Queen of the May

Mayne #1

by Emily Hendrickson

THE LADY WORE BREECHES

Young Lady Samantha Mayne had no desire to be a proper young lady. Let her cousin Emma dress in fashionable gowns, attend glittering balls, and hunt a mate in the marriage mart. Samantha preferred to aid her brother George's scientific experiments, wear breeches, ride horses astride, not sidesaddle, and be most wary of wedlock.

Then Samantha met Lord Charles Laverstock. Lord Charles was more handsome, charming, and gallant than Samantha had ever imagined a man could be. Lord Charles also clearly could never be interested in a girl who broke every rule and scorned every feminine wile.

For free-spirited Samantha, becoming a lady would be the hardest of possible tasks... even if it was a labor of love....

Genres: Regency, Regency Romance, Historical Romance, Historical, Historical Fiction

224 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published December 1, 1989

About the author

Doris Emily Hendrickson lives in Reno, Nevada, with her husband, a retired airline pilot. Of all the many places she has traveled around the world, England is her favorite, and the most natural choice as the setting for her novels. In addition to her Regency romances, she has written a Regency Reference Book.

She is also the recipient of the Romantic Times award for the Best Regency of 1993 for Elizabeth's Rake and the Colorado Romance Writers 1997 Award of Excellence for The Debonair Duke. She is a nominee for the Romantic Times Career Achievement Award for Regency Romance.

Emily also enjoys stamps and stamping, and several of her flower designs, originally created for bookmarks for her Regencies, have been made into stamps.

Many of my books were re-published in England by Robert Hale Publishing House of London. My publisher requested that I use three pseudonyms for my English hard cover books. I chose the names: Emily Hendrickson, Emily Johnson, and Emily Harland.

Reviews

[LemontreeLime · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of Hendrickson's best. There are so many madcap things going on in this one, experimental gliders, french spies, may day celebrations (am i the only one who found that slightly ironic, having a story about early aviation take place during MAY DAY?), multiple love tossed couples with a penchant for sneaking about in the dark, a sticky fingered aunt who reads tea leaves, and a heroine who comes across as a whole person - and I think my favorite of all of Hendrickson's characters - Samantha is believable and likable. This one was so good, there really should have been a sequel or two. Nicely done!

[Donnalee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hardy Boys plus 'hubba hubba' plus D. Sayers plot--okay

[Frances · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a solid three stars until I hit chapter 14. No longer could I pretend that a good editor might have saved this book.

[Lynne Tull · Rating 2 out of 5]

This Regency Romance was published in 1989 by Signet. Times have certainly changed in this genre. It was almost like reading a "Young Adult" fiction...almost like reading Nancy Drew. The writing was a mix of "he said, she said" and "by-the-way" here is an interesting fact about the history of the period. It was as if the author wanted us to know she had done her research. Of course, once I start a story I want to see it to the end. I need to get over that and give myself permission to put the book down....and don't pick it up again. In fact, give it away...maybe to the library for one of their sales. Unfortunately, there is a sequel to this one...do I really need to know what happens to Samantha's brother and the neighbor's daughter? Hmmmmm!

[Evelyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Since this was the first regency romance I ever read, I think it will always be one of my favorites.