authors

Regency Christmas Wishes by Sandra Heath
My rating: 3 of 5 stars on Goodreads

This is a modified version of my Goodreads review.  This contains more spoilers than my Goodreads review.

It is difficult to judge an anthology as a whole.  It is made up of different works appealing to different readers, different works with different strengths and shortcomings.  It is also difficult to judge romance in novella form.  It just rarely works well; things go too fast to be believable.  Finally, there is the theme, which makes makes the writer's job that much more difficult.  I tried to keep all this in mind while reviewing this anthology.

In an anthology about Christmas, I want the tales to lift my spirits, make me laugh, or cause a sniffle. I don't want them to depress my spirits and force me to look at the dreary parts of human nature. "Following Yonder Star" (Emma Jensen) and "The Merry Magpie" (Sandra Heath) did this.

Progress Report - Book 3: Regency Christmas Wishes by Multiple Authors

I'm afraid Book 3 isn't a 500 novel either.  It is, in fact, a Christmas Regency anthology.  I picked these up at my local college bookstore one day, because I was hungry for more like Georgette Heyer.  And through one of these books, I found someone much like her: Barbara Metzger.

I'm almost finished with this one, Regency Christmas Wishes.  I just have to finish reading the last author, Carla Kelly, whom seems a little like Barbara Metzger, much to my delight.  So far she lacks the delightful, fun twists Metzger is known for, but she does have wit and delightful characters.  In other words, like Metzger and Heyer, she has fun.

Completed Review - Book 2: The Masqueraders by Georgette Heyer

The Masqueraders by Georgette Heyer
My rating: 4 of 5 stars on Goodreads

What follows is an altered version of my Goodreads review.

I have to admit the first quarter of the book tricked me. It was hard to read, hard to get into, and not all that inspiring. It didn't feel like the delightful Georgette Heyer I knew and loved. But once I got to around page 80 or so, things began to pick. Glimmers of the real Heyer came through. And then we were off on a merry adventure I am sad to see close--though, with that ending, I suspect it did not end for the Tremaines.

Completed Review - Nouveau Book 1: Scandal Broth by Marian Devon

Scandal Broth by Marian Devon
My rating: 2 of 5 stars on Goodreads

A slightly altered version of my Goodreads review follows.

I once read a theory that if the end result of a wait is positive, the one who waits judges the whole of the experience as positive, even if it weren't really. Reading Scandal Broth was a bit like that. The beginning was good, and the ending was good, which almost caused me to rate it three stars ("I liked it"). But in retrospect, the whole was bumpy: I liked aspects of it, and I liked aspects of the author's skill, but overall, I only thought Scandal Broth was "okay." That is why this work is rated two stars.

Random Regency Stuff, My Own and Others (Cross-Posted on Goodreads)

Since my stock of unread Georgette Heyers was running low, I decided to start building my library of Barbara Metzgers, my next favorite Regency author. I ordered a couple used copies of her omnibuses, for I love omnibuses. The ones I received today are Rake's Ransom/A Loyal Companion and Valentines/Road to Ruin (although the latter of the second omni is by a different author, Margaret Evans Porter).

Problem is I have a lot of my plate right now. Not only do I have Marian Devon's Regency novel, Scandal Broth, to finish, I have a freebie Candice Hern on my Kindle and a Georgian Georgette Heyer on my real book shelf awaiting me. And that is just my reading schedule. I also have a writing schedule centered around faux-Regency (a.k.a. Regency inspired) fantasy. I want to complete a New World story featuring a not-quite fairy; I actually want to complete several. In this unrelated novel series, featuring Vampires as the ton, I have a partially written story that needs finishing. Finally, I thought up a new faux-Regency world (can you tell I am addicted?) while driving to work.

So a lot to do, and so little time to do it in. I'm not sure if my ADD-Muse is shrieking with delight or horror, or at what point I need to whip out the vinaigrette to revive her. Ah, c'est la vie. At least it is better than not reading and not writing. I'd rather not do that again. :-)