Customer Reviews

Amelia's Intrigue (Zebra Regency Romance)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Another of Judith Lansdowne' multi-layered Regency novels, Amelia's Intrigue deserves 5 stars if simply for the unusual and not-so-secondary character of the Earl of Rutlidge.

Briefly, this is the story of Amelia, daughter of Lord and Lady Mapleton who enjoys all the advantages of wealthy and a happy home and family life. She has nice parents, brothers and friends. However, she is, perhaps, a little spoilt as a result and upon meeting The Hon Mr Anthony Talbot, younger brother of the Earl of Rutlidge, she takes him in an unreasonable dislike, attributing to him characteristics and behaviour that is duly sorted out by the novel's end.

The author gives us a very complicated plot which tells us about ton life and secretive security work at the highest level. There is a mystery running through everything - the death of our hero's father in peculiar circumstances. In a long, long effort to uncover the reasons for his father's early demise, Mr Talbot becomes embroiled in the under-belly of London life and we meet a host of interesting characters peripherally involved with the Luddites.

But it is the Earl who most aroused my interest. Horrifically injured as young boy, in saving his younger brother's life in an appalling accident, the Earl, "Geordan", suffered a dreadful brain injury which left him forever mentally 12 years old. However, he is surrounded by love, understanding, patience, tolerance and unending support from those who know and love this gentle, loving man. Mr Talbot's life work has been to look after the family's affairs, acting as de facto earl whilst encouraging Geordan to live his life to the limits of his capabilities.

This unusual scenario is beautifully handled with great sensitivity. Indeed, it may be that Geordan will find love and marriage himself by the end of the story. His insights into life and personal relationships are lovely, unclouded as they are but adult cynicism and sophistication. In some ways, the deep and abiding love the two brothers have for each other is the "main" love story in the novel.

Recommended for great sensitivity, interesting characters and examination of different types of love.

Waited and watched for more than a year before getting my hands on a copy, but now I see why it was on my WISH LIST. Some reviewers had a problem with a secondary romance for Geordan because he was brain damaged and mentally slow. Why? Newsflash. Limited mental acuity does not have any effect on hormones. He was a wealthy attractive titled gentleman. In truth, his family would have been chasing away gold-diggers for years. Let us not forget, either, this was Regency England. The King was mad and the country was ruled by his son. Intellect was not exactly virtue #1. The misses and mammas would have been after that boy like hounds on the scent of a rabbit. I had no problem with him and a ditsy blonde developing crushes on each other.And the primary romance between his brother and the heroine was nicely and cleverly done. Lots of likeable characters. My favorite type story. Ms. Lansdowne made me care about these people.And she threw in an intriguing mystery. What more can you ask?

If you can find a copy of this beautiful novel, you will have discovered a treasure! This isn't your typical Regency romp. It is also a moving story about the relationship between two brothers. An accident as a child has left the older brother, Geordan (the Earl), somewhat mentally slow. But this situation is handled with such love and respect from all parties - from Geordan's worshiping brother, Anthony, their friends, family, their amazing mother and most members of the ton. You will fall in love with both of these heroes and laugh (and cry) along with them. This book I recommend to all, including mainstream readers. You won't want to put this one down

Anthony is the younger brother of the Earl of Rutlidge, Geordan, and takes care of his older brother's estates after the Earl was involved in a terrible childhood accident that left him a bit slow.

Anthony and Amelia cannot even try to be the lead characters as Geordan completely steals the book. At first I started to just skim to the parts that he was in but I found myself getting more and more interested in the story...and I'm glad I read the whole thing.

Amelia and Anthony first come together because of Geordan and they do not get along too well. Amelia thinks that Tony enjoys frightening Geordan while Anthony is suspicious of her friendship with his brother. Both are completely wrong. Anthony still absolutely adores his older brother. The relationship between the two is so touching and so obviously full of love that I actually felt defensive over Amelia's absurd claim. The strong relationship between the brothers alone makes this book worth reading. And Amelia is charmed by Geordan.

Geordan may be slow but he proves that he is not stupid. He becomes aware of things and suspects things long before anyone else. Geordan is curious of his brother sneaking out and goes to follow him. He ends up losing his brother but meets a wonderful working-class family that takes him in and helps him.The twist in the book was interesting and kept the reader entertained without taking away anything from the story.

I definitely recommend this book. There's no big love scene, no eye-buldging action, but the heartwarming portrayal of brotherly love and a loving family more than makes up for any minor flaws.

