Blog Tour and Book Review: The Marriage Season #RegencyRomance

BOOK DESCRIPTION

It’s not a fair world I’m afraid. Beauty or fortune carries the day. You have the beauty and I the fortune, so there’s every chance we’ll succeed’

In Regency England, marriage is everything. For young widow Sybella Lovatt, the time has come to find a suitable husband for her sister and ward Lucie. Male suitors are scarce near their Wiltshire estate, so the sisters resolve to head to London in time for The Season to begin.

Once ensconced at the Mayfair home of Lady Godley, Lucie’s godmother, the whirl of balls, parties and promenades can begin. But the job of finding a husband is fraught with rules and tradition. Jostling for attention are the two lords – the charming and irresistible Freddie Lynwood and the preternaturally handsome Valentine Ravenell, their enigmatic neighbour from Shotten Hall, Mr Brabazon, and the dangerous libertine Lord Rockliffe, with whom the brooding Brabazon is locked in deadly rivalry.

Against the backdrop of glamorous Regency England, Sybella must settle Lucie’s future, protect her own reputation, and resist the disreputable rakes determined to seduce the beautiful widow. As the Season ends, will the sisters have found the rarest of things – a suitable marriage with a love story to match?

BOOK REVIEW

I enjoyed this visit to Regency England during marriage season. The book, however, started out in the British countryside and we met our main characters in that setting. Once we get into the marriage market in London, however, the story gets more interesting. We are transported to that era with its proprieties, rules, lavish balls, and yes, hypocrisy. I liked the fact that the two main characters were strong women. The romances are easy to see coming, but that did not deter from my enjoyment of the story. Some slight criticisms: I felt the portrayal of the child was a little overdone, and I didn’t find his dialogue believable. I also felt parts of the book moved a bit slowly.

Overall, though, this is an enjoyable romance that looks at the Regency Era marriage market with a bit of sarcasm and irony. My rating is 3.6 stars, rounded up to 4 on sites with no partial star option.

I received a free copy of this book via Rachel’s Random Resources. My review is voluntary and the opinions expressed are my own.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jane Dunn is a historian and biographer and the author of seven acclaimed biographies, including Daphne du Maurier and her Sisters and the Sunday Times and NYT bestseller, Elizabeth & Mary: Cousins, Rivals, Queens. She comes to Boldwood with her first fiction outing – a trilogy of novels set in the Regency period, the first of which is to be published in January 2023. She lives in Berkshire with her husband, the linguist Nicholas Ostler.

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