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A Regency Charade
Despite their estrangement, Captain Alec Tyrrell and his wife, Priss, find themselves falling in love once again, when they undertake a daring masquerade. Reissue.
224 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1981
About the author
Elizabeth Mansfield
63 books68 followersElizabeth Mansfield is the author of numerous regency romances. She is an intelligent and thoughtful writer, a hidden gem whose novels deserve to be more widely read and enjoyed.
Elizabeth Mansfield is the pen name of the talented Paula Reibel Schwartz. Ms Schwartz also wrote different genres under the pen names Paula Reibel, Paula Reid, and Paula Jonas.
Elizabeth Mansfield is the pen name of the talented Paula Reibel Schwartz. Ms Schwartz also wrote different genres under the pen names Paula Reibel, Paula Reid, and Paula Jonas.
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
January 29, 2018
I've been checking out old Elizabeth Mansfield books that I hadn't read back in the day. Maybe there was a reason I hadn't read this one, although I can't remember. Whatever the case, the hero of this book from 1981 wins the A$$hole of the Year (Decade? Century?) Award easily. Even Mansfield's writing can't save this one.
Hero marries heroine very young. It was a marriage encouraged by the family, and our hero at the time was too young, too socially inept, too insecure about himself. He loves the heroine but is not convinced of her love for him and when he finds out that she had had an offer of marriage before his and when he finds her with that man after their wedding, he is convinced, convinced, convinced that she is unfaithful to him and wants to be married to the other man.
Naturally they don't talk about this. He won't listen to a thing she says. (Probably couldn't have heard her anyway, what with his head stuck up his you-know-what.) Just informs his solicitor that he wants the marriage dissolved, whether divorce, annulment, whatever, and he goes off to the Peninsular Wars for 6 years. Comes back thinking the marriage is over, only to find that nothing has been done and they are still married.
He continues to be an intransigent, self-absorbed jerk throughout the book but finally at the end sees the truth and--WTH!--the heroine forgives him.
Hero marries heroine very young. It was a marriage encouraged by the family, and our hero at the time was too young, too socially inept, too insecure about himself. He loves the heroine but is not convinced of her love for him and when he finds out that she had had an offer of marriage before his and when he finds her with that man after their wedding, he is convinced, convinced, convinced that she is unfaithful to him and wants to be married to the other man.
Naturally they don't talk about this. He won't listen to a thing she says. (Probably couldn't have heard her anyway, what with his head stuck up his you-know-what.) Just informs his solicitor that he wants the marriage dissolved, whether divorce, annulment, whatever, and he goes off to the Peninsular Wars for 6 years. Comes back thinking the marriage is over, only to find that nothing has been done and they are still married.
He continues to be an intransigent, self-absorbed jerk throughout the book but finally at the end sees the truth and--WTH!--the heroine forgives him.
July 15, 2019
If, like me, you grab OOP Regencies at used book stores whenever you get the opportunity, I can't really recommend this one--and I almost always enjoy Mansfield's stories. If you ever get a chance to read Her Man of Affairs, grab it! It's marvelous. But this one, not so much. I didn't care for either protag and the entire story rested on a Big Mis that could easily have been cleared up if they'd cared to ... hmm, I don't know ... talk?
June 17, 2017
Not Mansfields best, the Hero was tstl. Usually the heroine is the dumb blind one. Here the Hero is the one who you want to knock some sense into.
The whole story is based on a misunderstanding, one where the Hero wouldn't even hear the heroine. Arrgggh! Not a promising start.
Howecer, the heroine is intriguing and you can't help but want to know how things turn our for her.
The heroine makes mistakes and is the cause of the rift between them, spoiled and not seeing her own faults but wanting to do better, she just makes you like her. I think she more than paid for whatever her sins were, and her husband acted like a spoiled school boy.
That said, I actually did enjoy this, I did like the characters for the most part, but it was frustrating and thus only gets 3 stars.
G rating, mention of lovers, no one actually had one, one character is a hussy but she improves, I think she needs her own book to be palatable though. Everything is tied up in a neat little bow at the end.
The whole story is based on a misunderstanding, one where the Hero wouldn't even hear the heroine. Arrgggh! Not a promising start.
Howecer, the heroine is intriguing and you can't help but want to know how things turn our for her.
