Customer Reviews

Lady Fiasco (Zebra Regency Romance)

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

 

 

Tyrell, Earl of Wesmont, believed his heart stopped working in Spain on the battlefields of Badajoz. So he is surprised when his heart keeps getting in the way when it comes to Fiona Hawthorn. Everyone, including Fiona, believes the lady to be jinxed. A few of her more famous nicknames are "Lady Fiasco", "the Duchess of Doom", and "the Countess of Calamity". Tyrell believes it is all superstitious nonsense. Yet he refuses to ever marry, especially her. This determination, along with his attraction to Fiona, causes him to act out at the lake and humiliate Fiona. When he goes to her home the next day to apologize, Tyrell learns from Lady Hawthorn (Fiona's stepmother) that the jinx left with her unpredictable Aunt Honore.

Honore, Countess Alameda, takes Fiona to Brighton for a brief visit with Prinny, the Prince Regent. From there they plan to go to London where Fiona will reside with Aunt Honore. Honore tell everyone that Fiona is being groomed as her protégée. She is delighted at the chaos that surrounds Fiona. Even better, Tyrell has arrived to make everything even more chaotic! What Aunt Honore did NOT foresee was her stepson, Lord Marcus, getting jealous of Fiona and deciding to get rid of the little chit.

**** Aunt Honore stole the scene very often. I fell in love with the impish countess. Tyrell came across as too cruel once or twice, but seemed to get over his cowardice pretty fast. Once chasing Fiona and her aunt, he became simply hard headed and stubborn. I found this tale to be extremely amusing. The character of Fiona is a complex one. She is feisty, brave, but definitely has a run of bad luck. This book will please all Regency fans and often bring a smile to your face. Delightful. ****

Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.

Lady Fiasco was a gift and what a charming one it was! I don't typically read historical novels but the details of the era were skillfully drawn and set such an authentic feel to the story that it was easy to feel at home. Fiona's 'curse' made for some delightful situations which she over came with spirit. And Tyrell...he may have seemed a bit stuffy but when it came to Fiona he was truly a champion.
Ms. Baldwin's debut Regency is a promising start. I do hope we get to see what Lady Alameda does with all those other nieces and nephews of her.

This book was an enjoyable story, but not that memorable story. Since it is the author's debut novel, I am sure that books to follow will be even better. I liked the clever chapter titles, and the writing moved along smoothly. The only thing that kept me from rating it higher were some "quibbles" with a few character and plot issues. Fiona and Tyrell were likable enough, but I expected more to be made of Tyrell's hellish war-time experiences, and how Fiona was able to help him heal from them. Fiona was a spunky girl, but she seemed to fall into the trap of believing in her so-called curse too easily. I just didn't believe the way that the townspeople shunned her and it didn't seem in character for her to go along with the idea of the curse. There could have been more development of why the hero and heroine fell for each other, and less focus on some of the rather cliched plot twists and turns. One character that was pretty likable was the eccentric aunt, but at one point she was displaying exhibitionism, and it wasn't explained well why she was doing so. The villain was so dastardly he was almost a caricature. I think the book is pleasant enough, but could have been even better if some of the uneven edges were smoothed out. I guess that I had expectations about having the hero deal with his past and start healing with the heroine's help, and while he did get over his not wanting to marry anyone, it didn't seem like there was enough time spent on his emotional issues,given that so much was made of them in the beginning. I do think that the author shows a lot of promise, and I look forward to watching her writing grow in the future.

I thought this was another cute comedy from Baldwin. She is pretty creative with her humor. I agree with most readers that this was a great read. You've got to love poor "Lady Fiasco"!

I stumbled upon "Lady Fiasco" and fell in love with the book. The story held my attention from beginning to end, which I can't say of all the romance novels I've read lately. Lord Westmont and Fiona Hawthorne are a great match but it's the secondary characters which really pull this book together.

Her characters dance off the page. Fiona Hawthorn wins your heart right from the start. Honore is devilishly fun.
Enjoy!

Disaster follows Fiona wherever she goes, so it's no surprise when a waltz with Tyrell goes completely awry during his welcome home party. Everyone in town thinks Fiona is cursed, giving her nicknames like the Duchess of Disaster and Lady Fiasco. Resigned to her reputation, Fiona strives to lay low and stay out of the way during public events. Unfortunately, Tyrell remembers Fiona from when they were children and chooses her to be his dance partner.

Calling upon Fiona the following morning, Tyrell is thrown off his guard by Fiona's carefree behavior. Feeling more than he had anticipated, he accuses Fiona of baiting him and runs off. Fortunately for the humiliated Fiona, her aunt comes to visit and take her off of her step-mother's hands. By an odd turn of events, Tyrell and Fiona manage to keep running into one another during Fiona's travels. Unfortunately for Fiona, who hasn't quite worked out her feelings for Tyrell, her disastrous luck seems to follow her everywhere as well. As if things can't get worse, the incidents surrounding Fiona are becoming more dangerous, and even deadly.

Lady Fiasco is a fairly cookie cutter-style historical romance- a man and woman meet, fall for each other, dramatically deny their feelings, something drastic happens, and they both acknowledge their feelings. Unlike many romance novels which can merit a R rating, this one can reasonably be rated PG, or even G. It was one of the tamest romance novels I've ever read! In fact, the only thing they did was kiss!

The writing was good- it was nothing profound, but it had no errors or typos. I did, however, notice some overuse of the word "ain't", which I'm inclined to believe wasn't a common vocabulary word among English gentry. According to Merriam-Webster the term is, "widely disapproved as nonstandard and more common in the habitual speech of the less educated." I doubt many gentlemen were in the habit of using "common" vocabulary.

The only glaringly irritating aspect of the book was that the characters were frustratingly underdeveloped. On multiple occasions, Tyrell blames his inner turmoil on the war in Spain. He tells Fiona he'll never be leg shackled, and then in his thoughts he remarks upon the war. Unfortunately, he never explains what happened in Spain. Did he have a Spanish woman who was killed? Did he just see too much death? Who knows! The author makes quite a few assertions throughout the book without ever explaining the reasoning behind them.

This book was good for a nice light read. It's definitely not a literary classic, but it passes the time and has a cute story. The trouble that Fiona constantly finds herself in is certainly amusing. Sure, the outcome is a tad predictable, but what romance isn't? If you're looking for a nice, short rainy day book, Lady Fiasco fits the bill!

Ms. Baldwin has done a superb job with this romantic comedy. I enjoyed the author's well developed characters and interesting plot premise. I would recommend this refreshing tale to those interested in a fun, romantic romp of a read.