Customer Reviews

Minerva (A Regency romance)

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When the Reverend Charles Armitage, a country vicar in Regency England, announces that Minerva, the eldest of his six daughters, is to have her coming-out in London, the news is not well received by the rest of the family. Mrs. Armitage has one of her Spasms ("her ultimate weapon") and has to be brought round by burning a quantity of feathers under her nose. Annabelle, the nearest in age to Minerva, is clearly jealous, the boys are all surly, and the other girls just start off crying. But the other five daughters will all get their chance, because "Minerva" is but the first volume in The Six Sisters series by Marion Chesney.

Minerva, the eldest, is beautiful but a prude. While her mother reclines on a chaise longue coming up with new malaises and her father is off hunting instead of worrying about the dowries the girls need to be married off. But then Papa decides the boys should be sent to Eton, which requires money, and his solution is to marry Minerva off to some man with a fortune. So she is dispatched to town, where a man is walking around wearing nothing but green (Minerva is shocked), for her first season and her first target, Lady Wentwater's nephew. It goes without saying that this match is not going to work out and that reducing marriage to an economic transaction is never going to pan out in a romance novel.

The comic irony here is that the man who is perfect for Minerva is one who has a ringside seat to her failed machinations. A common theme of Chesney's book is that poor Minerva is scandalized by life in the big city. She is being tutored on how to act in society by an elderly relative, Lady Godolphin, but nothing will stop Minerva from making her moral superiority known to one and all. Consequently, she becomes the subject of a rather inappropriate wager among the supposed gentlemen of Regency London. Time after time, Minerva finds herself in extremely compromising situations with a certain gentleman, who has wagered 50,000 pounds of the matter, but who insists he is not the marrying kind.

Poor Minerva. A prude being seduced is going to be a tale ripe for humor and Chesney indulges in some ribaldry (I was shocked, shocked I tell you, that the word virgin escapes Minerva's lips). The emphasis is clearly on the comedy more than the romance, and my favorite point is when Lady Godolphin demands to know a gentleman's intentions towards Miss Armitage only to be told "You ask me my intentions, ma'am. Well, they're the worst, damme! The very worse!" Then the guy strides away. Now, I realize that could read like something serious, but it really is pretty funny. In comparison to the obvious reference point of Jane Austen, Chesney's offering displays a broader sense of humor, which should be enough to tell you whether or not you would find this book and this series appealing. After all, the vicar still has Annabelle, Deirdre, and three more daughters to marry off as successfully as he manages with this first one (ahem).

In my opinion, Marion Chesney is the best of all regency authors.
Her books aren't more sugary than treacle syrup, nor are they
ever so proper like some regencies are. And best of all she
doesn't pull out every darn regency slang word that ever existed
and put it all in one novel like some do. She educates about the
Regency Era and at the same time amuses with her quirky humor
and good romance between the hero and heroine.
The Six Sisters is my favorite of her six book series and Minerva
is my favorite of all her 80 to 90 novels. (99% of which I have
read.

Minerva is the first in the Six Sisters series, a set of Regency-era romances by Marion Chesney (who also publishes other romances and mysteries under several pseudonyms). Chesney produced a number of Regency series (Rake's Progress, House for the Season, Mannerling Series, et.al.) but the Six Sisters is her finest romance work by far. Each of the six Armitage sisters has her own complete story;Minerva sets the tone for the whole set-- each girl is beautiful but distinct and flawed, not a perfect doll-like character with no depth. As the eldest of the girls, Minerva must make her way through the perils of London, while falling in love! The supporting cast of hunt-obsessed father, hypochondriac mother and grand dame chaperone who refuses to age gracefully add a backdrop of hilarity and consistency to the stories. Chesney's writing is a standout in this genre because the situations and characters and funny and quirky but not awkward or tedious.
Chesney also adds lots of intersting cultural and historical information, blended so well into the narrative that it serves to make the characters more fascinating. Once you read Chesney's work, you won't be able to read the standard dull, pretentious Regency romance-type again. One of my favorite relaxing-reading sets of stories. I only wish the stories were longer--each only runs about 150 pages.