The heroine makes mistakes and is the cause of the rift between them, spoiled and not seeing her own faults but wanting to do better, she just makes you like her. I think she more than paid for whatever her sins were, and her husband acted like a spoiled school boy.
That said, I actually did enjoy this, I did like the characters for the most part, but it was frustrating and thus only gets 3 stars.
G rating, mention of lovers, no one actually had one, one character is a hussy but she improves, I think she needs her own book to be palatable though. Everything is tied up in a neat little bow at the end.
November 23, 2025
This is the estranged-couple-pretends-to-be-happy-for-the-benefit-of-an-elderly-relation trope. The reason they're estranged is that he is an asshat.
Alec and Priss had a bitter quarrel six years ago and he ran off to war. Now he's back but he's still fuming in jealousy. Everybody in his life keeps telling him that he is a fool. He makes a further fool of himself with some Other Woman drama. The other woman is the FMC's cousin (but at some point it was said that she was related to the MMC's grandfather too so IDK). And of all the people, the MMC decides to bring the OW to the houseparty in which they were supposed to act so happy.
I thought he needed to grovel and apologise for his asshattery quite a bit more than he ended up doing.
It confused me a bit that the MMC is referred to as Captain Tyrrell and occasionally Lord Braeburn and his wife is Lady Braeburn. But his grandfather, the Earl of Braeburn is still alive. So Alec wouldn't be Lord Braeburn yet, would he? He might have had one of the earl's subsidiary titles as a honorary title but wouldn't he then be likely to be Viscount or Baron Somethingelse?
Alec and Priss had a bitter quarrel six years ago and he ran off to war. Now he's back but he's still fuming in jealousy. Everybody in his life keeps telling him that he is a fool. He makes a further fool of himself with some Other Woman drama. The other woman is the FMC's cousin (but at some point it was said that she was related to the MMC's grandfather too so IDK). And of all the people, the MMC decides to bring the OW to the houseparty in which they were supposed to act so happy.
I thought he needed to grovel and apologise for his asshattery quite a bit more than he ended up doing.
It confused me a bit that the MMC is referred to as Captain Tyrrell and occasionally Lord Braeburn and his wife is Lady Braeburn. But his grandfather, the Earl of Braeburn is still alive. So Alec wouldn't be Lord Braeburn yet, would he? He might have had one of the earl's subsidiary titles as a honorary title but wouldn't he then be likely to be Viscount or Baron Somethingelse?
October 26, 2011
Somewhat enjoyable, but not one of Mansfield's best efforts.
January 30, 2017
He was such a hypocritical jerk on such flimsy grounds that I kept hoping until the end that he'd get shot by a poacher or something. Too bad. Now she's stuck with him.
April 5, 2022
If they only just sat down and talked to each other.
July 22, 2015
Didn't like hero at all. She should have expected more of an apology.
May 10, 2023
Months ago, I ordered a lot of historical romances off of ebay. Most were relatively recent novels, but there were a few very old ones, including A REGENCY CHARADE. I doubt that I would ever have read it otherwise, because I had never even heard of Elizabeth Mansfield.
When I started reading the book, I hoped that I might have found a new favorite author. Mansfield's writing style is very old-school, reminding me just a little of Georgette Heyer or Marion Chesney. For some readers, that might be a minus, but for me, it's a plus. In the first couple of chapters I really liked the leads, too, so I was prepared to like the book.
And then it all fell apart. The problem with this book is that Alec starts off as a sweet cinnamon roll boy, and turns into a bitter, unfaithful, cynical man. And he stays that way for basically the whole novel. There's no real character growth in him. He stays the jealous, "obsessed" husband the whole time, making the happy ending seem implausible and forced.
For me, second-chance romances only work if the characters have grown during the time apart. A story where the leads have matured over time and can now make a relationship work is believable and satisfying to me. A story where the male lead loses all the things that made him charming and ends up a worse person than at the beginning is just disappointing.
The other disappointment about the book is that the title and blurbs made it seem as if the focus of the plot would be on the "charade" in which the two leads pretend to be in love with each other. While that does happen, it happens only in the last quarter of the novel. Most of the book is about Alec and Priss growing farther and farther apart, which makes the reunion at the end seem all the more unlikely.
So, I would not recommend this novel. BUT, because I did like the writing style, I am curious to read some of Mansfield's other novels to see if they are better. Fortunately for me, there was a second novel of hers in that ebay lot, so I'll be able to give her work a second chance.
