Customer Reviews

Lord Langley Is Back in Town (The Bachelor Chronicles)

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

 

 

Elizabeth Boyle's latest was a great disappointment. The references to Lord Langley in, "This Rake of Mine", had always intrigued me, so I had been waiting for a good book centered around his return. "This Rake of Mine" is hilarious, with a great story and character development. I still think it is Boyle's absolute best. "Lord Langley's Back in Town" just tries too hard to be funny and cute, but it just does not work. There is no tension, no real spark between Langley and Minerva. Too many silly comments are made by the characters( to themselves and out loud!) that simply do not make sense or are utterly out of sync with what is going on at the moment. The "Nannies" were a good idea that should have been dealt with a light touch, but instead were exaggerated to the point of silliness. Lord Langley, that elegant, master spy, renowned across the continent, who raised such intrepid and resourceful daughters, deserved a better book.

Well, I had to finish out the Lady Standon trilogy. I read Lucy's story in HOW I MET MY COUNTESS and Elinor's story in MAD ABOUT THE DUKE. There was only one more widowed Lady Standon to go so I thought "Why not?". And that MAD one wasn't so bad. As a matter of fact, it was funny in a farcical but not annoying way.

Oh, but this one! This one! Words fail me as I try to relay my impression of it. Well, printable words fail me, that is. This is farce at its very worst. I don't even want to go into the plot. I just can't go there again. I will say this: Our hero here, Lord Langley, is about 43 years of age and is the father of Felicity and Thalia, heroines of LOVE LETTERS FROM A DUKE and CONFESSIONS OF A LITTLE BLACK GOWN, respectively. How can a 40-something grown man have the six pack (see the cover art) and the emotional maturity (read the book) of a 19-year-old?

Apologies for this review. I probably should have meditated and brought down my blood pressure before posting this.

Lord Langley is back in Town!
Supervillian - CHECK. Exotic foreign beauties - CHECK. Manwhore British secret agent - CHECK. Fluffy plot with a bang-up ending - CHECK. No, it's not James Bond. It's Langley, Ellis Langley. I heard Sean Connery in my head the whole time I was reading.
This is the 3rd book in the Widows of Standon series. The trilogy is a spinoff of the Bachelor Chronicles series. The Bachelor Chronicles is a spin-off of...well, Elizabeth Boyle can't seem to stop writing connected books. Not a problem for her fans!
The book is a great beach read. Light on the angst and with the requisite happily ever after. It is a historical romance, so suspend your disbelief regarding absentee fathers and widowed virgins. ENJOY!

i love elizabeth boyle,i have had a good time reading and rereading her books..i don't like to talk about books because ..i respect the talent it takes to write a book... i blame the publisher/ editor. this should not have been written ...period... really the "father" of previous heroines.. that's a big yuck..the age difference...yuck...not one likable character in the whole damn book..i wish i knew because i just got laid off the eight dollars came from me literally scrounging for change..such a waste..

I gave this book two stars because I never seriously considered not finishing it, however I have to give it no more than two stars because I really regretted buying it. I have enjoyed Elizabeth Boyle more in the past. I found the character of Lord Langley tedious, the conceit of the Nannies poorly executed (anytime you base character depth on never saying what they really mean you run into trouble) and the lead heroine suddenly out of character. From the complete personality shift to the implausible backstory to her miracle virginity, Minerva wasn't Minerva anymore. Capping the book with an insult to his daughter of breathtaking malice, Lord Langley utterly failed to win my heart. If you MUST finish the series, go ahead.

Dear, oh dear, oh dear...what a calamity this book is. I was really looking forward to it and have been bitterly disappointed. It's a real shame because I have been enjoying the Standon Widows series. I enjoyed How I Met My Countess and absolutely adored Mad About the Duke (Avon). I was really looking forward to seeing how Minerva met her match. What we got was a complete shambles with characters and plot all over the place - I felt like Alice in the Looking Glass having fallen down a hole into a 'pot'-induced nightmare. Minerva turned into a complete goose. And Lord Langley was a middle-aged man behaving like a teenager...totally unrealistic and with absolutely no connection to each other or to me as reader. I made it half way through and then gave up because my brain was fried. What started so well in the first few pages with so much humour turned into a manic farce. I agree with the reviewer who said Boyle was trying too hard. If you must read it, borrow it rather than waste your money buying it.

Elizabeth Boyle found that she had three Lady Standon's who became widows and were left out in the cold when their husbands died before inheriting the Hollindrake dukedom. None of the widows got along so she decided to put them all in the same house and then give each their own love story. Lord Langley Is Back in Town[Image] tells the story of Minerva Hartley, the last Standon Widow.

The other two Standon widows have married and Minerva is enjoying the peace and quite now that she has the house to herself. That only lasts until four of Lord Langley's former mistress's arrive and move in. They all insist that Minerva is hiding Lord Langley and they will not leave until she produces him. Minerva insists she cannot produce him because he is dead. However, the news of his death is premature. When someone tried to kill Lord Langley he ended in a Paris prison with no memory of what happened. To make matters worse that same someone has framed him for treason. He is out of prison and back in town. Unknown to Minerva he has been living in her attic while trying to find out who wanted him dead. When he is discovered in Minerva's bedroom he arranges a false engagement. Both Lord Langley and Minerva have secrets. How will they ever get everything straighten out and will their engagement become real?

Lord Langley Is Back in Town is a cute story. All of the previous characters make an appearance when they decide to help Minerva out. Nothing goes as planned but in the end everything works out. The book is a great end the Standon Widows series. It is more fun if you have read the first two books but you can read Lord Langley as a stand-alone.

Wow! I can't believe what bad reviews this book has gotten. I loved it! The main characters, irrepressible, incorrigible Langley and starchy but warm hearted Minerva make a wonderful couple -- perhaps unlikely to start, but ultimately just what the other needed. The author creates complex, multidimensional characters. Langley's usual veneer is the polished, smooth tongued, rake but we also see his vulnerable, not so confident moments. I don't see him as immature at all. He sees right past all the beautiful but scary women dogging him from his past as a spy, to the truly beautiful Minerva who seems very prim and proper on the surface, but who is also passionate, clever and so much more than she seems. In fact, both characters are so much more than they seem on the surface, and that's part of what I loved about them. The plot has plenty of twists and turns to keep the story entertaining. The book is well written. There are fun, quirky supporting characters. The plot could have been just a little better developed at the end and I would have liked to see Langley take a bigger role in helping Minerva sort out her "problem", but all in all it a was very enjoyable, well written story with great characters and an entertaining plot.

This was very funny , romantic with strong characters and I could not put it down. The concept is the Minerva feels blessed to be a widow and not want to enjoy her home and life until all of Lord Langley's mistress' show up at her home looking for him. Then Lord Langley shows up - and this one my favorite lines of the book " A man will have to fall out of the sky and into my best room before I marry" and quess what happens! Enjoy - I know I did !

If you enjoy this genre I would also suggest; A Night to Surrender (Spindle Cove), An Affair of Honor (A Regency Romance) and To Desire a Wicked Duke.

I enjoyed this one so much I had to go back and reread my other two in the trilogy. Elizabeth Boyle writes a very entertaining story.