Customer Reviews

The Golden Season

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

At last someone has written a book with a genuinely believable conflict (having to marry for money) with an honorable hero who behaves as a lot of good man would have in that period. "The Golden Season" begins with Lady Lydia who, to her amazed dismay, finds she is penniless. Her counterpart, Ned, decides to marry a wealthy woman to rescue his impoverished and feckless family. The romance between them, although not the most romantic I have read, is ultimately so satisfying and so interesting that I suspect it will be one of the best this year.

When Ned and Lydia meet, the light flirting is so much fun to read that we can understand their immediate attraction. Ned, as a reserved Naval officer, controls himself around Lydia, so much so she is unsure of his affections. Their rendez-vous in a maze is so well written that, although you totally understand their unwillingness and inability to express themselves, you want to shake them, but not because they are being stupid.
SOME SPOILERS SOME SPOILERS
This is a book of lots of impediments to Ned and Lydia's getting together, but none of them seem contrived, even the final one that demands a terrible sacrifice from Lydia to prevent her friend from being entombed in Bedlam. I usually do not like books where pages and pages go by without the couple being together, but Brockway makes her plot and characters so interesting that I was swept along. At 2 AM, I laughed out loud (really) when I read the pretext that a villain uses to force a duel. For once, you have an honorable man who decides realistically that the price of self-sacrifice is too high and a heroine who values her economic luxury and status, making her final decision wrenchingly difficult.

The only quibble I have with this 400 page book is that it ends a little abruptly. If I suffer through the H&H's obstacles for that long, I want to see more of the final payoff. That's why I love epilogues, absent in this book. That being said, however, the final pages were as well written as the previous book, and as satisfying.

Some romances are like eating really great pie--and lots of it. "The Golden Season" is like eating a complete turkey dinner.

This was the first Connie Brockway book I've ever read, and I loved it. Ned was such a sweet, lovable character, so passionate and poetic. At first, I did think Lydia was a bit spoiled and dumb, but she was not a whiny baby about it, like a real rich spoiled brat would be. She had a good head on her shoulders, and was very honest. This story was written so well, I could feel every physical thing described, and emotional. I felt sympathy for Ned when he learned what might happen to Lydia and his brother. I could hear the sweetness of Ned's love for her in his letter. I could taste the caramel ice as Lydia described it. I could see Ned watching her as she described that caramel, his eyes so aroused and glazed in pleasure. It was a beautiful book, and I cannot wait to read more by her.

I just didn't like this heroine very much. She seems terribly shallow for much of the book; her only redeeming characteristic is her loyalty to her friends. Near the end, she is revealed as having more depth, but the transformation was just not believable. The hero was only slightly better, but both characters have these personality changes that are hard to swallow.

The ending was very disappointing. A villain who pretty much rises from the grave, the heroine can't believe the hero can help with her dilemmma... A really bad ending.

Ahhhh, what a refreshing and lovely book this is! It's easily one of the best I've read in some time.

THE GOLDEN SEASON details the romance of Lady Lydia Eastlake, a wealthy, extraordinarily beautiful and charming toast of the ton, and Captain Ned Lockton, a wealthy, extraordinarily handsome and gallant man. Except they're not wealthy. In fact, they're both flat broke and searching for a spouse with a huge bank account. They meet and fall in love with each other instead.

Really, this is just a fun and lovely romance, with two very estimable, likable characters and an interesting stable of secondary characters. Lydia is sweet and dashing and generous and kind-hearted and intelligent, and Ned is honorable and courteous and kind-hearted and intelligent, and the two of them have such a refreshing romance. I really can't get over the fact that Ned is so level-headed and rational and intelligent, every time I fear he's going to do something boneheaded or typically romance-hero-dumb, he goes the other way and does something awesome. I love it! And Lydia is a treat, too--really, these two characters are such a nice change of pace from the usual run of irritating, addled, silly and clueless romance heroes and heroines! It helps then show just how crazy Ned and Lydia are for each other--this is LOVE, crazy love.

