Customer Reviews

Miss Darby's Duenna

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

 

 

A charming story, exceedingly well-told, with memorable and funny characters, set in Regency London. Harry Hawthorne, the feckless hero, has much to learn about women, and learn he does, albeit most reluctantly, with the rakish Lord Mannerly as teacher. Mannerly, bearing a huge (and ultimately trivial, even silly)grudge against Harry, decides he will despoil Harry's fiancee, Olivia Darby. Miss Darby, feeling neglected by Harry (and not realizing at first that Harry is masquerading as his own grandmother in order to keep an eye on and to chaperone Olivia!), is about to fall prey to the rake's intentions, but the day is saved just in the nick of time, before reputations and lives are foolishly destroyed. A lovely story, with a true Regency feel and flavor, harkening back to the popular Georgette Heyer novels that were once the standard for the genre. Suitable for young adult as well as adult readers.

With first Ethan Brundy and now Sir Harry Hawthorne, Sherri Cobb South establishes herself as a master at creating un-heroic heroes that the heroine--and the reader--fall in love with in spite of herself. Although it lacks the poignancy of her first Regency novel, The Weaver Takes a Wife, the broad slapstick humor guarantees an entertaining read.

Miss Olivia Darby has been friends with Sir Harry Hawthorne her whole life, and it's no surprise when he proposes marriage. However, Miss Darby's mama has decided that Miss Darby should have her London Season, whether she is betrothed or not. When Harry's sister, Georgina, also receives a marriage proposal, it is decided that the two young ladies will both be brought out in London by Mrs. Darby.

Harry has always enjoyed the pleasures of London, but he is taken aback when Miss Darby quickly gathers many admirers. When an idea comes to him for the perfect way to keep a watchful eye on his would-be fiancee, he impulsively implements it... not realizing, of course, how complicated it could get and all the things that could go wrong.

MISS DARBY'S DUENNA is a comedy of errors and manners with a leisurely pace (especially at first) and a traditional feel and tone--except of course for Harry's plan, which Ms. South pulls off very well. It took me quite some time to get to know the characters and really warm up to them, and the novel as a whole f alls short of the magnificence of Ms. South's first regency, THE WEAVER TAKES A WIFE. Nevertheless this second offering is an enjoyable read from a fresh new voice in the subgenre, and I look forward to more from Sheri Cobb South and Prinny World Press.

Kimberly Borrowdale Under the Covers Book Reviews

This is a really good book. I have lots of trouble finding good books, and I found this both funny and entertaining. Sir Harry dressing up as his grandmother was hilarious and the end was even more entertaining. I would recommend this book to anyone who liked a good book and a sense of humor.

Other reviewers have summarized the premise of this book, so I won't do so again here. I found this book to be a very appealing light romantic comedy of manners. It requires a little suspension of disbelief, but what farce does not? The characters are engaging, and I thoroughly enjoyed the time I spent in their company.

this is my first book by this author and definitely not my last. Miss Darby's Duenna was a traditional Regency romance with a "comedy of errors" storyline. As a fan of traditional Regencies I normally read novels several decades old because for the most part, these stories are no longer written, or better said, sold. The storyline-a young Regency buck,Harry, who decides while he needs to settle down and start his nursery, ask for the hand of neighbor and childhood friend, Olivia. Olivia accepts but knows that while she is in love with Harry, Harry only loves her in a sisterly way and doesn't plan on curtailing his bachelor entertainments after marriage. All this changes when Olivia, and Harry's sister Georgina, goes to London for a "come out" before their marriage.

I won't go into more so as not to spoil the book for you, but rest assured if you are a fan of Regencies ala' Heyer, Joan Smith, Marion Chesney and such you'll really enjoy this book. The book is frothy and fun-don't expect a serious storyline, but do expect to laugh quite a lot.

5 stars.

I bought this book based on the over-whelming positive reviews, and I understood their reasons for liking it--it was a pleasing and light comedy; unfortunatelly, I also had to agree with the reviewer that gave the three-star rating. I, too, thought this was more for young adult readers. It just lack certain depth and sophistication for the plot and characters development, but it was also true that it is somehow funnier to see and read about male dressing up as females than vice versa. But I must say that I really liked the front cover of this large-print hard-cover book a lot, it really presented a old English charming mood, much better than most of the romance paperbacks with tasteless photos, and this book was very nicely bond which made very easy and pleasant to read.

What a strange story!

This was my first book by this author, and as I started it I thought - oh, what beautiful writing, I have found another great author. But great writing is one thing, and plot and storyline is something else, and good writing without a good storyline is - an essay?

Perhaps I am being overly harsh, as I am reading it as an adult Regency, but if it is marketed for teen-agers - then perhaps the extremely unlikely and unrealistic twist of events would not be so bad?

The main premise of the story - that of our hero dressing as a woman - I found to be not only out of character and unlikely, but even the hero's reasoning as to why he would do it is very much lost on me. I read it carefully but I really couldn't figure it out. Dressing up as a woman seems an extremely far-fetched solution to the *very* common problem that our hero was presented with. Indeed, it seems that the only reason for this charade is so that this author has a story - a very good reason, to be sure, but it doesn't quite convince me . . . Along with an extremely strange scenario where the villain quickly becomes the secondary hero - my, wouldn't you let your daughter marry this guy? Someone who is a blackmailer, among even less savory things?

A previous reviewer has compared this author to Georgette Heyer - I'm afraid I can't see any comparison at all. Georgette Heyer's plots always made sense.

While Georgette Heyer has used cross-dressing as a plot device in many of her books, and has made for some exceptional and funny stories, I found that in this story, I simply could not get into it, because I could not believe that this guy actually did it. I could not understand his rationale at all, it simply didn't make any sense. Once you feel that the story is fake, the rest of the book becomes boring because you feel that you are reading a made up story, as opposed to a story that COULD have been true. Sorry, but that was how I read it.

This was a pleasant, farcical read, beautifully written, but be prepared to keep any realism very strongly in check if you want to enjoy this book.

When the nasty OTT villain is the most interesting character in a Regency romance, you know the book is in trouble. The hero can think of nothing but himself and his masculine pastimes, nevertheless the heroine has loved him since childhood. They decide to marry, but first she wants a 'Season' in London. Then the ridiculous begins, with the hero dressing up as his own grandmother in order to provide the heroine and his own sister with a chaperone. Oh, groan upon groan. Well, perhaps I'm not being entirely fair, for there are some funny moments, but the plot is so shot through with holes that it's infuriating. The ending is even more preposterous than anything that went before, and that's saying something. I'm afraid that even though the villain is fairly interesting, his motives and machinations are thoroughly distasteful, and leave a very queasy feeling. Not a book I would recommend to anyone.