The Accidental Romance [Paperback]

Elizabeth Mansfield (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1988

A nasty carriage collision pits Lucienne against Lord Perry Wittenden. While she rages about her destroyed carriage, he publishes an account of the accident in a local paper and refers to Lucy as "shrew." Their public sparring will eventually lead to the love affair of a lifetime. Regency Romance reissue.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Diamond Books (August 1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1557730601
• ISBN-13: 978-1557730602
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,186,321 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Wonderful Romance with the Sweetest Hero I've Ever Known, December 21, 2001

By 

Avid Reader "dswhung" (Hong Kong) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Accidental Romance (Paperback)

[...]This book is a keeper. Just imagine Meg Ryan as the heroine who is a sharp-tongued and fiery-tempered young beauty engaged in a battle of wits with Tom Hanks, the sweet-tempered and good-humored hero and you've got this comedy of love.

Lucienne met Lord Perry Wittenden when their carriages collided and her carriage was all but destroyed. She lashed out at him though the accident was through no fault of his. Later, he published a humorous account of the accident in which she was depicted as a 'shrew'. This was not to be borne! He became her avowed enemy. Naturally, at their every encounter,conflicts ensued. There was sparring and choas. Lord Perry enjoyed himself immensely by baiting the wilful, spoilt young lady. Unknowingly, he had fallen for this captivating beauty. How they both realized their feelings for each other made most interesting reading. This is one of Elizabeth Mansfield's best. I enjoyed this book thoroughly and strongly recommend it to all Regency romance lovers.Don't miss it.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Always liked, September 1, 2005

By 

Jedishampoo (US) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Accidental Romance (Paperback)

I've always liked this book. It's one of the few Regencies that I've kept on my shelf years after they've stopped publishing all the good authors. It's a bit of a switch; instead of the sweet heroine and saturnine, jaded hero, you've got the gorgeous but spoiled heroine and a hero who is smart, red-headed, and certainly not Mr. Corinthian.

I think the romance could have been more "romantic" with a little more interaction between the characters or a little more Unresolved Sexual Tension (UST), but overall I thought it was a fun read with witty poems and well-drawn characters who really come to life, whether you like them or not.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars I normally love Elizabeth Mansfield, but I hated this heroine, February 12, 2008

By 

Gemma "bookworm" (Alberta, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Accidental Romance (Paperback)

From the back cover:

A clash of hearts...

Lucienne was positively outraged. The terrible collision with Lord Pertty Wittenden's carriage had all but destroyed her own. But when the infuriatingly good-humored gent published a scandalous account of the accident in the local paper--in which Lucy was identified as a "shrew"--well, that was beyond bearing! Indeed, Lucy's every encounter with the man bred chaos, turmoil, disaster...

And yet, Lord Perry was thoroughly enjoying himself. Lucy was the most temperamental, spoiled and unreasonably young lady he had ever met. But her fiery spirit and captivating beauty drew him deeper into a raging battle of wits--and love was the grandest prize of all.

And my review:

I discovered Elizabeth Mansfield when I found on of her books on a discount table at my local department store. I took a chance on her writing, and was very glad that I did. Mansfield writes delightful, witty romances that have a wonderful flow and great characters. And as an added bonus for some readers, her stories are clean, sweet, and innocent; just kisses, nothing explicit.

But I was terribly disappointed in THE ACCIDENTAL ROMANCE. I thought that this would be a case of the hero first meeting the heroine on an "off" day, seeing her worst side and forming the wrong opinion, only to find out that she's actually a nice person underneath. Not so! The heroine really was a spoiled, selfish brat. I think calling her a shrew was almost too nice a way to describe her. Seriously, she causes the accident, beats on the man with her umbrella, and then gets mad when he accepts responsibility for the crash she caused! Huh??? That's what she wanted in the first place--and now she's complaining? Her behaviour was that of a spoiled toddler who's been denied a piece of candy. It made me sick!

And does she smarten up after that? Nope. She goes to his house and threatens to tell people that he left a poor unfortunate girl pregnant with his child and refused to do the right thing by her--all false, of course. Really, the man's poem calling her a shrew did not in any way identify her. I felt that the heroine's reaction was overblown for the situation. Threatening to destroy a man's reputation with false accusations is over the top. After all, she really did act like a shrew. If you ask me, she deserved to be called up on it!

Okay, I'll stop rambling now. I recommend you skip this one, unless you like stories where you want to leap into the book and strangle the heroine with your bare hands. Try one of Mansfield's other works, such as Poor Caroline and Matched Pairs (Signet Regency Romance), or A Christmas Kiss. Those stories are wonderfully witty, and the characters are charming, not little hellions you want to see get their just desserts.