Leorah Langdon has no patience for Regency society’s shallow hypocrisy and unnecessary rules, especially for women. She’s determined to defy convention by marrying for grand passion instead of settling for a loveless union like her parents—or wedding a stuffy, pompous gentleman like Edward, the Viscount Withinghall. But when a chance meeting in the countryside leads to Leorah and Withinghall … being discovered in his overturned carriage—alone and after dark—the ensuing gossip may force them together.
Withinghall has his reasons for clinging to propriety; his father perished in a duel with his mistress’s husband, and Edward must avoid scandal himself if he wants to become prime minister. He certainly has no time for a reckless hoyden like Miss Langdon. But soon the two discover that Withinghall’s coach “accident” was no such thing: the vehicle was sabotaged.
Can the culprit be brought to justice? Strong-willed Leorah and duty-driven Withinghall will have to work together if they have any hope of saving her reputation, his political career—and his life.
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Love this Regency YA Romance by Melanie Dickerson. She is hitting her stride in capturing Austen-like characters and adding a bit of mystery and fun to her stories!
I loved this book!
I love Melenie Dickerson’s romances and they keep getting better!
Mystery, romance, and Jane Austen. How can it get better? I recommend to Regency lovers.
This is not my favorite out of the Regency series. It didnt have as much action I guess you can say like the other two. I enjoyed how the female lead stuck by her convections and alowed herself to trust the man as she got to know him better.
This is a fantastic historical romance.
I love both of the main characters in this book. Leorah and Edward learn a lot about themselves and how they should treat others as the story progresses. This all happens as they each learn how to see beyond the faults of the other person, to their strengths.
Thrown into the middle of the romance is a wonderful light mystery. There are a number of clues as to who is trying to kill Lord Withinghall. We only find out what the motive is very near the end of the book.
The narrator for this book did an excellent job of making the story come alive. The various voices and intonations she used are great.
Melanie Dickerson never disappoints! I read this out of order, but I loved her dive into Regency England as much as I’ve enjoyed her series set in medieval Germany. If you have had the opportunity to watch Amazing Grace, this book reads a bit like that movie. Though the focus is on education and women’s rights rather than slavery, our leading lord and lady start out believing they have nothing in common only to find themselves surprisingly well suited. Leorah (love the unusual name!) and Edward have an interesting and rather dangerous relationship as they try and figure out who wants to kill Edward so badly. Edward seems to be modeled on William Pitt the Younger, but as we wade into the story his political ambitions start ranking lower in his priorities (which is good for Leorah). Leorah starts to acknowledge that her impulsiveness reflects on others, and she does seem to mature into a young lady who’s kindness is tempered by wisdom. Now to read the rest of the series! Happy Reading!
I was very surprised to see the lower rating that this novel normally received, due to the fact that I found it quite pleasurable and well thought out.
When you read the title of this novel, you think quick action with a touch of romance; however, that does not even begin to describe this novel. It was longer, very complex, and not rush as many books tend to be. The love story between the hero and heroine was truly enduring. It was not a match that was thrown together, but one that we were able to see come too over time together.
I am very pleased with the ending, even though many times throughout the story I had thought: if it just ends here, I will be so pleased; however the author knew better than I and kept writing to produce an amazing piece of literature. I thoroughly enjoyed every chapter.
Leorah Langdon is known for being fiercely spirited, not demure and composed as young ladies are expected to be. Everything about her is rather offensive to the staid and stuffy Edward, Viscount Withinghall. Leorah has no tolerance for the hypocritical ways of the ton, which seem to mean everything to Edward. When Edward and Leorah, through a series of rather unfortunate accidents, are discovered stranded and alone in an overturned carriage on a dark country road, the scandal may be inevitable. When Edward must convalesce at the Langdon’s estate, he gets to know Leorah more and realizes his initial impressions of her may not be accurate at all, but it might be too late for him to win her over after his judgmental behavior towards her before.
Full disclosure, I listened to this as an audiobook and was not a big fan of the narrator, but I have tried to be objective and not allow this to cloud my review. This one had some decent suspense and a touch of romance, but the story was dragged out with unnecessary details and I had the mystery figured out long before the grand revelation so it just became a bit tedious for me. It was a sweet romance, but not enough steam for me and not enough actual genuine interaction between the two main characters without so much continual mention of social graces and propriety. It was just a bit much for me after awhile and I was ready to get to the point already.
I liked this one the least of the three books in this series. It irritates me when people do the opposite of what people tell them just to spite them (especially when it is sound advice). It also irritates me when people personally say things to others just to dig at them or rile them up. The main female did all of this. I usually love this author, but found that this series was just okay. It had great potential but too many things were unrealistic. The female was too headstrong and made stupid decisions. She mentions Hannah Moore and Hannah Moore’s books too much to the point of annoying (she did this in the third book of this series as well). I personally like when the female character listens to good advice when given by the male character instead of being headstrong and doing the opposite. Women can listen to sound advice by a male, especially when he has her safety as a priority. I would be upset if the male didn’t put the female’s safety as a priority (that is not being a shovanist like some say, that is being loving and gentlemanly). She also should have made it a point to show how hypocritical the main bad guy was.
Highly recommend this book it’s super funny and a good page turner