Isabella

Trevelyan Family #1

by Loretta Chase

At the spinster age of 26, the independent, wealthy and imminently sensible Isabella Latham had forgotten about marriage hopes long ago. Ever aware of duty, Isabella accompanies her two young cousins to oversee their debut in London...only to find that it's Isabella who is attracting all the suitors...all of whom do seem to have quite an excess of creditors.

There's the sinfully sexy Basil Trevelyan, a rake through and through - the kind of rake that even sensible Isabella can barely resist. And then there's his maddeningly handsome cousin, the Earl of Hartleigh, who makes her heart nearly leap out of her chest, with just a glance of his eye.

Poor, poor Isabella. What's a girl to do? But more importantly...who's a girl to choose?

Never did prim and proper Isabella think that having two rakish suitors would cause a scandal so earth shattering that it would rattle all her family skeletons, get one over on all those vile gossip mongers and --- land her an ideal husband!

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

176 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1987

About the author

Loretta Lynda Chekani was born in 1949, of Albanian ancestry. For her, the trouble started when she learned to write in first grade. Before then, she had been making up her own stories but now she knew how to write them down to share. In her teenage years, she continue to write letters, keep a journal, write poetry and even attempt the Great American Novel (still unfinished). She attended New England public schools, before she went off to college and earned an English degree from Clark University.

After graduation, she worked a variety of jobs at Clark including a part-time teaching post. She was also moonlighting as a video scriptwriter. It was there that she met a video producer who inspired her to write novels and marry him. Under her married name, Loretta Chase, has been publishing historical romance novels since 1987. Her books have won many awards, including the Romance Writers of America RITA.

Reviews

[Heidi (reading to avoid current events) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

A lovely Regency romance (I’d say old fashioned as it lacked the spice accompanying most books in this category today) featuring an independent spinster of 26 with a slightly tarnished Mama, two handsome suitors, scheming Aunts, long lost loves, and a picture-perfect ending!

[Lauren · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointing! I could care less about the MC. The only interesting character is the villian. Maybe his book will be better 🤞

Warning: my opinion might be clouded by my love of LC's other books.

[Karishma · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was the first book written by Loretta Chase and it definitely shows. But even through all the confusion and most of the book being attempts at various historical romance tropes, the potential shines through. I'm glad that this was very short otherwise I would have had difficulty finishing it.

Recommended only for fans of Loretta Chase who want to experience her writing journey and how she has matured as an author. It was an enjoyable experience.

Update - 24/05/2020
I don't know what I was thinking last time, this was nothing but pure torture. I have no idea why I put myself through it.

[Kathy * Bookworm Nation · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this was rather enjoyable. It had been on my radar for a long time, after seeing my good friend Deb’s review a few years ago I’d been trying to get my hands on a copy. Last night I saw that Amazon finally had it available in Kindle format. I quickly bought it and got lost in Isabella’s story.

I liked Isabella, Lord Heartleigh and even Isabella’s mother Maria. I liked that Maria put on quite the show, when really she was sharp and knew exactly what was going on around her. I liked her story and in a way her own story would have made a great book. Our villain, Basil, was actually kind of likable. Deep, deep down he has a heart and even further down a conscience. There is a bit of a love-triangle, which I think could have been used a little more.

While I really did enjoy the story, there were a few things that I would have tweaked. One, there are a number of different POV throughout the story. A pet-peeve of mine. Not only are there multiple POV, but they happen sometimes suddenly from one paragraph to the next. Second, while I really did like the side characters and their stories, I wanted more of Isabella and Lord Heartleigh together. When I think back on it, there are very few scenes with them together. They had good chemistry and I liked their story and would have loved more of that. While I do wish there was more page time devoted to them, the lack thereof didn’t really distract from the story.

Overall, an enjoyable story with likable characters. I’ll be looking for more from Loretta Chase and definitely continuing the Trevelyan series.

Content: Clean.

[Jeannine · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved Loretta Chase’s Dressmakers series and decided to circle back to read her backlist. This 1989 debut has some roughness, but the wit and humor that I enjoy so much can be seen here.

What makes this story a little frustrating to read is the number of characters with close names. It’s hard to keep the Belcombs and Bertrams straight. There’s a Harry and a Henry. Even the turtle from a story has the same name a (I think) a member of Whites that has one line.

The publisher also fails to show clean breaks between scenes, so POV switches can sometimes be confusing.

[kris · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm attempting to read ALL THE CHASE, and so, Isabella.

This book suffers for the obvious love affair Chase was developing with Basil. It was as if she started out with a plot idea--heiress Cit is torn between the sensual bad boy and the proper Earl--and then promptly discovered just how much fun she was having with the sensual bad boy.

Half of this book feels like prologue for The English Witch (Basil's novel); nothing about the plot stood out except for Isabella's provoking chuckle and Basil, Basil, Basil.

(I will say that there are glimpses of Chase's skills poking through the mush and it made me very excited to see. That doesn't, however, excuse the lukewarm romance.)

[Lady Wesley · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is Loretta Chase's debut, and for a first book it's pretty good. There are glimmers of the Chase to come, but the plot development is quite confusing, although I suspect that some of my confusion could be blamed on bad Kindle formatting. Scene shifts in mid-chapter, which ordinarily might be marked by extra spacing, a wingding, or a dropped capital, were not marked in any way.

The plot itself was quite good, and I would love to see how today's Loretta Chase would write this book.