The ending is, indeed, a bit silly and doesn't fit in with the rest of the book, but I don't think I would have really realized that if I hadn't read other people's reviews. And I'm not entirely sure I care, now that I've thought about it. But yes, there could have been a better ending to this lovely and delightful novel--except the ending is full of derring-do and rescues and passion, and who doesn't enjoy that in a romance novel?

Another slight problem is that the secondary characters are just a little TOO secondary--a couple of them needed more scenes, more time to develop their own storylines, which do impact the book. Lydia's friend Sarah is especially badly used, she definitely needed more scenes to flesh out her story. However, this doesn't impact my enjoyment of the story enough to lower its rating.

Altogether THE GOLDEN SEASON is a wonderfully-written romance between two wonderfully-written people, highly recommended to all Connie Brockway fans as well as readers who enjoy their heroes very gallant and courteous, very gentlemanly, and their heroines sparkling and clever. Brenda Joyce fans might enjoy this book too, judging how her heroes and heroines often act. Read and enjoy!

In 1816 Lady Lydia Eastlake learns she is broke, but wants a final Golden Season before she is forced to marry an affluent lord. She assumes finding a wealthy match will prove easy as she is beautiful and has the proper pedigree though her age at a shelf life of twenty-four and never been under the control of any male or for that matter even a female but being an orphan might go against her.

War hero Captain Ned Lockton returns to England in search of a wife with money as his family estate is teetering on bankruptcy. When Lydia and Ned meet, they are attracted to one another while also believing the other is rich. Each learns the dire straits of their beloved's finances and sadly concludes they must pragmatically look elsewhere as love does not pay the bills.

This terrific Regency romance stars two strong lead characters (especially the pursuing female) who are both in financial trouble due to an economic recession and in her case too much spending. Ironically, his fighting against Napoleon left him and his family vulnerable to the economy's slump. Lydia and Ned make the tale as they want one another, but look to the odious Smyth types for marriage as neither can afford to wed for love.

Harriet Klausner

This book was just awful. I usually like Connie Brockway (her historicals, at least), but I thought this book was boring - the characters, the plot, the setting - everything. The characters held some promise at the beginning, but they went downhill fast.

It isn't uncommon for romance novels to have some cliches, but this book? It was trying for them all. Both the hero and heroine's families have run out of money and each must marry for money. We have many misunderstandings that could have been resolved by having an adult conversation. There are quirky side characters to add spice, but there's no spice in this novel. The reckless, young nephews aren't interesting, they are just selfish brats. The klepto companion isn't fun and heartwarming, she's just a plot device. I was waiting for our heroine to dress in men's clothing or our hero to have a scheming mistress on the side, just to round out the cliche fest.

The book would have been much improved had either of the main characters chosen to grow a spine, but they did not. I think this is the first Brockway book I've thrown out, but this one definitely resides in the bottom of the recycling bin. Boring, boring, borning.

Hilarious! As a long-time reader of historical romances, I was quite pleasantly surprised by this book. Ms. Brockway's characters are fantastic. I felt their pain, their sorrow, their joy and every emotion in between as I was swept away in this exhilarating tale. The supporting characters are intriguing to say the least. Ned's family is as eccentric as they come. And Lydia's closest friends are just as unconventional as she. Ned's two nephews are in town and they cause quite a ruckus for Ned that is sure to have the reader laughing hysterically. If those two boys ever get their own books, I can't wait to read them.

The plot is captivating and is sure to keep your attention fixed on this book until you have turned the very last page. Throughout the ups and downs in this story I couldn't help but get drawn into this book and feel as if I was there observing myself. Ned and Lydia's attraction in instantaneous. While their passions must be controlled in public as dictated by the ton, once they let them free in private there is no stopping them. This fantastic book is one historical romance that should not be missed. If you enjoy historical romance that is full of unique characters, interesting dialogue, and has a plot sure to keep your attention then this is the book for you. - Jacquelyn R. Ward