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.


The Likes: I liked the peep hole between the Juliana's (heroine) and Miles's (hero) room, where they just talked to each other. I felt the relationship grow then, and I wish there was more of that.  And I liked the rag doll chaperone. But these were such minor things, and the only things that really stick with me as "likes." For the most part, the rest of the content was okay--with some exceptions.

The Dislikes: The behaviors of the characters did not seem to fit with the setting. They were too "modern" in their teasing and talk, in the sexual subject matter and how and when they talked to each other. The hero, for the longest period of time, seemed only interested in the heroine in a sexual way, although, at least he never tried anything. However, to be honest, that could have been worse--a lot of it was in a teasing way.  Speaking of teasing, sometimes the banter worked for me, but mostly it did not, for the two reasons mentioned before.

Also, the stories felt rushed when they should be have been drawn out for suspense and tension. Certain incidents seemed convenient or didn't have much impact. While the romance between the leads was believable enough, the romance between the secondary characters felt rushed. I speak of Juliana's abigail and the lieutenant and of the spoiled and unpleasant Louisa and her Spaniard.

And some things never felt fully present in the story or well-developed, such as the side story about the earl who has Juliana's rightful property versus Juliana herself. Even though Juliana does not love her husband, the earl had killed her husband and stole her property.  But she rarely thinks on it, and it rarely affects the story, except at a few moments.  I felt the same about the carriage accident (between Juliana and a suitor) and the resolution with the aforementioned bad earl. They seemed like they should be more important, but weren't.

 Finally, I think as much as I disliked (but not hated) the hero's constant sexual jesting, I think I disliked Juliana's passivity more. She is penniless, but she just stays on as a guest when she should really try for a position as a governess or companion; she just didn't feel strongly about anything, I think, and that is the real problem.

But these weren't strong dislikes, not enough to condemn the book entirely, but I just can't bring myself to truly like the book either. I just didn't feel strongly about the book either way. So it rates two stars, as in "okay."

Genre/Time Period: Regency
Search Categories: penniless heroine, compromising situations, widow
Heat Level: mostly sweet. Mostly it is because a large part of the hero's focus seems to be sexual, but in a tame enough way.
Rating: two stars