Customer Reviews

Lady Larkspur Declines (Signet Regency Romance)

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On the very night that her engagement is to be announced, Lady Larkspur learns that she's been jilted (yet again) by her rogue of an ex-fiance. Angry and stricken by the scandal that this very public jilting has brewed, Lady Larkspur is further horrified to discover that her father, eager to contain the scandal, has contracted her to marry the aged Lord Raeborn. And so Lady Larkspur concocts a plan in which she pretends to be fading away from the grief at having been jilted, hoping that her pretend illness will make her new fiance cry off. But what she does not contend on is her fiance's troublesome cousin, the handsome and self-assured doctor, Benedict Queensman. For the hateful man has seen through her scheme, and has suggested that Lady Larkspur (along with her best friend, Janet, in attendance) remove to a sanitarium in Brighton, where he can keep an eye on her progress. Suddenly a host of problems that Lady Larkspur never envisioned begins to arise: like the fact that because everyone thinks that she's an invalid she's quite confined to her rooms, except when she's pushed about in an invalid's chair, that is (how boring!); and the fact that the hateful Mr. Queensman is constantly in attendance. How she dislikes him! Why then does she feel so depressed at the thought that Mr. Queensman may be attracted to Janet?

"Lady Larkspur Declines" starts off strong; unfortunately for me (anyway) I got the sense that halfway through the novel, the author changed her mind a little about Lady Larkspur's character. When we first meet Lady Larkspur, she's charactersied as strong-mined, intelligent, willful, spoilt, manipulative and a little bit of a snob. Her sharp tongue has earned her at least 4 jiltings in spite of her beauty. And her rude and snobbish treatment of Benedict Queensman when they first meet seemed to have been especially written to crystallise her character. So that when Lady Larkspur concocts that scheme to get out of her unwanted engagement and finds herself at a sanitarium in Brighton under the care of Mr. Queensman, I thought the book would be one of those romance novels in which a proud beauty learns a much needed lesson about manipulative behaviour. One of my favourite Regency-era romance novelists, Marion Chesney, was well know for writing clever little novels like these. But I think that Sharon Sobel was in two minds about her heroine: for we're told, initially that Lady Larkspur is quite spoilt and willful (we're even shown instances of this), and then in later chapters we're told that Lady Larkspur is actually quite caring, and is only being willful and deceitful because she doesn't want to marry the aged Lord Raeborn. I began to feel as if Lady Larkspur suffered from a split personality. And while I felt quite sympathetic towards the lady -- no one really wants to marry someone at least three times their age, especially if you have no affection for them -- Lady Larkspur's careless use of Janet's friendship, her lack of care about her sisters' worry about her health, and her constant rudeness towards Mr. Queensman, really began to grate and almost canceled out my feelings of sympathy for her. The other problem I had with the book was the almost non-exsistant romance subplot. Lady Larkspur and Mr. Queensman are powerfully attracted to each other. But she's confused by her powerful feelings of attraction which seem to act as a counterpoint to her anger at him for seeing through her act and putting her through her paces; Mr. Queensman is attracted to Lady Larkspur but is frustrated by her lies and by the fact that she's engaged to marry his cousin whom he's quite fond of. The romance between these two never really goes beyond sparring and sniping until the last quarter of the book when Lady Larkspur realises her true feelings but also realises that nothing can come from this because she's honour-bound to marry Raeborn and that Mr. Queensman is honour-bound not to pursue her unless she's free. At that point the book does pick up as the author skillfully engages our feelings for the star-crossed pair. Also well done was the manner in which she sketched out the friendship between Lady Larkspur and her best friend, Janet; and the manner in which she used Brighton as a backdrop for this novel. However I wished that the entire intrigue subplot had been better explained. Obviously since George IV is King, the novel takes place after 1820; so that the intriguers rather than being foreign agents, must be men bent on revenge -- but this was just supposition on my part, and I'd rather have had an explanation from the author. All in all though, "Lady Larkspur Declines" is a worthy read; it is well written, with fully realised, complex and multifaceted characters. The book starts off well and ends well -- it's just the middle bits that floundered in a sea of nothing-much-really-happening except for Lady Larkspur and Mr. Queensman struggling to get the upper-hand (and I for one, got a little tired of this quite quickly). There's a good story here, and Sharon Sobel obviously has talent, and if she had only allowed Lady Larkspur to remain the willful young lady in need of a lesson, this would have been a more engaging read for me. As it is, I'd rate it as a good 3 star read.

It is clear that Ms. Sobel did not do enough research before she wrote this book. First, a Regency novel by definition takes place during Prince George's Regency. In this novel, George is already King George IV. Second, a Regency Era physician like Ben Queensman would be referred to as Dr. Queensman, not Mr. Queensman. Third, titles like that of Lady Larkspur's father pass from the peer to his next male relation. Lark hopes that one of her four sisters will have a son, as she says that boy will inherit her father's title. That is simply not how it was done, ever. With all of this sloppy work, I was unable to finishe reading this book and I would not suggest it to anyone, unless they want a good laugh.

LADY LARKSPUR DECLINES by Sharon Sobel
April 22, 2005
(edited June 12, 2005)

Lady Larkspur is the last of the five daughters of Lord and Lady Leicester to be wed. There is much concern that she will become an old maid at age 24. She has been engaged to several men before, but for one reason or another none of these engagements have led to matrimony. Hindley Moore is her latest betrothed, and was expected to arrive at the Southard's Ball, where Larkspur was hoping to announce the engagement, but he never shows up. Lark's father decides that he needs to pick her future husband for her, before the family becomes an embarrassment.

It is at the Southard's Ball (held by Lark's sister Delphinium and husband John) that Lark meets Mr. Benedict Queensman, a physician and apparent heir to an estate that belongs to Lord Raeborn, who is three times Lark's age and will eventually become Lark's new fiancé. Lord Raeborn has said that Mr. Queensman (Benedict) will inherit Raeborn's estate if he dies without an heir. Hence, Lady Larkspur's role in securing an heir. Lark is very upset with this situation, and worse yet, she has fallen for Ben, who is only a doctor and thus not a suitable match.

Lark resolves to get out of this wedding. She feigns illness, due to her broken heart over the jilting by Hindley Moore, who they discover had eloped with a former mistress. Ben decides that he will take Lark to the seaside to stay at Mr. Knighton's Sanatorium at Brighton, not too far from Ben's hospital and home. Lark doesn't know it, but Ben has ulterior motives.

While this book is enjoyable overall, with the fast paced mystery that involves Gabriel Siddons and Ben Queensman, the novel had a more serious undertone than some of the recent regencies this reviewer has read. At various points, it seemed that there was too much narrative and not enough dialogue to suit this reviewer's tastes. However, that is more a personal opinion, and may not be a hindrance for another reader. The plot to overthrow King George IV was most exciting, giving the book an added dimension of complexity, although it seemed to take off too slowly at first. The last half of the book seemed to go much faster, making this romance worth reading after all. This reviewer recommends LADY LARKSPUR DECLINES with 3 ½ stars.