Customer Reviews

Cressida

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

 

 

Honestly, why are these books out of print??? The only reason I can see for it is because Clare Darcy's regency romances do not include the steamy sex that seems to be mandatory in all romance novels printed today. I have long been a fan of Clare Darcy, whose witty and well-written romances have always been charming, if light, reading - much better than the usual fare, thank goodness. Possessing a sharp wit and beautiful command of language, her books always make the era come alive for me (and countless other people I know who enjoy her books). Yet, all of her and Georgette Heyer (the unparalleled queen of Regency) seem to be out of print today, and are only available used or on tape. I really can't imagine what leads publishers to print the romance mediocrities such as "The Bigamous Duchess" and ignore Heyer and Darcy's legions of fans. It can't be demand - both Heyer and Darcy wrote best-sellers, and almost all of their books at Amazon are five-starred. Who knows why? However, publishers today seem to be shaping up, bringing back such wonderful classics like "I Capture the Castle" by Dodie Smith, that has sold millions of copies since its re-release. Hopefully, they will realize their error and see again what wonderful and popular reads these books are.

For six years, beautiful, witty, and enchanting Cressida Calverton had been dazzling the eyes and dashing the hopes of England's most eligible lords. And for six years Cressida had been harboring the painful memory of Captain Deverell Rossiter, who had shattered her own romantic dreams by bewilderingly breaking off their engagement. Now Rosister was back in England with a renown gallantry won on foreign battlefields, a fortune gained in spectacular gambles and a notoriety in love that shock society. And now Cressida was determined to show this heartbreaker that she was no longer a girl to be dangled on a string, but a woman with courage and claws who was more than a match for any man. Clare Darcy delightfully demonstrates why she has been named "the heiress to Georgett Heyer

A character in Ms Darcy's novel states, "We should have no three-volume novels if characters came straight to the point and said exactly what was on their minds, and people in real life are so tiresomely apt to behave in the same way, quite as if they had been made up by an author with more pages to fill than matter to put in them." Given that this was her tenth novel in six years, she might be pardoned if plots were getting a little thin. The sagacious reader should also remember Oscar Wilde's quip about the three volume novel.

Cressida and Dev Rossiter are perfect for each other. They fall into a quarrel every time they meet. They do stupid things to tick each other off. They need to grow up.

Cressida and Rossiter were engaged seven years before the opening of the story. Rossiter was in the army, Cressida was living with her wealthy great aunt. The engagement lasted a week. It ended when Cressida broke the engagement after Dev picked a fight with her. He went off with his regiment, Cressida when on to inherit her great aunt's fortune and become a fixture in London's fashionable society, given countenance by her companion Lady Constance. Currently there appears to be a match in the offing between Cressida and the Marquis of Langmere. She has also offered to help Lady Constance launch a young relative named Kitty into Society.

Then Captain Deverell Rossiter returns to London society, having made his fortune on the 'Change. He and Cressida meet at her solicitor's office, quarrel, meet at a ball and quarrel meet at her front door and quarrel. A more tiresome pair could not have graced the ballrooms of the ton. He sets out to buy her family's country seat, mainly to annoy her. She sets out to prevent this from happening, mainly to annoy him. They meet at her uncle's house and quarrel.

Then, when it finally seems that Cressida is going to show evidence of the superior understanding that she is said to have, she does something so monumentally stupid that it leaves the reader stunned.

Of course it all comes down to a happy ending, although it's rather hard to believe that Cressida and her Captain and going to do any better in the future if they insist on flying off the handle at a drop of a hat and refusing to simply sit down and talk to each other.

Unless you want to spend a few hours with two of the most tedious lovers in fiction, pick up another novel by Clare Darcy-- the excellent Lydia maybe, and leave this one alone.

I have to agree with another reader here - you cannot find a more tiresome couple than Cressida and Rossiter. Actually, I use the term "couple" loosely since you really rarely see them together and when you do, they are fighting. If this were a contemporary romance I would give the marriage a year, but since this is a Regency Romance, I forsee years of a hellish marriage ahead of them.

I have read many Clare Darcy novels that I love but unfortunately, this is not one of them. Probably the book's worst fault is that Cressida is one of the most unlikable heroines I have ever read about. She is stupid, snobbish, pretentious, and shallow. I do not recommend this book.

A character in Ms Darcy's novel states, "We should have no three-volume novels if characters came straight to the pointand said exactly what was on their minds, and people in real life are so tiresomely apt to behave in the same way, quite as if they had been made up by an author with more pages to fill than matter to put in them." Given that this was her tenth novel in six years, she might be pardoned if plots were getting a little thin. Also, the reader should remember what Oscar Wilde said about three volume novels.

Cressida and Dev Rossiter are perfect for each other. They fall into a quarrel every time they meet. They do stupid things to tick each other off. They need to grow up.

Cressida and Rossiter were engaged seven years before the opening of the story. Rossiter was in the army, Cressida was living with her wealthy great aunt. The engagement lasted a week. It ended when Cressida broke the engagement after Dev picked a fight with her. He went off with his regiment, Cressida when on to inherit her great aunt's fortune and become a fixture in London's fashionable society, given countenance by her companion Lady Constance. Currently there appears to be a match in the offing between Cressida and the Marquis of Langmere. She has also offered to help Lady Constance launch a young relative named Kitty into Society.

Then Captain Deverell Rossiter returns to London society, having made his fortune on the 'Change. He and Cressida meet at her solicitor's office, quarrel, meet at a ball and quarrel meet at her front door and quarrel. A more tiresome pair could not have graced the ballrooms of the ton. He sets out to buy her family's country seat, mainly to annoy her. She sets out to prevent this from happening, mainly to annoy him. They meet at her uncle's house and quarrel.

Then, when it finally seems that Cressida is going to show evidence of the superior understanding that she is said to have, she does something so monumentally stupid that it leaves the reader stunned.

Of course it all comes down to a happy ending, although it's rather hard to believe that Cressida and her Captain and going to do any better in the future if they insist on flying off the handle at a drop of a hat and refusing to simply sit down and talk to each other.

If you have a choice pick up another novel by Clare Darcy-- the excellent Lydia maybe, and leave this one alone.