Customer Reviews

Lord Darlington's Darling (Signet Regency Romance)

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2 star:		(1)
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"Lord Darlington's Darling" is a different kind of Regency romance in that the heroine of this novel does not fit the incredibly beautiful, confident, witty and feisty mold that is so popular right now. Indeed the heroine of this novel, while she is held to be attractive, is so shy and tongue-tied, that she frequently comes across as being a little diffident and unsure of herself. But given that I've been reading quite a few Regencies lately where the heroines (if they had had the good fortune of being born in the 20th century, could have all run for parliament, and won!) were all so incredibly perfect, I was in the mood for shy, demure Abigail Fairchilde, and all the angst she faced during this, her second London Season.

Abigail's older married sister, Melissa, is sponsoring Abigail in what will be her second season. (Abigail had the misfortune to fall ill during her first season), and Melissa has all but picked out Abigail's future husband for her: Lord Fielding, a sober gentleman of some means. And while Abigail is not exactly over the moon about the prospect of marrying Lord Fielding, she obediently allows Melissa to shepherd her into an 'almost' understanding with Lord Fielding. And then Lord Darlington comes to town together with his mother and his rebellious younger sister, Bethany. Lord Darlington and Abigail had met during her first Season, and now they meet again at Almacks. The pair resume their friendship much to Melissa's chagrin and displeasure. And while neither of them will admit it openly, both Abigail and Lord Darlington are tantalized and taken with each other. Could it be perhaps that Lord Darlington rather than Lord Fielding holds the key to Abigail's heart? What then of Melissa's hopes and expectations that Abigail will marry Lord Fielding? Will she allow Abigail to follow the dictates of her heart? All this soon becomes moot when Abigail allows herself to become involved in Bethany's ill-advised romance. Will Lord Darlington be able to forgive Abigail this betrayal?

Lord Darlington has spent the past few years rescuing his family from the jaws of poverty, and he is both soul weary and bitter from the experience, especially given that all the responsibility has set up a barrier between him and the rest of his family. And then his mother brings him unwelcome news that his younger sister, Bethany, has gotten involved with a fortune-hunter while she was at school. Lady Darlington's advice is that they take Bethany to London for the Season, where it is to be hoped that the diversions of a London Season as well as new friends, will take Bethany's mind off her unfortunate 'connection.' The last thing he expected was that he would fall in love himself. However Abigail seems to have a rather serious beau already, and one that her family seems to approve wholeheartedly at that! Can Lord Darlington compete with the sober, serious Lord Fielding?

I couldn't decide whether or not to give this novel 3 stars or 4 -- for while I enjoyed the change in heroine-type, I did think that the plot romance was not so terribly original or different. And the last two chapters, where Abigail acts totally out of character and behaves in a really foolish and stupid way, was really stretching things just to be able to tie things up neatly and tidily. I also found that because of all the intrigue and 'backroom' machinations that revolves around Bethany and her ill-advised romance, the developing romance between Abigail and Lord Darlington sometimes got lost amidst the pages. And this really threw me -- to realise that I had finished the book and yet wouldn't be at all characterise their romance, whether it 'sparkled' or fell flat! My advice then would be to enjoy this romance novel for it's demure heroine and all the angst she goes through as she tries to juggle the expectations of her sister, Lord Darlington, Bethany, with her own desires, and to ry and forget everything else.

On page two of this book I came upon what I thought was a whopper of a typo. Lord Darlington, Marquis of Thursgood, was described by this author as being 20 years old. As I read further, I realized that Gayle Buck actually meant it, she had made this lead character 20 years old! What age would the heroine be? Well, that didn't matter because she never told us.

