Customer Reviews

Lady Elizabeth's Comet

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The heroine is an astronomer corresponding with William and Caroline Herschel (two famous astronomers of the day); she is the eldest of eight daughters, and her father's distant cousin succeeds unexpectedly to the earldom, after having been despised and disregarded by Lady Elizabeth's father virtually all his life. No, Lady Elizabeth does not behave like a "feisty" heroine all the time, snapping and snarling to show how independent she is. Yes, she dislikes the new earl profoundly, because he does not show his face at the estate for a year after her father dies, because he is so stiff and unsmiling. But oh boy, does he have reasons!

I found it has a very witty, dry humor that I loved. It's in first person but we get to see much of the motivation and feelings of the other characters. The heroine, Lady Elizabeth Conway, is an astronomer but it isn't merely an excuse for the author to have her act up in public in order for the hero to have to save her. She's very dedicated to her work and it plays a pivotal role in whom she marries. The hero, Lord Clanross, is a wonderful man. He's moved straight up the ladder of favorite heroes. The secondary characters are all marvelous and have necessary roles to play.

This is a sequel to The Bar Sinister but you don't have to have read it first. A strong A+

I rarely give a 5 star rating, but this novel deserves it. The characters are well developed, and you really don't know what will happen (or has happened in the past) until the very end. Very realistic dialogue, a bit of "pride and prejudice" misunderstanding,and a good romance. Little in the way of detailed description of men or women's clothing, the focus is on the plot. More realistic than most, and completely satisfying! Excellent. This is the same quality as a Georgette Heyer, and that is my highest recommendation!

This book was an absolute delight. The characters were witty and charming, the story entertaining, and the dialogue crisp and engaging. Definitely one of the best Regencies I have read in a long time.

Lady Elizabeth is a very unique and charming heroine. She is the oldest of eight siblings (all female) and is rather odd in an amusing fashion. She is obsessed with astronomy and has devoted her life to it hence her unmarried state at 28. It has been a while since I have found a heroine as interesting and captivating as Elizabeth. There is a lot of depth to her character that the reader is bound to appreciate.

Clanross is a very unlikely hero at the beginning but I absolutely loved him by the end. He too is unique if slightly mysterious. I would have loved to have had some insight into his thoughts but alas the story was written in the first person.

To make the stroy even better the supporting characteres were loveable. The twins, Miss Bluestone, Bevis, Sims and a number of sundry characers kept things moving at a great pace.

I also read a Cousinly Connection by the same author!! Another great read!!

This was one of the first Regency Romances that I ever read, and still one of my favorites. The heroine and hero are both very intelligent, strong-willed, and appealing; the relationship between them grows and matures with time, from initial distrust to acceptance, friendship, and love. Unlike many romances that take place over a matter of days, this book takes more than a year, and the love between the characters feels deep and real. I also like the first person narrative, which is rare these days. If you can find a copy of this book, I strongly recommend it.

This is one of those low-key character-driven Regencies in which all the action is internal--no races to Gretna, no kidnappings, no Gothic hauntings. Just two decent people figuring out they're in love.

Our hero is the new Earl of Clanross. He was badly injured during the war and his ill health is what initially brings the H/H together. He was also Engaged in Trade, which earns the scorn of the snooty heroine, Elizabeth. Elizabeth is a bluestocking spinster, but she doesn't parade around her spinster-hood or her scholarship. In fact, she's resigned to the first and hesitant to discuss the latter.

In a fit of desperation, Elizabeth agrees to marry her friend, a long-time flirt, only to discover that the duke she has scorned and maligned is actually the one she loves. Elizabeth is a prickly heroine, and she may be a bit off-putting at first. But Simonson does an excellent job of showing how she learns from her mistakes and becomes worthy of the hero's regard.

The hero is the strong, stoic type. Simonson shows his decency and goodness in a dozen small ways without being treacly. There are no pretensions to rakishness--it's all about the hard work of being strong and honorable man who's been given more than his fair share of pain and misery.

If you like trads by Susanna Fraser, Rose Lerner, and Emily May, you should definitely give this one a try. It's a keeper.

One of the first Regency romances I ever read, this nearly spoiled me for the whole genre. Unlike most Regencies, this is told in an intimate first person voice. The main character, Elizabeth, is surly but likeable, with a host of snappy comebacks like a 30s screwball movie heroine. Like Ada Byron Lovelace, she is a woman ahead of her time--Elizabeth is an astronomer who has discovered a new comet. Astronomy is not merely the window-dressing to create a simulacrum of a complex character like in so many other romance novels, but rather, her calling becomes an important plot point in the romance, and opportunity for the character's growth.

The secondary characters are all very well-written and nicely developed. I wish there were many, many more Regencies like this.

I really enjoyed this book, it dealt with characters who seemed far more normal and also loveable than those in a standard regency. I also enjoyed that the hero and heroine were slightly older than the norm. Tom and Elizabth are nicely matched and mature. I also had great fun seeing them later in Love and Folly.

This is the first traditional regency I have read in years, and a perfect embodiment of the reasons I like and don't like about this romance sub-genre.

Lady Elizabeth Conway has a rather unusual occupation for a lady of her station - she's an astronomer. A spinster at the advanced age of twenty-eight, she lives in the dower house of her deceased father's estate and is more interested in her telescope than her twin 15-year-old half-sisters. When Thomas Conway, the heir to her father's title and estate, finally decides to establish his residence at Clanross, Elizabeth is more concerned with how that may affect her lifestyle than anything else. Her first impression of the new earl is also not exactly flattering, leading her to make some snap judgments that are soon proven to be wrong. As Tom gradually establishes a presence in the lives of Elizabeth and that of her sisters, Elizabeth is forced to re-open her eyes about what kind of man Tom really is and to make adjustments on her priorities in life. That she will fall in love with Tom is, of course, a foregone conclusion, but how she does it is what will keep the readers flipping the pages.

"Lady Elizabeth's Comet" is a first-person narrative told from Elizabeth's point-of-view, which proves to be a minus for the first part of the book and a plus for the latter chapters. Initially, having lived a life of comfort and privilege, Elizabeth appears somewhat selfish. She was quick to make judgment about Tom based on his appearance alone and seems to care more about astronomy than her sisters. Watching the events unfold for the first part of the book from her eyes served to highlight these character deficiencies; and the fact that the dialogue and narrative is liberally sprinkled with cant made the opening chapters a chore to wade through. Writing period dialogue using the language of the time is not an easy thing to pull off; and in this case, while it served to establish a palpable sense of time and place, it also left me scratching my head a lot of the times when the characters are laughing at a humorous situation while I am left wondering exactly what it is that is so funny. The only highlight of those chapters is watching Tom quietly getting to know the twins, and watching him provide the much needed support for Elizabeth when she's going through some rough times. This is a book in which a good hero made all the difference.

Things got progressively better, however, as thing went on. As Elizabeth came to know Tom better, the reader can see her soften, become more human. While during the first part of the book her tone is often dry, she sounded for the latter chapters of the book much like a woman in love. She was assailed with all the emotions that a woman in love would have - jealousy, despair that he doesn't return her sentiments, euphroia when it proves that he does. She also came to realize that she needs to pay more attention to the people around her and worked to improve her relationship with them. While I wasn't always convinced that Elizabeth deserved Tom at the beginning, by the end of the book, she has proven her *almost* deserving of such a hero.

So all in all, this was a pleasant read with a heavy does of character development. The plot tends to be on the thin side, and the book started out a bit slow, but for any reader with a hankering for a traditional regency romance she could do a lot worse.