Customer Reviews

No Regrets

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

 

 

Michele ann Young's writing is lovely and lyrical; a great new historical voice. Her use of a full-figured herione, Caro, is truly a breath of fresh air in a world obsessed with outward beauty. It will delight historical readers searching for something unique and original."

Bynn Chapman
author of Into the Woods, The Bride of Blackbeard, Come What May autism Guide

Caroline `Caro' Torrington, the vicar's daughter is a voluptuous young woman who views her generous curves and understated appearance as being dowdy and plain. She certainly doesn't have any of the attributes that would attract a man like Lucas so why is he all of a sudden so determined that she marry him?

Lucas Rivers, Viscount Foxhaven, has been given the ultimatum from his father, he has one month to convince Caro to marry him or his father will cut him off financially. He's never viewed marrying Caro as a hardship but she's refused his proposals. It may take some drastic measures but Lucas is up to the task and Caro's been his friend since childhood, surely she'll come to his aid in his time of need.

Caro and Lucas have known each other since childhood and while she's the vicar's daughter and pretty straight-laced, Lucas has earned himself a reputation as a rake. Out of desperation Lucas chooses a very unorthodox way to corner Caro and convince her that marrying him would be beneficial to them both. Rather than simply come to his aid, Caro refuses until Lucas suggests their marriage be nothing more than a business arrangement. She'd get what she wants - a season in London, and he'd receive his inheritance from his grandmother. It'll be a simple arrangement... only there's nothing simple about Caro and Lucas's reactions to each other. Caro has been in love with Lucas since she was only a child but she's well aware of his reputation and isn't about to humiliate herself by admitting to her feelings.

Lucas can't deny that marriage is a burden to his lifestyle but not for the reasons that Caro believes, he doesn't have a mistress. He's engrossed in making life better for some street kids he's found and providing for the care and education is neither cheap nor easy. While Caro believes that Lucas finds her repulsive, Lucas wrestles with his guilt for desiring her which he sees as a betrayal to their agreement. Caro and Lucas are perfect for each other but it will take some near disasters and a kidnapping for them to realize that neither of them want to live without the other, but is it possible to turn their marriage of convenience into a real marriage - with NO REGRETS?

Michele Ann Young presents readers with a delightfully enchanting regency story with her newest release NO REGRETS. Lucas and Caro are wonderful characters whose personalities shine through the pages which allow the reader to feel like you truly know them. I loved every aspect of their relationship from the glimpses of the childhood memories that they shared to their `marriage of convenience'. It's so obvious how deeply they care for each other and yet they struggle with their individual fears in regards to their marriage. For a fun-filled fast-paced story that will captivate you from the first page and keep you enthralled right through the end I'd highly recommend NO REGRETS.

Chrissy Dionne (courtesy of Romance Junkies)

When Lucas Rivers, Viscount Torrington, rides into the Grantham's country house where impoverished Carolyn Torrington is washing the dishes, no one could foresee the twists and turns their lives would take.

Acting on his father's orders Lucas, a handsome rake with a soft heart, persuades insecure Carolyn to marry him. Although she agrees, she stipulates that they must be free to part with 'no regrets' if their marriage is unsatisfactory.

No Regrets by the talented author, Michele Ann Young, with its high romance, clash of personalities and an unexpected twist in the tale is a must for fans of first class historical romance.

"No Regrets" written by Michele Ann Young is a very delightful change, The heroine Caroline Torrington is not your typical skinny heroine she is a wonderfully voluptuous woman. The Hero Lord Foxhaven thinks she is wonderfully breathtaking unbeknownst to Caroline. These two are forced into an arranged marriage. The story...Well unless I spoil it for you and I won't so let me just say I am looking forward to reading more from the very talented Michele Ann Young.

Michele Ann Young's Regency novel No Regrets begins in a very interesting (and romantic) manner: Lucas Rivers, Viscount Foxhaven, rides his horse into the house where our heroine, Caroline "Caro" Torrington is secretly working and carries her off. The couple were childhood friends and Lucas cannot receive inheritance until he marries Caro, but she has stubbornly refused him. Caro, who could be called voluptuous, is very attracted to Lucas, who is rather a Rake, but doesn't believe he could ever find her beautiful. Finally, in order to provide give her sisters a stable financial future, Caro agrees to a marriage of convenience, which will be ended sometime in the future. They agree to "no regrets."

Along the way, Caro receives society-lessons from Lucas' friend's sister, meets a previously unknown French cousin, spends time with Lucas' Aunt Rivers and Cousin Cedric (who looks after a lot of Lucas' business), and tries to win Lucas' affections (though she has actually already done so).

