Customer Reviews

Lord Nightingale's Debut (Zebra Regency Romance)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I thoroughly enjoyed reading "Lord Nightingale's Debut" and eagerly await the rest of the series. The story was filled with humor and warmth and the main characters were so delightfully human and compassionate. The book had intrigue, but was a lighter story than some of her previous books and I especially enjoyed the "frog and prince" references. As always her vivid descriptions of the characters and settings were so well written that I could easily picture them. I would highly recommend this book to my friends and fellow Regency romance readers and it is a "keeper" as are all my other books by Judith Lansdowne. I never tire of re-reading them.

Reading Judith Lansdowne to me is like slowly savoring a fine, aged brandy. Once I have finished the two, I am left with nice feelings of warmth and contentment. Brandy, on the one hand, might go to my head but Lansdowne's prose goes to my heart. I've only read a few of Judith Lansdowne's regencies because most are hard to find. Lansdowne's heroes are not your run of the mill arrogant, pleasure-seeking, useless men of the aristocracy. Her heroes are of the warm, honest, loyal, sweet, tender selfless variety.(Need I go on?) The heroines are usually a match for the hero.

Nicholas Chastiain, the Earl of Wickenshire, inherited his title and a mountain of debts from his wastrel of a father at the age of 13. Since that time, he has worked almost like a common laborer on his estates to pay off these debts and improve the estates. Now years later, he is finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. He also stands to inherit a large amount of money from an aunt that will further his improvements. But the will comes with a stipulation. He must teach his aunt's bird, Lord Nightingale, to sing. And he has a deadline.

Thank goodness his cousin has a school chum who can sing and is in something of a bind. Serendipity's (Sera) father has died leaving his title and money to a distant relative. This dastardly relative has removed Sera and her much younger sister, Delight, from the ancestral home and now threatens to remove them from the family's London home as well. When Wickenshire's offer comes to teach Lord Nightingale to sing, Sera grabs the offer like an anchor (she has no idea that Lord Nightingale is a bird).

Nicky's interaction with Delight, who has a facial birthmark, are some of the most touching scenes I've read in many a day. Nicky, himself, is a well sketched character. He has no idea of his own worth (a trait of Lansdowne heroes). He doesn't think he is fit to be an earl because of his lack of social skills and of the callouses on his hands from hard manual labor. If I were to venture a guess, I'd say his aunt made the strange provision in her will because the all-too-serious Nicky needed some fun in his life.

This book is the first of a trilogy (actually four) to be released every month til Christmas. I can't wait for September. Debbie Jett

Judith A. Lansdowne's latest book, Lord Nightingale's Delight, is another fantastic journey of wonderful characters, delightful imagery and sumptuous language. As usual, Ms. Lansdowne does not dwell in the trite and ordinary, but once again offers the reader a delightful ride riddled with humor, warmth and spirit. Revealing too much of the story in a short review would be a crime. Like so many of Ms. Lansdowne's other books, it must be experienced! Lord Nightingale's Delight is best read tucked into bed, curled up with a delicious cup of hot tea. Thanks, Ms. Lansdowne, for another great book! I recommend it wholeheartedly!

I waited until I had all four of the Nightingale books before I started reading the "trilogy". I have just finished Lord Nightingale's Debut and loved it. Nicky was wonderful! It was so refreshing to have a caring, thoughtful man as a hero instead of the usual selfish, lustful rake. Serendipity was a lot of fun, especially near the end where she had me in stitches. I thought that the two were ideally suited, and found their falling in love very believable.

One of the reasons this book was so special was the extraordinary cast of secondary characters. Delight is charming, Lady Wickenshire is a wonderful mother, Eugenia is entertaining (I see that she is the heroine in LNLS), Neil is a deliciously funny villain (surely there is room for redemption here), and I totally fell in love with Jenkins who is one of the best butler's I have ever read about.

Of course you can't talk about this book without mentioning the splendid array of animal characters. Lord Nightingale is the main focal point of the book, but he definitely gets a run for his money from Sweetpea and Stanley Blithe.

This was an excellent book. It was extremely entertaining, the hero and heroine were charming, and the story had my laughing out loud in several places. I was sorry when it ended, but then I immediately started the next book in the series (at midnight, although I did read only a couple of chapters). If it's anywhere near as good as LND I will be an extremely happy reader.

I laughed so hard when I read this book. My mom was visiting and she couldn't wait until I was done so she could read it too!
By the time I wrote this review, I had read all four in the series. "Debut" was my favorite. Sera and Nicky are delightful characters!

