Customer Reviews

A Lady's Guide to Improper Behavior

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

It's not often that I am both entranced and repulsed by a heroine in a romance novel. Usually I either love them or hate them. Theresa (Tess) Weller is a heroine that I think might rub some readers the wrong way, but a character I both loved and wanted to smack upside the head.

Our hero, Colonel Bartholomew (Tolly) James is much more evenly appealing. The book opens with him--wounded quite badly and the sole survivor of a massacre-- hiding out in the Adventurers' Club, away from the sympathy and pity of his family. His family's persistent requests for his presence, though, force him back home where he encounters Tess Weller at a dinner party. Despite being rude and provoking a mild argument, he seems to capture the attention of Tess--someone who is never rude, always proper, and is somewhat obsessed with remaining a paragon of unexceptional behavior.



The budding relationship between the two seems to confuse both of them. I found it very sweet that neither character was 'in pursuit.' There is no chase. Which seems appropriate since our heroine is very conscious of propriety and our hero is in a wheel chair or using a cane throughout most of the story. The romance is low key. No big dramatic betrayals. I found that kind of slow build refreshing.

Why did I want to slap Tess, you ask? Because she lacks backbone at a crucial moment. She can assist with a surgery and shave a man in his bedchamber, but she refuses to support Tolly when he needs it because it would harm her reputation. It sounds shallow--it is shallow--but Tess is obsessed with propriety for a reason. And she is aware of how cowardly she is being. Disgusted by it. But, for a time, she remains paralyzed by her fear of stepping outside the carefully constructed box of good behavior in which she's surrounded herself. What I found redeeming was that she wasn't really as shallow as most of society thought her to be. She was aware of her fear. Aware that she was failing a friend at a crucial moment. And ultimately, finally, shows some backbone by casting aside the rules she's governed her life by for a decade.

The mention of the Thuggee problems in India during British colonialism was something I hadn't seen a lot of in standard Avon historicals. I found it interesting that while there is some lingering PTSD issues with Col. James, the major emotional scars come from the destruction of his ability to trust. And the scenes with Tess helping him shave were more emotional than the love scenes--which, I admit, were fairly tame and not very imaginative.

Something only an Enoch fangirl would love: the brief mention of Bradshaw Carroway. I'm hoping this means that she's going to finally give us those books featuring the rest of Dare's family. (Originally seen in the Rake.)

One thing that I almost missed: the switch to 2nd edition excerpts at the chapter headings. I'm guilty of skimming most chapter headings, even amusing ones, but thankfully noticed this change and flipped back a couple of chapters to read the headings with the 2nd edition difference in my head.

Overall, I thought this was much better than the previous book featuring the Adventurers' Club, the Care and Taming of a Rogue. And while it did have some thematic echoes of London's Perfect Hero, those similarities were very superficial. Pretty much, just the wounded war vet angle and the fact that the War Office and Horse Guards seemed to be part of the conflict and interfering in a happily ever after.

The resolution of the 'threat' against Col. James seemed a bit rushed and superficial. As if an editor was a little too stingy on the page count. The necessary elements were there, but I would have liked to have the 'danger' element expanded on more just a bit. And I would have liked to see at least a portion of Tolly's editorial.

I found this book unexpectedly moving. Not quite as good as the Lessons in Love trilogy, but then few books are. And I'm still crossing my fingers that Bradshaw's reappearance means that we'll get more stories featuring the Carroways soon.

Heroine Theresa Weller is beautiful, pleasant and proper. A traumatic event at age 10 has taught her to control her emotions and conduct herself properly at all times. Hero Colonel Tolly James has had a horrifically violent event in India change him from a pleasant, easy-going, caring young man to a bitter, rude, ungentlemanly and physically-damaged one. They meet, a romance develops and they heal each other, she learning to show more of her emotions and to be herself, and he learning to feel and love life again. And we have some mystery and intrigue involving deliberate misinformation about what really happened to our hero in India. (Think big corporation machinations. In this case, the East India Company.)

Suzanne Enoch is a good-enough writer that the story is relatively interesting and the romance element is romantic and developed better than in her previous Adventurers' Club novel (THE CARE AND TAMING OF A ROGUE). So the book is OK, just not very special. Too many emotionally- and/or physically-damaged heroes have come and gone in the hundreds of romances I've read over the years. Main characters suffering angst and anguish have been drawn better by Laura Kinsale, Anna Campbell, Jean Ross Ewing (Julia Ross), Carla Kelly and Mary Jo Putney (pre-Lost Lords), to name a few. My personal favorite books by Suzanne Enoch have been her relatively light-hearted will-he-or-won't-he-get-her-to-bed romances, such as LONDON'S PERFECT SCOUNDREL, THE RAKE, REFORMING A RAKE, etc. They are sexy, not particularly historically accurate, but great fun to read when you're in the mood for a frothy romance with good chemistry between H/h.

So I don't need any more heroes, be they soldiers or explorers, with emotional and physical traumas, unless their stories can really, really affect me emotionally. This one didn't and that's why I'm wondering how many Adventurers' Club romances Enoch is planning. On page 3 of this novel, we find out that the club has 15 members. Please tell me that doesn't mean 15 novels. I could, however, go for a book about the Duke of Sommerset. It would be nice to find out more about him and why he has set up this refuge for troubled adventurers. That might be a book worth reading.

