Testing Miss Toogood [Mass Market Paperback]

Stella Cameron (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Despite a promising premise, bestseller Cameron's underdeveloped Regency romance, the sequel to A Useful Affair, disappoints. At the novel's outset, the second eldest of Reverend Toogood's five daughters, Fleur, travels to London as a charge of the Dowager Elliot in order to make a brilliant match that will improve the family fortunes. Fleur, however, has no intention of marrying unless she can find a man who meets all of the stringent requirements she has documented in "The List" (e.g., "Will he join me in learning exotic ways of lovemaking?"). The dowager instructs her youngest son, Dominic, to squire Miss Toogood to London's social events, much to his dismay. The dashing Dominic has other things on his mind, namely apprehending a man known as the Silken Cat, who kidnaps high society ladies and holds them for ransom. But as soon as Dominic meets Fleur, he knows that resisting her will be a challenge, especially when the spirited girl proves herself adept at meddling in his top secret business. Attempting to be both a romantic comedy and a dark thriller, the novel succeeds as neither, primarily because the mystery is poorly constructed. Though the romantic element is more approachable initially, sex too often stands in as a resolution to Fleur and Dominic's many conflicts, making their romance ultimately unsatisfying. (Mar.)
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From Booklist

Dominic Elliot and his brother, Nathan, are trying to rid Regency-era London of a vile predator who calls himself the Silken Cat. He kidnaps young women, holds them overnight for ransom, promising to release them with virtue intact. When a maid is abducted in place of her mistress and her employers dismiss her, Dominic convinces his mother to hire her at the family manse. In order to make the deal work, Dominic agrees to take Fleur Toogood, the impoverished daughter of a country vicar, under his wing and find her a suitable husband. An independent young woman with high standards and a penchant for solving problems, Fleur spies on Dominic (who is finding no man worthy of her) and puts herself in the path of danger. Although entertaining enough, this historical lacks the steamy heat that Cameron brings into her popular contemporary suspense novels. Diana Tixier Herald
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Mira (March 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0778321487
• ISBN-13: 978-0778321484
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.4 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,720,429 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Stella Cameron is the New York Times best selling author of the acclaimed Court of Angels Series, the Bayou Books and many others. There are fourteen million copies of her books in circulation worldwide. She is the recipient of the Pacific Northwest Achievement Award for distinguished professional achievement and for enhancing the stature of the Northwest Literary community. She lives in Washington State.

Stella's current titles include OUT OF SIGHT, OUT OF BODY and OUT OF MIND from her critically acclaimed Court of Angels series as well as her recent exclusive eBook releases BREATHLESS (contemporary romantic-suspense) and BARGAIN BRIDE: A NOVELLA (historical romance).

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Promising Premise, Disappointing Delivery, March 21, 2005

By 

AngelGirl (Orem, UT USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Testing Miss Toogood (Mass Market Paperback)

I picked this book up in the airport just before a cross country flight. I had never read a book by Stella Cameron and will probably never read one again. While the premise promised an interesting regency romance, the novel delivered a disappointing plot that was badly written. My first major problem with the book was the lack of accurate vernacular for the period the novel was depicting. Half of the words out of the characters mouths would not have been in the vocabulary of a nineteenth century British aristocrat. Next, the inaccurate portrayal of British society drove me nuts. Almost all the characters acted in a twenty-first century manner. The author's writing left much to be desired, oftentimes her prose was confusing. Her writing did not flow in a manner that made it easy for the reader to understand what she was trying to say. Aside from these problems were the obvious plot holes and lack of continuity and believable character development. Chloe had too big a vocabulary for a five-year-old. If Harry really looked so much like Noel, than how come Dominic and Nathan didn't catch on sooner, and why would Fleur, a young, unmarried woman recognize Hattie's pregnancy symptoms? The motives of the villains were obscured in the story and made absolutely no sense. The entire plot was wrapped up in a neat little bow at the end, in an unrealistic way, satisfying all the characters and leaving little denouement with no explanation. All in all, I would not recommend this novel to anyone that is easily distracted by bad writing and unrealistic settings and character development.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars PROMISING START BUT IT DID NOT DELIVER, May 2, 2005

By 

Kim Casler Giglio "RENAISSANCE ANGEL" (GRETNA, LA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Testing Miss Toogood (Mass Market Paperback)

The Dowager Marchioness of Granville has asked her youngest son to chaperone an old friend's impoverished daughter during her "Season". But after Fleur Toogood appears at the Heatherly estate, it becomes apparent that the Dowager may be up to some matchmaking between the beautiful Fleur and her no-nonense, crime-fighting son, Dominic. He balks at his assignment because besides helping to run his family's holdings, he is attempting (with a little assistance from older brother, Nathan) to apprehend a serial kidnapper who has been preying on the ton's eligible young ladies.

This book starts out promising - the interludes involving the villain and his accomplices are sufficiently creepy but it all seems to peter out during the inevitable climax. Without giving away the kidnapper's identity, I found his character and motivations very intriguing. When he admits that he has changed his plan to kill Fleur and now plans to escape with her by sea in the hopes he can make her fall in love with him, I thought, wow,how much more interesting would it have been to have had the villain embroiled in a love triangle with Fleur and Dominic.

There is alot of dialogue - sometimes you need a scorecard to keep up with all of the comings and goings - almost reminiscent of a '30s screwball comedy. Cameron managed to sustain the romantic tension until the end, then it seemed she hurriedly added a lackluster honeymoon night. Dominic's proclamation of love and marriage proposal lacked the tenderness that Fleur deserved.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Fine Story, But..., March 21, 2005

By 

Nancy Compton (Boise, Idaho) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Testing Miss Toogood (Mass Market Paperback)

TESTING MISS TOOGOOD is enjoyable but it did not quite live up to the book's description of a promising great read. I would have liked the author to concentrate on the romance of Lord Dominic and Fleur. I felt it was overall underdeveloped and the secondary characters were not explained well enough to know who they are and where they exactly fit. The mystery aspect of the villain, Le Chat Soyeux and hero, Brother Juste is an interesting aspect, but I felt it took too much from the main storyline of the romance between Lord Dominic and Fleur. The mystery was not as essentially necessary. Despite all this, it is enjoyable.

This story is a sequel to A USEFUL AFFAIR.