Customer Reviews:
 EXCELLENT - DEFINITELY A KEEPER July 1, 2005
5 out of 7 found this review helpful
Been a while since I have enjoyed the Regency Romance.
The Unruly Chaperon helped to get rid of the sour taste left by the contemporary females and their twaddle of equal PMS freedom.
Lady Mathilda Cavendish and her daughter, Anthea travel with her cousin, Amelia Pemberton to the Estate of the Duke of St. Ormond. She is thinking of spiking his proposal of marriage to Amelia, knowing he is a little too worldly for her innocent cousin.
She remembers, not with too much joy, Crispin Malvern from about seven years ago at her own come-out into Society and his slighting remarks. And yet, that wonderful waltz.
Cris is getting up there in age, at 36, a bit long in the tooth for an innocent 17 year old female. Tilda's own marriage was to Jonathan, a man in his fifties. While her marriage had turned out reasonably well, she was convinced that Milly would not deal well with Cris's idea of marriage.
Ah, it gets more interesting when Cris's mother, the Dowager introduces Lady Winter and Milly to her brother-in-law, Lord John Malvern and his son, Guy [27 years old]. Guy instantly starts to flirt lightly with Lady Winter but is attracted to Milly, an attraction that grows.
Then cross-purposes grow between the main characters with the background of each influenceing their perception of each other's attitude to marriage. Cris realizes, a bit late, that Lady Winter's attitude of aloofness hides a vulnerability not visable to others. Tilda's attempt to shock the Duke just strengthens his idea of her widow's position in Society, allowing for a discreet liason
What a lovely, complex bit of romance for the Regency period with a bit of spicey dialog and the same old female surrender but helped along with a wonderful cast of characters to bounce off of.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED - m -- well paced story, mixed-up powerful emotions, and lovable characters - surely a keeper!
 Quite a disappointment March 28, 2005
1 out of 6 found this review helpful
I have read two previous books by this author and can only say this novel was a huge step back for her. There is nothing particularly original about the plot or the characters, and the Big Misunderstanding that keeps the Hero & Heroine "apart" is particularly stupid. (The hero thinks the heroine is determined on being a loose woman & that she's sleeping with his cousin; the heroine thinks the hero has deeper feelings than imagined for his fiancee-of-convenience, who happens to be HER cousin -- although BOTH beliefs are proven false DURING the story, neither character seems to realize it!) Then, the story evolves into the VERY overused, "I-won't-love-him/her-until-he/she-says-I-love-you" formula.
I enjoyed the author's last book, "The Unexpected Bride", so I really had high hopes for this work. It was doubly disappointing to read this because her last book added quite a bit of freshness to the typicial Regency romance formula; this one definitely does not.
However, I award two stars for the sensual scenes, which are very sensual if you care about that type of thing; and for the fact that the book does flow along and it isn't boring; just unoriginal. Someone who hasn't read as many romances as I have, or hasn't read this same-old, same-old PLOT before, may rate it much higher, but I just can't.
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