Poor Caroline and Matched Pairs (Signet Regency Romance) [Paperback]

Elizabeth Mansfield (Author)

Book Description

Series: Signet Regency Romance | Publication Date: August 3, 2004

Here, together for the first time in one volume, are two all-time favorite Regencies by Elizabeth Mansfield, "one of the enduring names in romance" (Paperback Forum).

Product Details

• Paperback: 448 pages
• Publisher: Signet (August 3, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451213122
• ISBN-13: 978-0451213129
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,266,014 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Two enjoyable Regency romances for the price of one!, November 29, 2006

By 

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

This review is from: Poor Caroline and Matched Pairs (Signet Regency Romance) (Paperback)

From the back cover:

For the first time in one volume two all-time favorites from Elizabeth Mansfield:

POOR CAROLINE
Orphaned and penniless at twelve, Caroline Whitlow has made herself useful these many years by running her uncle Clement's household. But upon her uncle's death, she learns that his heir, Kit Meredith, is returning from war to take over the state--a home where Caroline no longer feels welcome. By the time he arrives, she had fled--and it will take more than an invitation to bring Caroline back. It will take scheming, deceit...and love.

MATCHED PAIRS
When dashing Lord Canfield moves to the tiny village of Derbyshire, he cannot help but notice his new neighbor Juliet Branscombe--or that her engagement is headed for trouble. Her betrothed lavishes attention on a charming London sophisticate, while shy Juliet seems almost content to let him go. Struck by Juliet's delicate charm, Canfield decides to take matters into his own hands. He will help Juliet win back her fiance's heart--if he doesn't lose his own first.

And my review:

This volume contains two reissue stories. The first was originally published in 1995, the second in 1996.

This was my first try of this author, but it certainly won't be my last. If you love Regency romance that is written in an easy-to-read style, then you will enjoy the writing of Elizabeth Mansfield. I love Regency romance, but so many authors of this genre use such flowery language that theirs are more work to read than fun. That isn't the case here. Mansfield's writing it straightforward and flowing. You don't have to struggle to follow it. And as an added bonus, her romances are completely clean--there's never anything more suggestive than a kiss, so this a story you could let your teenaged daughter read without any worries.

POOR CAROLINE was an interesting story, with lots of loveable characters and interesting plot twists. My only complaint with this story was that the heroine was very stubborn for a long time. Considering she had such a wonderful man like Kit pursuing her, I wondered why she kept clinging to stubborn pride rather than accepting him (especially considering that she cared for him, too). But this was still an enjoyable story, so I give it four stars.

MATCHED PAIRS was my favorite of this collection. There were actually three relationships in this story (though the third one is very short). One thing that I really liked about this story was that the author kept me guessing almost right up until the end. The basic premise is that the two main characters, Tris and Juliet, have mothers who are best friends. To cement this friendship, they have decided every since the children were babies that they would marry. However, Tris and Juliet only love each other as brother and sister, not as husband and wife. Tris falls in love with Cleo, a London woman, while Juliet's attention is captured by Peter, the new man in the country. Tris agrees to help Julie capture Peter so that he can be free to marry Cleo.

However, Peter thinks that Juliet is in love with Tris, and sets out to help her win him back. The complication is that he ends up falling in love with her himself.

So, you'd think it would be obvious who is going to end up with whom, right? But the author kept me guessing for a long time. I'd think of course that Tris and Cleo would end up together and Juliet and Peter would end up together. But then every time progress occurs between Peter and Juliet, Tris would get overwhelmingly jealous. Which would make me wonder if perhaps Tris actually loved Juliet after all, and just didn't realize it. I wasn't sure if this was going to be a story of the mothers knowing best, and if Tris and Juliet would end up together after all, or if Tris would end up with Cleo and Juliet would end up with Peter. I won't give away the outcome here, but it made for a very interesting read! Four stars.

I will definitely be on the lookout for more books by this author. Considering that you get two stories for the price of one, I recommend this collection!