Customer Reviews

A Season for Love (Signet Regency Romance)

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

 

 

For eight years, Lady Caroline Carlington, the daughter of the powerful Duke of Longville, lived in the country with her mother (the Duchess of Longville) in seclusion and in anonymity. But now, with her mother's death, and her father's recent marriage to the dashing Eugenia Wharton, Lady Caroline finds herself suddenly having to deal with the London social scene. For a young lady who has been brought up to scorn the frivolous ways of Society, Lady Caroline has a lot to contend with; but add to that the fact that her relationship with her new stepmother started on the wrong foot, and the fact that she seems to be strangely attracted to her stepmother's brother, Anthony Norvile, and one begins to wonder if Lady Caroline will be able to cope at all...

I really wanted to like "A Season for Love." It seemed to contain all the ingredients necessary for a good thoughtful read: a young lady who has been brought up not to trust the men of her class (esp her father); her feelings and experiences at being suddenly thrust into Society; and her confused feelings for new stepmother -- more esp, her stepmother's brother, her new "uncle." And yet there were a few "niggles," that prevented me from rating "A Season for Love" as a truly excellent read. For starters though, don't trust the plot synopsis at the back of the book. For while Lady Caroline was one of the book's focal points, the novel really focuses on the budding relationship and romance that develops between the Duke of Longville and his new duchess. I rather the duke and duchess, and felt sympathetic for all that they were going through, but since I had bought the book on the notion that the book was going to focus on Lady Caroline, I felt a little shortchanged. But truthfully speaking this should not be classified as a "niggle." So what really got to me? The entire subplot involving the disgruntled anarchists. The book already had two subplots that needed a lot of attention: the subplot involving Lady Caroline, and the other one involving the Duke and Duchess of Longville. And the subplot involving Lady Caroline and all that she was going through as she tried to navigate her way through the ton, work out her feelings for Anthony, her father and her new stepmother, was already, in my opinion, suffering at the expense of the other subplot. So that this minor third subplot involving the three angry and dissatisfied anarchists took up far too many pages -- was this subplot even necessary, I wonder? If only the book had focused more on Lady Caroline and her feelings at having a new stepmother to contend with, the confusion she feels about her attraction to Anthony, and her feelings about her relationship with her once estranged father and being forced to endure a season ... the book then would have been a more enjoyable read for me. Nonetheless, I'd still rate "A Season for Love" as a truly interesting 3 star read.

I think the Romantic Times BOOKclub review says it all about A Season for Love. It classified it as a compelling page turner: "...this is a wonderful read. The storytelling alone captured my attention right from the start." What I loved about it was that it wasn't a boring run-of-the-mill traditional love story - it was a sensitive story of two families and how they manage to blend together despite the many pitfalls they faced. I can't wait to read Bancroft's next book!

I think this is a great book for incredible price (99¢). It really is two love stories in one. The Duke and Duchess are one; the Duke's adult daughter and the Duchess's brother make the other. Two families blending on two different levels. And the plot device or subplot, if you prefer, involving the "anarchists" in my opinion added interesting depth and historical accuracy to the book. (Another interesting fact mentioned that even in 1815 the Almack dress code for men still included tricorn hats.) Every reviewer or critic seems to have some aspects they would change. Usually I do too, but not this time. I think the author did a masterful job of blending all the aspects of the story together. The flow was just right and stayed a page turner to the end!

This is my first Blair Bancroft novel. I was surprised at how quickly I became impressed with her story telling skills. There are actually two really well written love stories going on and a nefarious subplot. All three are skillfully intertwined, but the story is not complicated. I did find it interesting that the lovely young Caroline, even when she got over her initial jealousy, still couldn't understand why her father loved such an unfashionable tall junoesque woman like her stepmama. She and her deceased mother were fashionable dainty little things. Yet she wanted her stepmama's brother and hid her contempt of his sister from him. She had no clue, even though she inherited her looks from her mother, that her own daughters could be unfashionably tall and junoesque as well. Can't wait to read more of Ms. Bancroft's work.

This was fun but had pseudo-incest storyline. This is where things got complicated because the Duke is the father of a girl who falls in love with the brother of the Duke's new wife, otherwise her step-uncle. They are not related by blood, but I admit that it is a bit dodgy. The story was interesting and flowed with historical romance language.
It was well written and I generally enjoyed the characters although this was a very vanilla romance.

On the eve of her father's marriage to a 2nd wife, Lady Caroline Carlington rides into London with some very important news. She has lived in a country cottage for most of her life, and has a strong aversion for city life. When she meets her father's intended, they don't get along.

When she meets her father's intended's BROTHER, it's a different story. Anthony Norville, Viscount Frayne, is everything Caroline wants to avoid. In an attempt to put their first scandalous meeting behind them, Anthony and Caroline spend more time together, and their attraction slowly builds.

In my opinion, however, the real "stars" of the story are Marcus (Caroline's father) and Jen (Marcus' new wife). What starts as a marriage of convenience becomes more than they expected. As a whole, I really enjoyed their story.

Still, I felt like this novel was lacking something. The pacing, especially at the beginning, was excruiatingly slow. I had to MAKE myself read. However, it did get better over time. I'd give it 2 1/2 stars.