Customer Reviews

Legion's Ladies (Zebra Regency Romance)

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Forget the silly "Nightingale" series and read two of the novels that changed my mind about the Romance genre for the better. I'm speaking of Judith Lansdowne's "Legion's Ladies" and "Amelia's Intrigue", the latter you'll have to scour second hand book stores for, I fear. I couldn't put either of books down - not because of the (of course) love story, but because Ms. Lansdowne writes *friendships* so beautifully! I fell madly for Legion and saw him through the eyes of friends and relatives, a tender, loveable, vulnerable, strong, witty, caring, beautiful man with the ability to change the lives of all those he comes in contact with - he unwittingly makes others fall for his natural charm, both women and men. "Amelia's Intrique" with two of fiction's most warm, loving, endearing men, is my favorite Lansdowne novel but "Legion's Ladies" is a very close second. Unfortunately her other novels seem to slip into the annoyingly patterned boy meets girl/miscommunication scenario with little thought to character development and friendships (which she does on par with the amazing Patricia Veryan).

This is my first novel of Ms. Lansdowne's, and it has whetted my appetite for more. She has woven a large ensemble cast of characters for her story of adventure, friendship, and romance. Apart from the villain who drives the story, most of the characters change and mature as the result of their experiences.

There is a very untypical English equalitarian disregard of class and appearances which, while it suits the storyline, required me to suspend my disbelief in order to fully appreciate the many qualities of this ensemble story. My other difficulty was that in addition to there being a large number of characters to keep up with, some characters were referred to by multiple names. For example Legion was also Joshie, the Earl of Wright, Jocelyn, and Josh. This is a small quibble. I really enjoyed the story.

I love all of Lansdowne's regency romances. They've got adventure & romance & they always make me laugh out loud. And it's PG rated so you can loan it to your younger sibling without fear.

What a fantastic novel! It combines a great deal of suspense with several romances, the main one being between the Earl of Wright ("Legion") and Eleanor, the vicar's sister (not daughter, as the back cover erroneously states). As with several Lansdowne heroes, the earl has issues from his past to overcome before he can truly settle down and be happy with his lady. However, he is without a doubt loveable and tender and his habit of taking care of ladies in distress is quite endearing. The female leads are strong, courageous, and yet not at all anachronistic, which I found a refreshing change from the normal spunky heroine. The story is smoothly developed, the conclusion is very satisfying, and the romances are all extremely convincing in their development as well. I couldn't recommend this book more to any fan of great writing, let alone Regency romance.

This is another beautiful story from the magical pen of Judith Lansdowne. As with her other wonderful Regencies, this story is told with fluid style and grace. It is quite unusual as the hero spends a great deal of his time bedridden and it is through the other charming and loveable characters that you get to know and dearly love our hero, the Earl of Wright (Jocelyn). This is a touching novel filled with humour, wit, and stunning characterizations. You will want to read this one over and over.. A real keeper! (I don't think Judith Lansdowne could write a bad novel even if she tried! What a wonderful storyteller!