It is a wonderful read & will cheer your spirits at the same time.

Unlike the previous reviewer, I enjoyed reading Lord Nightingale. The characters were likable, the plot moved along briskly and there was the set up of the sequel which hinted at a happy ending for Eugenia, who deserves it. Ms. Landsdowne has a great technique for combining adults, children, (adults who think and act like children) and animals to create stories that entertain and amuse. Bring on more of Nightingale!

I just recently finished this book, and I must say it's a breath of fresh air. I am a large fan of the Regency novels that involve rakes, but I do have to say there are far too many of them. It's refreshing to have a lead male that *isn't* out to bed every female possible, or avoid marriage, or anything of that nature. This book has a sensitive, caring, kind male lead, and I think that's one part that makes it so enchanting. I enjoyed the bits with the animals, and I thought the plot was nicely done and creative, but the real winner in my book was Nicky.

I first became aware of this book, a few years ago from a mailing I received from Judith. I was intrigued by it, so I have been waiting for this particular book. When I received it, I had to read it right away. I read it in one night, and when I fi- nished reading the book, I knew that it had been worth the wait. Judith has written another wonderfully wimsical tale. All the characters, but most especially the titular character are wonder- ful. Nick shows his gallantry towards Serendipity;the heroine and her little sister Delight. Since this is the first book in a ser- ies, I cannot wait for the next book. I also cannot wait to fig- ure out just what the following word means: Knollsmarmer.

Well. What a wild array of reviews for one delightful little book. I'll be the first person to say that not every reader will adore every book written. I'm at the top of the list when it comes to avoidance of horror, or overly profane or violent books, or even exceedingly sensual ones, for that matter. And frankly, I'm a bit tired of the (at least to me) over-emphasis on physical beauty. Every lord cannot be the handsomest creature that ever walked, nor can the heroine of every book be absolutely the most gorgeous! Give Ms.Lansdowne credit for creating HUMAN characters, with whom we should all be able to identify. At least, I should clarify this--the human characters are human. The animals are delightful in their own way, as they should be. Children, too, are children; some are advanced for their age, some are not. Most all, however, are winsome at some point. It's the talent of this author to catch each child at whatever age the winsomeness is the most charming.

I LOVE the books of Judith Lansdowne, however. All of them. Long or short. Because I always know what I'll find when I settle down to read. Every page brims with love and laughter, adventure and absurdity, mixed with great amounts of probability. Her characters are REAL. If you think hard enough, quite probably you'll know someone very like many of them.

Absurd? Yes. Busy? Of course. More than just two characters in the book? Thank goodness, yes again! If you only want very sensual stories, in which the romance between the two major personages is the plot in its entirety--and you want to follow along into the bedroom with them, commentary provided--then you will probably not be very satisfied with her stories. This series especially, as it will, admittedly, sprawl out over four months time, with a whole cavalcade of folks to meet, during which you will learn the entire story of Lord Nightingale. Enjoy it for what it is. If you like a well-told story with a hint of intrigue, a bit of adventure, a whole flock of non-stereotypical characters, and a bit of the English nobility, set during a perfectly splendid portion of history, all accompanied by an abundance of laughter, then chances are, you will enjoy Lord Nightingale's Debut, and his Love Song, his Triumph and his Christmas, too! I know I will.

What a touching and delightful story this is! Sera, the heroine, is a lovely, impoverished girl who must seek a position to provide for herself and her very young sister, Delight. Her father, a viscount, died and could make no provision for them because the entail hands everything over to his heir, a regular scoundrel. A friend from school, Eugenia, discovers Sera's plight and invites her to teach her cousin Nicholas' parrot to sing. Nicholas' Aunt Winifred bequeathed the parrot and almost three hundred thousand pounds to Nicholas. The catch? The parrot must learn to sing--a real song!--by a certain date or else all the money goes to another cousin of Nicholas'.

Nicholas is *not* an amazingly handsome, dashingly sure of himself hero. Instead, he is a truly gentle man, chivalrous to the core, fond of small animals and children and tenderly protective of those in his charge. Due to paternal neglect, he has no idea of his own worth and so must overcome the obstacle of low self-esteem before he can claim his dear lady--as well as many other obstacles. Sera is sweet, a little too fond of gothic romance, and quite devoted to her family and friends. I thought this book was absolutely great entertainment and I can't wait to read the next three books in the series.