Customer Reviews

The Accidental Romance

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

 

 

[...]This book is a keeper. Just imagine Meg Ryan as the heroine who is a sharp-tongued and fiery-tempered young beauty engaged in a battle of wits with Tom Hanks, the sweet-tempered and good-humored hero and you've got this comedy of love.

Lucienne met Lord Perry Wittenden when their carriages collided and her carriage was all but destroyed. She lashed out at him though the accident was through no fault of his. Later, he published a humorous account of the accident in which she was depicted as a 'shrew'. This was not to be borne! He became her avowed enemy. Naturally, at their every encounter,conflicts ensued. There was sparring and choas. Lord Perry enjoyed himself immensely by baiting the wilful, spoilt young lady. Unknowingly, he had fallen for this captivating beauty. How they both realized their feelings for each other made most interesting reading. This is one of Elizabeth Mansfield's best. I enjoyed this book thoroughly and strongly recommend it to all Regency romance lovers.Don't miss it.

I've always liked this book. It's one of the few Regencies that I've kept on my shelf years after they've stopped publishing all the good authors. It's a bit of a switch; instead of the sweet heroine and saturnine, jaded hero, you've got the gorgeous but spoiled heroine and a hero who is smart, red-headed, and certainly not Mr. Corinthian.

I think the romance could have been more "romantic" with a little more interaction between the characters or a little more Unresolved Sexual Tension (UST), but overall I thought it was a fun read with witty poems and well-drawn characters who really come to life, whether you like them or not.

From the back cover:

A clash of hearts...

Lucienne was positively outraged. The terrible collision with Lord Pertty Wittenden's carriage had all but destroyed her own. But when the infuriatingly good-humored gent published a scandalous account of the accident in the local paper--in which Lucy was identified as a "shrew"--well, that was beyond bearing! Indeed, Lucy's every encounter with the man bred chaos, turmoil, disaster...

And yet, Lord Perry was thoroughly enjoying himself. Lucy was the most temperamental, spoiled and unreasonably young lady he had ever met. But her fiery spirit and captivating beauty drew him deeper into a raging battle of wits--and love was the grandest prize of all.

And my review:

I discovered Elizabeth Mansfield when I found on of her books on a discount table at my local department store. I took a chance on her writing, and was very glad that I did. Mansfield writes delightful, witty romances that have a wonderful flow and great characters. And as an added bonus for some readers, her stories are clean, sweet, and innocent; just kisses, nothing explicit.

But I was terribly disappointed in THE ACCIDENTAL ROMANCE. I thought that this would be a case of the hero first meeting the heroine on an "off" day, seeing her worst side and forming the wrong opinion, only to find out that she's actually a nice person underneath. Not so! The heroine really was a spoiled, selfish brat. I think calling her a shrew was almost too nice a way to describe her. Seriously, she causes the accident, beats on the man with her umbrella, and then gets mad when he accepts responsibility for the crash she caused! Huh??? That's what she wanted in the first place--and now she's complaining? Her behaviour was that of a spoiled toddler who's been denied a piece of candy. It made me sick!

And does she smarten up after that? Nope. She goes to his house and threatens to tell people that he left a poor unfortunate girl pregnant with his child and refused to do the right thing by her--all false, of course. Really, the man's poem calling her a shrew did not in any way identify her. I felt that the heroine's reaction was overblown for the situation. Threatening to destroy a man's reputation with false accusations is over the top. After all, she really did act like a shrew. If you ask me, she deserved to be called up on it!

Okay, I'll stop rambling now. I recommend you skip this one, unless you like stories where you want to leap into the book and strangle the heroine with your bare hands. Try one of Mansfield's other works, such as Poor Caroline and Matched Pairs (Signet Regency Romance), or A Christmas Kiss. Those stories are wonderfully witty, and the characters are charming, not little hellions you want to see get their just desserts.

I have rarely read a regency book where the story is so poorly done. Our main female character, Lucy, is apparently so beautiful that the marked defects of her characters, she hits people, yells at people, is rude, blames others for everything even when it is obvious it is her own fault, that it is wondered at that Percy, our "hero", falls in love with her at all. Outside of her face, there was not one redeeming quality about Lucy. Percey, while homely, is a very nice man, who Lucy ends up caring for but why would he care for her? There was not one scene in the book where they have any interaction that would lend itself to love. The book is is not a plus for women if all they need to be is beautiful. I mean, she hits Percy and he just smiles like a simpleton! Don't waste your time on this book.

I usually enjoyed Ms. Mansfield's books, and I rarely gave only "one star" for book reviews; However, I was so surprised and disappointed with the book that I felt I could not sugar-coat it. I even wondered if this was written by the same author that I have enjoyed so much in the past.

My biggest problem was with the heroine--she was portrayed as a shrew, but I thought she was more like a spoiled brat with some mean and evil spirit--definitely not the character we liked to see as our heroine. Not half way through the book, her behavior has compounded to the point that I just had to gave it up and put it into the "not to keep" pile.

I agree with two other reviewers that gave "one" and "two" stars, I think their opinions were all helpful, but I was baffled by other reviewers' vote as "non-helpful". I hope this "one-star" review will not offend any Mansfield fans. Do try her other books, I strongly recommend the "Regency Sting", especially if you could get hold of a copy that is published in 1980. The book cover itself is worth of saving.