A Suitable Marriage

Regencies #7-8

by Stephanie Laurens

Two irresistable Regency tales reprinted by popular demand.
An Unwilling Conquest
Having seen his sister Lenore and brother Jack caught in Parson's mousetrap, Harry Lester had no intention of following their example. Now the news was out that the Lester family fortunes had been repaired, Harry knew the matchmaking mamas would be in pursuit, so he promptly left London for Newmarket.
Only to find himself acting as the rescuer of Mrs Lucinda Babbacombe, a beautiful, provocative widow...

A Comfortable Wife
Miss Antonia Mannering was not going to fade into an old maid! She and Lord Philip Ruthven had been childhood friends who had not seen each other for years. Although popular with the ladies, he remained unmarried.
If Antonia could prove that she could run his home and not disgrace him in Society, would Philip be ready to set up his nursery...with her as his wife?

Genres: Romance, Historical Romance, Historical, Regency

587 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

About the author

Stephanie Laurens was born in Sri Lanka, which was at the time the British colony of Ceylon. When she was 5, her family moved to Melbourne, Australia, where she was raised. After continuing through school and earning a Ph.D. in Biochemistry in Australia, Stephanie and her husband moved to Great Britain, taking one of the last true overland journeys from Katmandu to London.

Once in London, Stephanie and her husband both began work as research scientists in Kent. They lived in an area surrounded by history. Their own cottage was built in the 16th century, while next door were the protected ruins of an early Roman villa, and nearby was a 14th century castle.

After four years in England, Stephanie and her husband returned to Australia, where she continued to work in cancer research, eventually heading her own research laboratory. One evening Stephanie realized that she did not have any more of her favorite romance novels to read. After years of thinking about writing her own novel, during nights and weekends for the next several months, she began crafting her own story. That manuscript, Tangled Reins, was the first of her books to be published. After achieving a level of success with her novels, Stephanie "retired" from scientific research and became a full-time novelist. Her novels are primarily historical romances set in the Regency time period.

Stephanie and her husband live on peaceful acreage on the outskirts of Melbourne. If she isn't writing, she's reading, and if she's not reading, she's tending her garden.

Reviews

[Manuela · Rating 4 out of 5]

An unwilling conquest: ☆☆☆☆ The moment I read "Newcastle" I realised I had read this book before. I enjoyed revisiting Mrs. Babbacombe and Harry Lester. I love the way Lucinda is travelling with her stepdaughter Heather from one of the 54 inns she and Heather own to the next, requesting to see the premises and the books and no one questions her. The heroines of Mrs. Laurens's books seem to be qualified in one way or another but when it comes to the opposite sex they are utterly clueless. They can't read the room even if their life or at least their well-being depends on it and see the good nature in people, mostly men until they are proven wrong. Thank god for that, otherwise the heroes would have no reason to help those ladies in distress. They aren't damsels, that's for sure. When Lucinda at the end of the book ends up in the river after escaping a kidnap attempt and Harry starts taking his boots off to rescue her, he stops when he realises that she is able to swim to shore. - I have been wondering how she managed this considering the clothes she would have been wearing would have soaked up water and would have dragged her under fairly quickly. Another thing I questioned was that Harry on their way home in the carriage got her out of said soggy clothes, obviously for various reasons (her health/his desire), but how would they gotten into the house? Out front there would have been people on the street witnessing him carrying her or guiding her only covered in his cloak and out back there would have been stable hands and servants that could've witnessed her walk in without clothes bar the cloak. He was going to marry her but I still think it's food for thought.


A comfortable wife:☆☆☆ This book I didn't remember. Since I put down that I read this collection before I guess I either had to return the book prematurely or the story wasn't worth to be remembered. I liked Lord Ruthven from Harry Lester's book. He seemed to be a friend of Harry's or at least a friendly acquaintance. It also seems that most rakes in Mrs. Laurens's universe are redeemable or already possess a certain moral compass which they're hiding behind their bored or outrageous behaviour. Well, I think Philip could have done better. I didn't like Antonia particularly well. She had to grow up fast after her father's death and care for her mother and younger brother. She learned to run a household and organise a fête but had no clue as to how to manage the ton. I have no idea what mothers in that time thought to raise their daughters with so many ambiguous rules, neither preparing them for a life as mothers themselves nor warning them properly about the downfalls of their feelings. Antonia is far too deep into her own head than actually being prepared to deal with a man like Philip. One of my personal pet peeves of no communication is the first downfall to the story. Days on end when Antonia denies to talk to Philip after she found him alone with another woman in a compromising situation. Of course it was predictable and I was ready to yell at them to cause a scene in front of the ton just to get it over and done with, but instead Mrs. Laurens brings in a side story of some younger friends of Antonia's brother Geoffrey who have troubles all of their own, which to a certain degree took away time from Philip and Antonia. And for another thing while Geoffrey is still underage himself I wonder what legal issues Philip and Antonia's interference with Catronia and Ambrose as well as Henry Fortesque brought on themselves. They allowed them to continue on with their travels to London to see Catronia's other aunt. And she had travelled alone with three men to the inn, where Antonia and Philip caught up with them. Seems like rules are meant to be broken or at least stretched very far.
All in all it was an okay read, probably enjoyed by hard core fans.

[Elke · Rating 5 out of 5]

fun, flirty and fabulous.
cant live with out a great read from Stephanie Laurens. Must Read!!!!