Lucas, in reality, is very attracted to Caro, but does not want to violate their agreement or somehow ruin their longtime friendship. Unfortunately, Caro thinks she disgusts him. This leads to a variety of misunderstandings, including Caro believing Lucas has a mistress. Though the couple grows closer, Caro believes she is doing Lucas a favor by leaving him and traveling to France with her cousin to visit French relatives. Lucas follows her there, but when Caro is kidnapped (or has she voluntarily decided to remarry?), he must decide how he really feels about her. I don't want to spoil the rest of the story, so I will stop there.

I really enjoyed reading No Regrets. It is a well-written and interesting Regency. Young did an excellent job incorporating the proper period elements and crafting a tension-filled love story. Lucas is a very attractive hero, with his dark hair and "chocolate" eyes (yum!). Caro is a woman we can all relate to because she really struggles with her self-esteem and believes herself to be completely unattractive, especially to Lucas. The secondary characters add a lot to the tale, especially Caro's lady's maid Lizzie. She's hilarious.

Fortunately, this book is on the long side (for a Regency), which means the reader gets to enjoy it a little bit longer. Lucas and Caro's difficulties in communicating their true feelings are frustrating---to the characters and to the reader---but that works in this story because the reader understands what they are going through. Obviously Lucas and Caroline have long-held and deep feelings for each other. As we all know, though, sometimes it is hard to express such important emotions to the most important people in our lives.

I highly recommend No Regrets by Michele Ann Young.

Curvaceous and bespectacled Caroline Torrington has loved the handsome and charismatic Lord Lucas Foxhaven since childhood. Strong, but low on self-esteem, she feels dowdy and provincial, not realizing her friend Lucas finds everything about her wonderful, especially her curves. After her father's death, Caroline finds herself penniless and working hard scrubbing dishes in order to provide for her more beautiful and younger sisters. Caroline realizes her marriage to Lucas has been arranged and she would rather work than enter an arranged, loveless, marriage. Society considers her a laughingstock for not only refusing the marriage to Lord Foxhaven, but for her unacceptable societal appearance. Lucus, well-known rake, is aware he is adored by society, especially the ladies, but also realizes his father considers him a huge disappointment and is not ready for marriage. Lucas has no choice but to convince Caroline to marry him, otherwise, he will lose all of his funds.

When Lucas and Caroline finally agree to a marriage of convenience, they both find themselves angry, disappointed, and confused. Caroline does not want to relinquish full control, finding herself married to Lucas and stuck back in the country while Lucas enjoys whatever he pleases. So when she finally gives in and agrees to the marriage, she insists on a bit more; a written and signed contract that states she is allowed the freedom to go to London in order to learn polish and style so she can create a future in society for her beautiful sisters, and once this is accomplished, Lucus will agree to a divorce.

But is everything really as it appears; simple, yet complicated? Lucas fondly remembers growing up with Caroline, and deep inside has always found her curves and spectacles attractive. Does his father, society, as well as his dear friend, now wife, Caroline, really know the true Lucas? As Lucas and Caroline enter the marriage deep in unhappiness, Lucas has a wife and his father's approval, but finds himself more and more confused by his attraction to Caroline and his marriage. Instead of admitting the truth, he pushes Caroline further away from his daily life. Caroline still carries deep inside her the love she has had for Lucas for so many years. She soon begins to obtain some London polish, together with a touch of some happiness and a few friends, while trying so hard to keep her eyes on her goal of providing for her sister's future. But Caroline soon realizes she is not only learning about society and is beginning to fit in, but she is also developing sexual desire and passion for Lucas. Unable to deal with a life that has seemed to have always been full of heartache, with more heartache developing due to her growing desire for Lucus, she flees to Paris society in order to visit and become acquainted with her newly discovered mother's side of the family. She also decides this is the best time to finalize her marriage agreement with Lucus. She leaves England together with a note for Lucas stating this would be the best time for them to proceed with the divorce.

Caroline discovers that her happiness in finding her family leads to a long, complicated series of secrets and betrayals that are not only dangerous, but involve kidnapping. Who can she really trust and turn to in this dangerous time? Upon learning that Lucas has lost Caroline and that she may be in danger, the suspense builds and Lucus realizes he has loved Caroline forever. Like so many times when they were children, he came to her rescue. Can he now be the one to save her from this treachery, when it really counts, while at the same time earn back her love and respect, hoping for the possibility they can create a future with true love, passion and happiness?