Half the fun of Marion Chesney's books is that they are usually part of a series of six. Minerva is the first of its series, and Chesney does a sparkling job of introducing prosing Minerva, her fox-hunting vicar father, the scandalous old malaprop Lady Godolphin and the rest of Minerva's sisters, each of whom have their own stories. Minerva, beautiful and a bit too full of holier-than-thou zeal, is taken down a peg or two by her beloved Lord Sylvester in delightful ways. Excellent villains plot her downfall and all ends happily when Sylvester saves the day.

Being the oldest in the family, Minerva has many responsibilites, not only she has to take care of the house, she has to be a mother also. Her dad was addicted to hunting; therefore, he sent her to London to have her season, so she can marry a rich guy and he can use that money for hunting and sending the 2 boys to school. The story takes place when the most handsome,exotic Lord Sylvester Comfrey came in, and make her life turn upside down.
I suggest you read this book cuz it's really really good! and funny too I LOVE THIS BOOK SO MUCH!!

I have read many Regency novels, and I believe Minerva is my very favorite. I love the way Minerva comes to terms with the world around her while not embracing the way everyone else acts. I also enjoyed the interactions between Minerva and Comfrey, the hero of the tale. Minerva's father makes a great supporting character. This book is Chesney's finest!

I loved Minerva, it was a great start to the 6 sisters series, it made me run out to track down the remaining 5 books of the series. You will definitely find yourself laughing out loud at this book and the others, as well. I love marion chesney.

I loved Minerva. But more than that, I love that Marion Chesney released her previously out of print Six Sisters Series to Kindle. What a treat! Every single character is fully developed. Yes, I took the bait and ordered one right after the other. Yes, all six. And believe me, when I finished the last one I was very sad that I would never again enjoy the exploits of Lady Goldolphin, The Vicar, and the entire catastrophic troupe of young ladies and their hysterical coming out parties in London. I'd never read much about the Regency period and generally hate romance novels. Oh, but these are so much more than that... So now, like a dutiful, serenely addicted nutcase, I'm off again with another Chesney series called Emily Goes to Exeter. What a great escape. I've also learned from other bloggers that I might enjoy Georgette Heyer--LOL, who would have ever thought!

Hardt 2

Book description:

In this, the first of the Six Sisters series, Minerva , the eldest, goes to London to find a wealthy husband and secure the family fortune. But the prim Minerva is not prepared for the decadeence of the fabled London Season- nor the attentions of society's most notorious rake. But, as she soon discovers,, love can take one down the most tantalizing paths.

Marion Chesney has a way with words! I love her writing style! This book was both funny and engaging. I only wished for more interactions between Mirneva and Lord Sylvester, but even the secondary characters had dept and was interesting.

Rated: PG

I have read several of the Agatha Raisin mysteries by M.C. Beaton and enjoyed them quite a bit. I stumbled across this series of books recently and realized they are written by the author, writing as Marion Chesney. Since I also discovered I enjoyed Georgette Heyer books, and they sounded similar I decided to give it a go.

The book is relatively short, under 200 pages, and is the first in a series of six each highlighting the sisters of the Armitage family. The patriarch of this clan is the Reverend Charles Armitage who is a vicar that would prefer to spend his time hunting and breeding hounds rather than overseeing his flock. His wife is rendered helpless by her "spasms" so between these two, not much gets accomplished. Their oldest daughter, Minerva, steps up to handle most of the household duties as well as many of the duties that should be taken care of by the vicar. In addition to largely ignoring his duties to home and church, Reverend Armitage doesn't spend much time paying attention to his finances and finds himself unable to provide for the family in the way he would like. Rather than selling some of his hounds to pay expenses, he decides to send Minerva to London for the season in hopes she will snare a wealthy husband who will support her family.

Once in London, things don't go as planned and Minerva finds herself the butt of a very mean wager and on the outs with society. Our hero bails her out of the social disaster she has created and rescues her from the seven men who have placed bets around winning her affections. Lady Godolphin is the relative that has agreed to present Minerva to society for the season and she turns out to be something other than what the family expected. Thrice-married, she is on the lookout for the next husband as well and is quite the character.

A very enjoyable book, filled with humor and family struggles, it is definitely worth a read. If you have never read a Regency romance this would be a good place to start. A fish-out-of-water story that will keep you smiling as you turn the pages.