When I started reading the book, I hoped that I might have found a new favorite author. Mansfield's writing style is very old-school, reminding me just a little of Georgette Heyer or Marion Chesney. For some readers, that might be a minus, but for me, it's a plus. In the first couple of chapters I really liked the leads, too, so I was prepared to like the book.
And then it all fell apart. The problem with this book is that Alec starts off as a sweet cinnamon roll boy, and turns into a bitter, unfaithful, cynical man. And he stays that way for basically the whole novel. There's no real character growth in him. He stays the jealous, "obsessed" husband the whole time, making the happy ending seem implausible and forced.
For me, second-chance romances only work if the characters have grown during the time apart. A story where the leads have matured over time and can now make a relationship work is believable and satisfying to me. A story where the male lead loses all the things that made him charming and ends up a worse person than at the beginning is just disappointing.
The other disappointment about the book is that the title and blurbs made it seem as if the focus of the plot would be on the "charade" in which the two leads pretend to be in love with each other. While that does happen, it happens only in the last quarter of the novel. Most of the book is about Alec and Priss growing farther and farther apart, which makes the reunion at the end seem all the more unlikely.
So, I would not recommend this novel. BUT, because I did like the writing style, I am curious to read some of Mansfield's other novels to see if they are better. Fortunately for me, there was a second novel of hers in that ebay lot, so I'll be able to give her work a second chance.
March 9, 2023
A typical Regency romance. Sweet, easy to read. I read these like eating popcorn. Very relaxing and not requiring much effort. A nice antidote to the mysteries and thrillers I usually read. Sorry , ladies, no steamy love scenes.
October 12, 2025
This one disappointed me somewhat...because of his foolishness and blind disbelief in his wife, they are apart for six years before ever getting reconciled! I wanted to shake and slap him numerous times! But at least they finally have a happy ending. I don't think I'll read again!
July 20, 2017
wtf -_-"
March 21, 2025
Trite story, predictable, passable writing. I just needed a book for the rainy afternoon.
September 3, 2026
I'm glad this was reissued, because it is a clean, sweet romance with a nice HEA.
October 10, 2026
The hero, Alec, was a hypocritical dummy.
August 27, 2015
So after 6 years of estrangement, H comes back and falls in with bff's plan of fun and dissolution, even takes a cherie amie for "female companionship" to the friend's satisfaction, and then goes around with wife's cousin, who has been in love with him since 13- she was there at the wedding.
I've read halfway through. Not sure I want to sit through the rest of it.
This was not why I picked EM.
H's grandfather is ill, so that's where the scene moves to. The H, his dissolute bff, and a school time bff (out to rescue him), Clio (h's cousin, and H's gf currently), h, h's mother, and another friend of hers.
Clio falls in love with H's school friend while H realizes how much more convenient things would be if he got back with his wife (he won't have to deal with Clio).
Disappointing.
I've read halfway through. Not sure I want to sit through the rest of it.
This was not why I picked EM.
H's grandfather is ill, so that's where the scene moves to. The H, his dissolute bff, and a school time bff (out to rescue him), Clio (h's cousin, and H's gf currently), h, h's mother, and another friend of hers.
Clio falls in love with H's school friend while H realizes how much more convenient things would be if he got back with his wife (he won't have to deal with Clio).
Disappointing.
July 24, 2015
The Regency Charade by Elizabeth Mansfield
I know that I have said that this is the best of the regency books that Ms. Mansfield has written but this is the best so far. Anyway they are all delightful.
I know that I have said that this is the best of the regency books that Ms. Mansfield has written but this is the best so far. Anyway they are all delightful.
September 25, 2009
Regency
July 5, 2013
Very well done,great character development,h/h both spoiled but author showed their growth as they matured(hero took longer);all secondary characters very well done.
February 25, 2015
Despite their estrangement, Captain Alec Tyrrell and his wife, Priss, find themselves falling in love once again, when they undertake a daring masquerade.
November 20, 2014
Not her best work.
July 13, 2017
I'm being very generous with two stars I really should give it one never has there been a more repulsive hero, immature, unforgiving a******. he wasted 6 years of his marriage by not listening and jumping to unsubstantiated conclusions How she could forgive him I have no idea after the things he said and the things he did. He is in my bottom three, of all the books I have read, as a husbands deserving forgiveness.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews