Customer Reviews

Courting Constance

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

 

 

A delightful romp through the season in Bath with the unpredictable Constance in full pursuit of Sir Geoffrey. Gleefully breaking the bonds of propriety, Constance tries her hand at courting the gentleman in question. Nothing goes smoothly as the story twists and turns through one painful life lesson after another. I highly recommend this book to anyone of any age looking for a fun, light romance.

I really wanted to like this book. Firstly, the cover image of the heroine has her with almost exactly the same hair as me, which is cool. Secondly, the author sent me a copy to review and put a lovely card with it, plus signed the book. These are two good things (at least one of them is, if you have hair like me), but sadly weren't enough to make me like this book once I'd read it.

It's a historical romance set in the Regency period in the city of Bath. It starts with a highwayman holding up a carriage in which our heroine is travelling - and the highwayman happens to be her former Fiancé (not that she realises). This was a good start, but unfortunately from here onward the book went downhill.

The heroine, Constance, seems a bit erratic in her behaviour. I couldn't decide whether I liked her or not - I think, by the end, not. Her best friend Harriet (`Harry') went from being virtually mute to being... not so mute. The Fiancé, Sir Geoffrey Thornhill (often referred to in the book erroneously as `Sir Thornhill', he would be `Sir Geoffrey'), seemed a strangely indistinct character. I knew very little about him by the end of the book except that he and Constance probably deserved each other.

The middle part of the book seemed to be about Constance trying to court Geoffrey with supposedly comedic results. I didn't find these scenes funny, just weird - almost slapstick in nature. Constance then seems to suddenly, without any apparent reason, give up completely and the action has to shift to Geoffrey who continues as impenetrable as ever.

The book also touched on the `inspirational' genre with various religious thoughts but these weren't over-strong so fitted reasonably. The end of the story had echoes of Georgette Heyer's "The Grand Sophy" but in a rather half-hearted manner.

The author has probably tried to make the book seem authentic but this English reader came across a great many Americanisms whilst reading it which disturbed the flow of the story.

What I did like was the occasional turn of phrase of the author which was well written and good to read. Sadly most of the story was dull to this reader with unconvincing characters who I didn't really care for.

Originally published for Curled Up With A Good Book © Helen Hancox 2011

Constance Afford has just lost her chance with Sir Geoffrey Thornhill. She heads to Bath with one of her dearest friends.

I enjoyed this book and found a few parts quite humerous. Loved the bagpipe scene as well as the gun scence toward the end. Nice, clean and entertaining cast. I would have liked a little more character development regarding Sir Geoffrey(age, appearance, financial status etc..)So if I had a choice of half ratings, I would give this book 4 1/2 Stars.

I hope to read more from this author. Highly recommended

For a book not labeled as a Christian romance, this regency novel was pretty sweet and even Christian sounding. The heroine reflects on the Bible and even has a change of heart that strengthens her faith. I wasn't expecting that. And for a romance it was more funny than romancy because of some of the crazy things that Constance did. While this book could be read as a stand alone, I got the impression their was a previous story when I was about halfway through this book. That didn't hurt the story at all. I just thought I'd mention it.

As far as entertainment value goes, I read this book quickly. There were a few places where the spiritual journey seemed to pop out of nowhere, like the inciting incident that should take place prior to the reaction was delayed or missing. But it was a minor issue. Overall I found this story delightful and amusing. The antics made the story cute. I particularly loved the mix up at the end and Constance's scheme involving a gun. I won't say what it was (or it would spoil the fun for the reader) but I will say it was hilarious! In fact, that was probably my favorite part of the book. I also enjoyed all of the crazy bantering and small talk that people did when socializing in those days. If you like a clean romance with witty banter and funny incidents, you will enjoy this regency.

This is my first exposure with Ms. Teryl Cartwright. I can assure you that it will not be my last. She has a funny way of looking at the subject of marriage during this Regency period. The tongue-in-cheek story was quite amazing. It was like a calamity of errors! Whatever the main characters did, it seemed to backfire. The secondary cast just made the storyline more hilarious. To involve two women, one very outgoing and one rather shy, with two men of such high esteem in the area, was really entertaining to read about.

I can guarantee that there will be no slow times during your experience with this book. I found myself enthralled. I couldn't put it down. It was a oversized novel. I still didn't want to quit reading. The scenarios written were so believable. It was as if I was reading about some close friends.

I highly recommend this book to anyone. I plan to watch for this name and read anything I can find. I will go back and read the prequel to this book. Great job, Ms. Cartwright! - Brenda Talley

Losing love can be something hard to accept. "Courting Constance" is a romance as Constance Afford pursues Sir Geoffrey to recover her fiance from the pursuits of his other admirers. Both sides feel the pain of past rejection and find it it hard to forgive and forget, and with other women in the picture, forgiveness seems even harder. "Courting Constance" is a fine read for those who enjoy Victorian-inspired romances, highly recommended.

Courting Constance is the delightful tale of Constance Alford & Sir Geoffrey Thornhill - when Constance loses her fiance, Sir Geoffrey, after he breaks off their engagement when finding her embracing another man, she is determined to get him back at all costs. But Sir Geoffrey has plans of his own, that include a little thing called revenge - when these two start to act outside the boundaries of their strict Regency society, things in Bath really get interesting...will Sir Geoffrey ultimately get his revenge or will Constance win him back & become more like her name?!

I was quite engrossed in this tale of Constance & Sir Geoffrey - the plot is interesting, the characters likeable, and I truly wanted to know what was going to happen, and was rooting for things to work out for certain people. From the very first line, the author pulls you into the intricate world of Regency courtship - I very much enjoyed this read! The cover photo is not period correct (her hair would be up and the color natural, both their clothes are incorrect for the period, she would be in an empire-waisted dress, stays, etc. - I dress in Regency & attend historical events, so I research the fashion), but I still very much loved the story - I would absolutely recommend this book, a great read!