Five years ago (remember, when he was 15) Sylvan's father was killed in a curricle racing accident. The family was left with a mountain of gambling debts and the family home was mortgaged to the hilt. Sylvan and his "man of business" (the author never even bothered to give this poor soul a name!) worked tirelessly to work off all the debts and were now solvent. (For this "man of business" think angel, a la the Cary Grant character of Dudley in the black and white movie THE BISHOP'S WIFE. There can be no other explanation for how this man and a 15 year old boy could save this family's fortunes.) Sylvan has six younger siblings and his mother to care for. He has managed to marry off one of the sisters (she must be 19) and betroth another one (must be 18) because now it has come to his attention that Bethany (his youngest sister at 17) has formed an unfortunate attachment. Because there is now enough money, the mother, brother and sister leave for London for Bethany to have a Season and to help her forget the unfortunate attachment. All of this load to be carried by a 20 year old young man? (And by the way, the other three siblings are never mentioned but it can probably be assumed they must have been boys. Wonder which garret room this author consigned them all to while mother, brother and one sister whooped it up in London? Remember, they all had to be younger than 17. Maybe they were all away at school?)

I looked everywhere to try to find out if this book, copyright 2002, was actually a rewrite of a previous book. I never found anything to say that it wasn't written in 2002. It is only 5 years old. Why is it so completely dull and boring? Surely in 2002 authors were allowed to have their characters show passion, maybe some sensuality? Not here they didn't.

The heroine of this piece is Miss Abigale Fairchilde who is too timid to say boo to a goose! I don't especially like a super feisty heroine but I would like for her to at least not be afraid to finish her sentences. This (very) young girl was so timid, and reticent, and shy, and tongue tied that she could hardly speak two or more words strung together. Everyone bent her to their will. She never wanted to harm, hurt, injure or inconvenience anybody, whether the harm, hurt, injury or inconvenience was real or just possible or even imagined. My goodness she was dull! And then, at the end, she became super action woman with a streak of stupid a yard wide. Someone should have done her a favor and taught her how to say the word n-o. You know, NO! Bethany's scheme was stupid, just say NO. Lord Fielding was boring, just say NO. Her sister Melissa was an interferring busybody, just say NO.

There are not many good things for me to say about this book. It didn't have any four letter words in it, it certainly didn't have any sex in it (that is either a good or a bad depending on your personal preference), it could be read in any waiting room in the country without embarassment, the cover art was good. That about sums it up for me.

This is a pleasant tale but nothing really spectacular. Another reviewer has synopsized the storyline so well, I will not retell it. I did enjoy the shy Abby as she began to flower and come into her own. She started to develop some backbone but unfortunately it led to rather bad results. This book ends rather abruptly and we gain no insight into whether Abby retains any of this outgoing nature.

The hero, Lord Darlington is only twenty and really is awfully young to marry. Yes, he has been handling the estate (badly neglected and in debt) since he was fifteen but I think he would have enjoyed a little more town life before settling down! I couldn't figure out how his siblings were all younger and two sisters were already married or betrothed.

The secondary characters were good but not well-fleshed. Peter, Abby's brother-in-law was actually the most interesting to me. He maintained the same personality throughout the book unlike his rather wishy-washy wife (Abby's sister).

The events of Lord Darlington's sister's ruination appear to be the main focus of this book. Maybe there is a sequel about Bethany Darlington since the author left her in a precarious position. In reality, I think eloping would have been better for her! Why Abby chose to stop it herself without consulting someone wasn't very smart.

This was a slow-paced tale with very polite characters. Interesting enough to read - not emotional in any way. Gayle Buck's books are normally of higher caliber than this one but pleasurable enough for an afternoon read.

This book is so boring it's hard to stick with it to the end. I have a feeling the person who wrote the blurb on the back cover didn't manage it, because it doesn't characterize the plot at all well.

It's not the fact that neither the hero nor the heroine is described as drop-dead gorgeous or hilariously witty or fabulously rich. One does get weary of reading about characters that are so wonderful in every way.

But there doesn't seem to be any sizzle in this romance. I mean, what is it about the heroine that takes the hero's fancy? He dances with her a couple of times and thinks she's a pleasant girl. Same with her. She likes him better than her first suitor, but you don't see any strong emotion from her.

But she doesn't seem hopelessly silly until she tries to rescue the hero's sister from a fortune hunter. I mean, if she knows the guy is a fortune hunter and not seriously attached to the girl, why doesn't it occur to her that SHE could be a target as well?

And that's another thing: why would a fortune hunter latch onto a girl from a family only recently rescued from poverty???

Another wallbanger. Save your money.