The Golden Season [Mass Market Paperback]

Connie Brockway (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 2, 2010

Wealthy, orphaned Lady Lydia Eastlake reigns over Regency England as the ton's most celebrated beauty. But she must face losing the only life she's ever known when her fortune suddenly disappears-and the only solution is to find a wealthy husband. Enter Captain Ned Lockton, a rich and dashing war hero who sends Lydia's pulse racing. Little does she know that the enigmatic captain's family estate is secretly on the selling block-and he's on the hunt for a rich bride who will rescue his family from poverty...

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

*Starred Review* Lydia Eastlake has been the toast of the town, but that is about to come to an abrupt end. In retrospect Lydia realizes she should have read the letters from her banker more carefully, but she never thought her considerable fortune would ever run out. Now she is left with one option if she doesn’t want to learn how to economize: find a wealthy man to marry before word of her financial reversal gets out. After meeting kind and sexy Captain Ned Lockton, Lydia thinks she may have found her perfect match, but what she doesn’t know is that Ned, whose own family is rapidly draining the ancestral coffers, is hunting for a spouse, too, and only heiresses need apply. RITA Award-winner Brockway works her own irresistible brand of alchemy by taking superbly complex characters and an enthralling plot spiced with unexpected twists and deftly spinning the whole thing into literary gold. Delightfully witty and dazzlingly imaginative. --John Charles

About the Author

The author of seventeen full length novels, Connie Brockway lives in Minnesota with her husband and several dogs. An adult daughter has managed to escape to warmer climes. For now.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Mass Market Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Onyx; Regular Print/Single Titl edition (February 2, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451412834
• ISBN-13: 978-0451412836
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #615,487 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars THE GOLDEN SEASON is a keeper., February 2, 2010

By 

Santa-smbslt "Santa-smbslt" (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Golden Season (Mass Market Paperback)

I would highly recommend that you keep a space open on your keeper shelf for Connie Brockway's THE GOLDEN SEASON. I loved the heroine, Lady Lydia. She was smart, beautiful and wealthy in her own right until it is revealed to her that she doesn't have a feather to fly with. She's flat broke. There is only one thing for her to do in order to continue to keep her place in society. She must find a rich husband who can keep her in the lifestyle she to which she is accustomed.

Enter retired Navel officer Captain Ned Lockton. And what an entrance he makes. Tall, golden haired and delicious. He seems to have it all. Fame. Family. Fortune. Well, all except the last part. He, in turn, finds Lady Lydia breathtakingly beautiful. She has everything he is looking for in a bride. Fame. Family. Fortune -- except for that last part.

Now I don't want anyone to think these two are shallow and in love with their own consequence. Each has a strong sense of honor and duty for the people and family in their lives. Ned and Lydia find themselves falling in love long before they find out they each are penniless. They are passionately in love and it sizzles off the pages. But their newly discovered passion for one another isn't just about money or their physical attraction to one another. It's sooo much more.

Connie Brockway takes us along on Lydia and Ned's journey of discovery. Their new found love is tested and each make a life changing decisions. But are they the right ones? Are they destined to be together or be kept forever apart by circumstance? The best part of this book for me was seeing how Ms. Brockway told this part of the story. Just when I thought the end was near, she threw another curve. I am so glad she did.

I rejoice in Connie Brockway's return to historical romance. I think you will too.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Nice Guys Finish First!, March 21, 2010

By 

Linda Banche (New England) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Golden Season (Mass Market Paperback)

I love this book! Ms. Brockway has written a first-class tale of love, honesty, and honor triumphing in that most artificial of all places, the Regency ton.

Lady Lydia Eastlake must wed for money. So must former Navy captain, Ned Lockton. Each appears the other's ideal--until they fall in love and discover the other is penniless. Honor pulls them toward other partners. Love pulls them together. You'll wonder how they will reconcile their differences in this page-turner, even though a happy ending is guaranteed in a romance.

When I read a romance, I have to like both hero and heroine. The heroine is usually no problem, and I like Lydia. But, all too often, the "hero" is a villain in disguise and I hate him.

Not so with Ned. Ned Lockton is that rarity in romance, a nice guy. Now, "nice" does not necessarily mean "wimp". Ned is a former Navy captain who was invalided out after a distinguished career, and now has the thankless job of rescuing his feckless family from penury. He's also young, gorgeous, and blond. (I like my heroes blond.) I adore him.

If you like a story that keeps you reading and guessing right up to the end, try THE GOLDEN SEASON. You won't go wrong.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Five golden stars for an almost perfect romance., February 2, 2010

By 

Old Latin teacher (USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Golden Season (Mass Market Paperback)

What a great time for romance readers, what with Laura Kinsale, Madeline Hunter and now Connie Brockway releasing romances within a week or so of each other. Ms Brockway's previous release, SO ENCHANTING, wasn't quite my cup of tea because of the paranormal elements involved, but this new one is very good. Here we have our extremely beautiful and wealthy heroine, Lydia, whose lavish lifestyle is famous in the ton, find out in the first page that she has lost everything. Our handsome hero Ned, recently retired naval captain, returns home to find his family (headed by his older brother, the Earl of Josten) in dire straits financially. Both H and H must find wealthy mates ASAP, before the ton realizes that they are poor. I suppose you can guess how this will end and you'd be right, but it's the journey to the end that is a delight. The characters, both main and secondary, are well developed and appealing. You might expect such a beautiful and wealthy woman as Lydia to be selfish and self-centered, but no such thing. And Ned is as noble of character as they come. The story begins in a very light-hearted manner with LOL (to me) situations and dialogue, but, somehow, as you get further and further into the book, you realize that this is a beautiful, heartfelt romance. And what a pleasant surprise for once to have a hero with enough self-control to keep his breeches buttoned even when he would rather not. (And, let's face it, when the heroine would also rather he not.) No, this does not mean no sex in the story. It just means that the romance here takes precedence over the sex. There is only one thing that bothered me in this book: Ned's behaviour at the beginning of the last chapter was as exasperating to me as it was to Lydia. But all's well that ends well, as they say, and the book is still a 5-star one for me.