B Reviews / Book Reviews19th century / class differences / cookbook / cooking / Early Victorian / English Historical / female friendship / Historical / Historical fiction / identity / self discovery / Womens-FictionNo Comments
Before Mrs. Beeton and well before Julia Child, there was Eliza Acton, who changed the course of cookery writing forever. England, 1835. London is awash with thrilling new ingredients, from rare spices to exotic fruits. But no one knows how to use them. When Eliza Acton is told by her ... more >
B Reviews / Book Reviews19th century / childhood friends / Difficult Dukes series / Early Victorian / family relationships / Historical / women's rights1 Comments
This time, who’s taming whom… Cassandra Pomfret holds strong opinions she isn’t shy about voicing. But her extremely plain speaking has caused an uproar, and her exasperated father, hoping a husband will rein her in, has ruled that her beloved sister can’t marry until Cassandra does. Now, thanks to a ... more >
A- Reviews / B Reviews / B+ Reviews / Book Reviews / C ReviewsEarly Victorian / historical romance / hotelier / Reading lists / Romany / Soldier / St.-Martins-Press / viscount13 Comments
In the mid-2000s, Lisa Kleypas published a series of historical romances set in mid-Victorian England, featuring the eccentric Hathaway family, four unconventional sisters, their charming wastrel of a brother, who had unexpectedly inherited a viscountcy, and the surly Romany man their parents all but adopted. I read none of the ... more >
C+ Reviewschildhood friends / Dukes / Early Victorian / England / historical romance / Libraries / road-romance / runaway bride8 Comments
Dear Ms. Chase, Recently, Jayne and Kaetrin reviewed your latest historical romance, A Duke in Shining Armor. Both liked it and gave it a B+ and a B, respectively. For me, the book was less satisfying. A Duke in Shining Armor begins on the day of a wedding—the Duke of ... more >
B Reviews / B+ Reviews / Book Reviews / Recommended Reads19th century / book / childhood friends / Difficult Dukes series / Dukes / Early Victorian / England / Historical / Libraries / road-romance / runaway bride8 Comments
Not all dukes are created equal. Most are upstanding members of Society. And then there’s the trio known as Their Dis-Graces. Hugh Philemon Ancaster, seventh Duke of Ripley, will never win prizes for virtue. But even he draws the line at running off with his best friend’s bride. All he’s ... more >
B Reviews / Book Reviews19th century England / Early Victorian / England / family relationships / Historical4 Comments
Claire Penwarren is a force to be reckoned with. Commissioned by her widowed father, she descends on the green Sussex hills with three assignments. Ready Loden Hall for her father’s arrival as the new earl. Find the perfect husband for her gorgeous half-sister. Acquire a tutor for her rapscallion twin ... more >