Michele Ann Young has masterfully written a Regency Romance in a traditional style reminiscent of Jane Austen. "No Regrets" is a deeply moving, complicated love story with unforgettable characters. A perfect Regency Romance for the holiday season of true love and hope!

Although the hero has the hots for his "lusciously rounded" old-friend-turned-new-wife, he spends nearly the entire book trying to stay away from her. (While thinking lustful thoughts about her most of the time, and working on a charity project that he tells her nothing about, hiding this aspect of his life for no apparent reason.) This is stupid. And she, long-suffering martyr, tries to make him happy by staying out of his way, thereby getting into trouble by hanging out with the wrong crowd, racing in the middle of the city...He broke his word immediately and she lets him off the hook by bringing up divorce only about a month into their marriage, like it was that easy. Even in the 21st century, divorce is a hard step, time-consuming and costly. In the 1800s it was scandalous, and for the heroine to be so cavalier about it (while in love with the hero of course) was also stupid. I had plenty of regrets for having bought this book, although "no regrets" for "The Lady Flees Her Lord" by the same author. Skip "No Regrets" unless you don't mind characters that don't spend much time together and barely communicate when they are together.

I loved this book. Drama. Sex. Heartbreaking misunderstandings and miscommunications - just like real life. Looking forward to more!

The central theme of this book - a marriage of convenience that becomes more to the people in it - is not particularly common within this genre. However this treatment by Michèle Ann Young stands out a little in that her heroine, Caroline Torrington, isn't the usual female lead of the book; for a start she isn't thin and sylph like but voluptuous, curvy and with mousy brown hair. She is embarrassed that her assets go before her, so to speak, and feels dowdy and unattractive.

Her childhood friend Lucas, Viscount Foxhaven, is quite the opposite, however - handsome, dashing and a rake. So when he asks her to marry him (because his father is insisting on it and because marrying Caroline will enable him to access some money from his family coffers) she is tempted but says no as she has no desire to marry a rake. However Lucas can be pretty persuasive and overbearing and eventually the marriage takes place.

This is all right at the beginning of the book. The rest of the story shows both Lucas and Caroline getting to know one another as adults rather than playmates (although none of this is in the bedroom) and Caroline definitely begins to come out of her shell as she has a season in London and finds she's a success. However there are nefarious forces at work in Lucas's cousin Cedric and Caroline's newly met relative, a Chevalier from France, might not be as good a friend as she thinks.

The historical setting of this book is good with details about the season in London, about life in Paris and about some of the strong familial expectations that can mould peoples' lives. However the central love story - that Lucas and Caro love each other but neither realises it - is rather drawn out. There are too many misunderstandings and confusions and these became rather tiresome after a while. I also rather doubted Lucas's rake credentials when he didn't seduce his wife for many months, even with the half-excuse of not wanting children.

This was a reasonable read and always enjoyable but the central plot felt rather forced at times with a rather melodramatic 'baddie' and the hero's reconciliation with his father also appeared to be a surprisingly easy work after 30 years of disagreements.

Originally published for Curled Up With A Good Book, www.curledup.com. © Helen Hancox 2007

This one is hard to review because there is a lot to like and a lot to dislike.

First the likes:
~The chemisty between Caro and Lucas

~I am always a fan of friends that turn lovers

~A very interesting villain

~A spunky heroine.

Now the dislikes:
~The hero. By the end I warmed to him and could say I liked him a bit but for the 1st half of the book I strongly disliked him to the point I couldn't believe she would even agree to live in the same house as him. I wouldn't have put up with him.

~The Plot. I don't want to give anything away but once they got to Paris it just turned pretty ridiculous to me. The idea of secret heiresses, secret aunts, and scheming relatives was just too much. And there is an issue with someone being forced into marriage. I don't want to say more to spoil anything but I can see no reason why the marriage would have to happen to get the villian what he wants. It just makes no sense.

~The secrecy. 80-90% of the hero and heroine's problems could have been solved with just an honest conversation with each other. They were suposed to be best friends growing up, they should have been able to confide in each other.

~The flashbacks. I honestly did love the flashbacks, but other than a secret code, nothing of their history was ever talked about. I would have loved to know Caro and Lucas' thoughts looking back at their childhood "romance." Not just the flashbacks but also the history between Lucas and his father could have been handled better.

~The ending. It was slightly unsatisfying. We know she loves the hero but she never told him . . .

The Sum up: This one has a strong first half, but the heroine and the hero make stupid mistakes that seem solely for the point of moving the plot along. The last third picked up again for me but it seemed like a different book that wasn't related to the first half. There is nothing offensive here, but it just could have been better with more interaction between the leads and also more honesty.