I really enjoyed this book, although it was very similar to Enoch's previous novel, England's Perfect Hero. The characters are likeable - even when they are trying not to be! A quick, fun read.

All the previous reviews provide great synopses for this book, so I'll skip that. I just want to add that I loved this book. This is a surprise to me, because I was afraid Ladies Guide would be along the lines of Taming of a Rogue, which I did NOT like. It was so different from her other books and I was really upset that it didn't measure up. However, Ms Enoch really told a beautiful love story with Ladies Guide. It wasn't the great adventure or the "chase". It was much more than that. It had quietly beautiful scenes between Tolly and Tess where they just interacted and their romance bloomed gradually without being declared loudly. It's rare for a book to be character-driven, rather than action/adventure driven. I loved this book! Can't wait for the next installment.

I have never read work by this author before and while I was not blown away, I enjoyed the book enough that I look forward to reading some of her other work. I disagree with many of the reviews that cast the heroine as someone disloyal or flakey, I think the author did a good enough job of demonstrating that the hero pushes her away more than she abandons him. The point of the book is to show both the characters evolve and are better people by the end of the novel. The only reason I cannot give this book five stars is the abrupt ending, I was expecting more from the final confrontation and then everything is wrapped up a bow in two pages.

While I do read all of Suzanne Enoch's books, this is the first that prompted me to write a review. It's a story of a badly wounded guilt-ridden soldier, and a girl whose improper behavior as a child caused her parents' deaths (so she believes.) Tess is determined never to act improperly again, and Tolly only wants to be left alone to wallow in his misery. Somehow they meet, and are very attracted to each other. Tolly is rocking the boat in London, stirring up trouble about what really happened to his regiment. There are people who want to silence him. Tess, determined to avoid any impropriety, decides she shouldn't continue her developing relationship with him. The story that follows shows two people coming out of their comfort zones in order to follow their hearts. There is no "big misunderstanding," just the touching story of them overcoming obstacles and their own demons to be together. Wonderful! Highly recommended.

I haven't enjoyed the last few books by Suzanne Enoch, and was on the verge of giving up on her. However, this book has re-kindled my interest in her work. It is not perfect, and in particular I thought the end of the book was very rushed. Nevertheless, it is a huge improvement on her previous book "The care and taming of a rogue", with a really sweet romance between two scarred people.

FIVE STARS all the way. Suzanne Enoch is the queen of writing tortured/wounded heroes as far as i'm concerned. *Bows down*. The book is so utterly good that i'm finding it troublesome to write this review because everything about it was just so perfect. I have nothing to complain about. The pacing of the romance was good. Tolly was *la sigh* and Theresa has to be one of my most favorite heroines of all time. I think the thing i really love about this story is that their romance rings true even thought it took part in over a short period of time.

After nearly being killed and left for dead by some Indian "Thuggie" Tolly comes back to England a wounded man in both body and mind. He wants nothing, but to be left alone. At the beginning he was determined to get that no matter how rude and how much he made people hated him. Theresa was the stickler for propriety at the beginning. That all ended with Tolly rubbed her the wrong way at dinner with her cousin (whom is married to Tolly's older brother) and she left it lose at him. This starts a battle of the wills between the two and an eventual friendship. This friendship later turns to love. The best part for me in the book was when Tolly got the operation on his knee, knowing he could possibly lose his leg, because he wanted to be able to dance with Theresa. I fell in love with him hard there. Then Theresa barging in on the surgery and helping the doctor... WOW. I could never do that. I would be with Tolly's brother, sister, and Amelia (Theresa's cousin) outside.

Another thing that i really loved about the book was the ending. You know Tolly and Amelia get's their "happily ever after" without it being all perfect. Tolly's reputation is still up in the air. The only thing is that people accept him enough to not shun him anymore. To me this was perfection since it wasn't a perfect ending. It was as close to real life as you can get. And i thank Suzanne for this.

Next up it's been confirmed that Bradshaw Carroway get's a book!! *squee*

Rating: 5 STARS. Perfect plot, characters, romance, and just everything *\^o^/

I have been a historical romance reader for about eight years now, and I have no idea why I never picked up a Suzanne Enoch book before this year. She is quickly becoming one of my favorite romance authors with unique plots and intriguing characters! A Lady's Guide to Improper Behavior is a wonderful romance, with two deep characters. Both Colonel Bartholomew (Tolly) James and Theresa (Tess) Weller have suffered incredible losses and built up defenses to protect them from their own guilt. Although they both protect themselves in different ways (Tess hides in the crowd behind a proper facade while Tolly pushes everyone away with his "improper behavior"), they recognize their own pain in each other. Slowly, they begin to heal their wounds and move forward dealing with the challenges they face separately, and together, with society. I would highly recommend this novel to anyone who loves a tortured hero (Tolly is a perfect one!) who is willing to do anything for the love in his life and all those who are fans of Suzanne Enoch's writing.

I loved this book! The second book in the Adventurers' Club series had me up again almost all night finishing the book in a little more than 24 hours. I loved the story line. I could really feel the hero's pain and loved that he had fallen so hard for Tess. His rough, forthright way of speaking to Tess was actually endearing. I laughed out loud many times, as well as had many inner-sigh moments at sweet dialogue. For me Enoch has another hit.