First of all, I loved the parents' continuing love story. It was refreshing to see that in a novel. The familial love was also refreshing, no dastardly relative out to steal money from, kill, or kidnap another relative. Geordan and Lydia's romance was sweet, and I found it to enhance the story. Readers should not view Geordan as a child. Yes, it refers to him as thinking like a young teenager, but this refers to his mental acuity and recall. However, he has common sense and emotional intellect and an intellect about human relations that some of the so-called adults in the story fail to match. What can I say? I've read and re-read it, made my sister read it, shared it with my mom, and thinking about this story makes me want to read it again!

This was a great read from the bad first impressions, to misunderstandings, to the denouement. However, after reading several reviews, I discovered (much to my surprise) that quite a few people did not care for Amelia. As it is difficult for someone to like a book in which the heroine is not interesting or fun to read about, I thought I'd let potential readers know that the dislike of Amelia was not universal. I liked Amelia. She's sassy and funny and protective of those she loves. Of course she doesn't like Anthony at first, he behaves quite badly and is insulting to her. Amelia is a natural protector and care-giver, note the care she has taken of her own family. I found it admirable that she was willing to extend that behavior to others not in her family circle. Sure she makes decisions based on a bad first impression--don't we all??? Given the instances that she witnesses, I found it believable that she might misconstrue Anthony's feelings and care of his brother. Ms. Lansdowne's portrayal of Amelia seemed honest and human to me. If that were me, I might attribute villainy to his behavior too.

The ensemble cast of characters in Judith Lansdowne's novels is unusual. She commonly has several intertwined plots going on throughout the story, which keep things interesting as layers of history and character are revealed.

In Ameila's Intrigue, the main characters are brothers Geordan, Earl of Rutlidge, Mr. Anthony (Tony) Talbot, and Miss Amelia Mapleton. Miss Mapleton and one of the Talbot brothers are the subjects of a male matchmaking conspiracy. Which Talbot brother? Read it to find out! Geordan and Tony are devoted to one another, especially since a carriage accident in their youth in which Geordan suffered significant brain damage when he took action to save Tony's life. Since then Tony has overprotected his elder brother while at the same time single-mindedly devoting himself to Geordan's interests.

The first impressions the couple-to-be have of one another are not positive, but the men in their lives keep throwing together so that they have plenty of opportunities in which to revise their initial opinion. The secondary love story of Amelia's long-married parents was as appealing to me as Amelia's, and the Dowager Duchess of Richmond was a hoot! It is hard to choose a favorite character, but Amelia's 50-something swashbuckling father and the lovable Earl run a tight race for my vote.

There were a few dangling threads that bothered me, and the title of the book is a puzzler, but in the overall scheme of things they are not important. I enjoyed the book and look forward to reading more by this author.

I want to second everything that reviewer 'Susan Smith' said. Although the very slow courtship of Talbot and Amelia was nice, it was the beautiful love of the 'normal' younger brother, Talbot, for his handicapped older brother, the Earl, that made this book very very special.

I loved this book very much and really cared about the characters. I warmed up to Tony and Geord right away and loved how much they really cared about and loved each other. But I didn't warm up to Amelia right away. I found her to be very self-righteous and overly judgemental for a good portion of the book and it took me a while to get used to her. But I eventually did and by the end of the book, I liked her.
I also found it hard to keep all the names the author kept throwing in the book straight and I had to re-read a couple of pages so I could remember who they all were.
There was a little bit of mystery and romance in the book and they balanced each other very nicely without bogging each other down. And the mystery element of the book didn't overwhelm me; I never forgot that it was supposed to be a romance.
This is one of my favorite stories and I will read it over and over again. The love the two brothers have for each other really endeared this book to me and was what really made it such a sweet story. I highly recommend it.

If you haven't read this one yet, I have one question. Why not? I'm a fan of all of Lansdowne's books, but this is by far the best. It's a great story with characters you'll love. If you haven't read it, start looking for a copy!

I bought this book in the Auctions on the basis of the previous review and the fact that I have liked other Judith Lansdowne books. I was not disappointed. This book is a keeper! A wonderful and heartwarming story that just happens to be set in the Regency period. The relationships between Geordan and his extended family are a delight and the glimpses of well known names such as Gentleman Jackson and Beau Brummel as well as Trevithick as they interact with our heroes just add that little extra.