[Elodie’s Reading Corner · Rating 4 out of 5]

While I do adored my first two reads by Loretta Chase “Dukes prefer Blondes”, “Duke in Shining Armor”, this one left me with a taste of lacking.
For what I did understood, it was her first published work, maybe why her heroine character missed a spine, for a young woman who says to the vilain of the book she always says what she thinks, she lets false rumors get to her and then takes the worth possible decision.
The hero is far from perfect as he needed time to clearly comprehend and accept his feelings but in all he did nothing as stupid as Isabella did.
The vilain obviously acts like one, but as the author shares his point of view, we see all is not completely black, he has some remorses, and in some way falls too for Isabella.
I was afraid at first when I read in some reviews there was a love triangle, a trope I rather dislike, but in fact there is none as she herself feels unsettle by Basil’s presence when she is thrilled when the Earl is close to her.

« Wasn't it odd that the one who had responded so warmly to her had frightened her, while this one, towering over her, who had insulted her and then dismissed her with cool arrogance, did not intimidate her in the least? »

There are plenty of other protagonists, many with whom we share their thoughts, Isabella but also Edward were lucky to have great interfering and meddling parents, without them they might have faced a different future, a rather sad one.
To conclude, the writing and details were confounding how good they were, I do just prefer my heroines with more a backbone like the ones she gave life in the books I read previously.

[Ilze · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was lucky to purchase this book in the first edition hardcover from eBay (published by Walker and Company). The book has a fly-leaf dedication written by Loretta Chase herself, hoping that the dedicatee likes the book and laughs at least three times - "at the publisher's errors if nothing else"!

Unfortunately I can't recommend the book to anyone except a die-hard Loretta Chase fan. There is far too much plot for a short book like this and parts of the plot are far too contrived to be believable (the subplot about the mother). Some of the secondary characters are extremely annoying (the mother, cousin Veronica and the aunt), made worse by the fact that the annoying characteristics are not only over-emphasized, but they add nothing whatsoever to either the plot or the book, i.e. they - the characteristics - could be dispensed with almost entirely. One or two sentences about them would have got the point across - there was no need to go on about them for multiple pages. There is a serious imbalance between the heroine's encounters with the hero and with the villain - the villain gets a lot more time with her. Besides which, the H/H encounters are always so fraught with misunderstandings and interruptions that it's wonder they get together at all.

I think if the book had been a good deal longer (it's only 167 pages long, set in a large type), with more attention paid to the hero and heroine, better exposition of the plot and less of the annoying characters, it would have been a more satisfactory read.

[ᑭᑌᑎƳᗩ [Punya Reviews...] · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't do a detailed review of this book but I remember it being a light read, without any sex scenes. Something you'd wanna read to pass some good times on a boring afternoon. Earl of Hartleigh's 7 yr old niece, Lucy goes missing, which leads the Earl, Edward to Isabella, our heroine. Isabella isn't a conventional beauty, rather a spinster despite her nice little fortune and so on. There are twists, as Basil, the earl's cousin, makes trouble for them. Also, a twist about Isabella's parentage revealed later in the story. The earl falls for Isabella in all these, so does she and they get married. The next book in the series is about Basil, the 'villainous' cousin.

I wanted some hot scenes along with more in-depth exploration of Isabella and Edward's relationship because both of them were likable IMO. I remember a few funny moments, too. My first book by Loretta Chase. I began liking her writing style and got interested in her other books. 4 stars. :)

[Meg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Originally published in 1987.
I actually don't have a lot of experience reading "traditional regencies" but Isabella, Loretta Chase’s debut novel, absolutely fits my understanding of them. Driven by ballrooms and relationships and social norms rather and specifically closed door, rather than the longer more sweeping [slightly open door] historicals of the era. There's a lightness in tone and a lot of fun to this book, and you can see some sparks of how Loretta grew into her writing as her career has evolved.

Isabella is 26, and a spinster, but only because she's not spent much time in Town. Now that she's on the marriage mart with a hefty dowry, she has two men doggedly pursuing her: Edward Trevelyan, seventh Earl of Hartleigh, and his cousin Basil Trevelyan, a charming scoundrel deep in debt. The cousins try to outmaneuver each other in order to win her hand.

I enjoyed this, even as a love triangle, because there's almost no angst. Isabella is exceedingly proper (until she's not!) and her acceptance of a suit is more about propriety than feelings.

[guiltless pleasures · Rating 2 out of 5]

Yes, yes, I gave a Loretta Chase book two stars. But it was her first book and you can see twinkles here and there of what she will go on to accomplish, so it’s a KIND two stars.

That said, it’s kind of a mess. Far too many characters, far too many POVs, a cardboard cut-out child and a socially awkward hero who brought pretty much nothing to the story.

The high points were the “villain” Basil Trevelyan, who quite frankly needs his own book, and Isabella’s mother, Maria, who pretty much saved this book for me. How can you not like a woman who wafts languidly from one room to the next, dropping bon mots as she goes?

[Keri · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am so thankful that LC went on to write some of my most favorite historical romances. I am also thankful that this isn't the first book I read by her. This was the most convoluted, tangled mess of a story. I gave it that 2nd star just because it was LC. I needed a flow chart in order to keep up with who was who and who did what. It was just a little book, but very tiny print and very busy. I finally got it sorted out, but it took the entire book for me to get it straight. Meanwhile the romance, what there was of it was light...super light, as almost as tiny as the print.

[QNPoohBear · Rating 4 out of 5]

Edward Trevelyan, Earl of Hartleigh faced down the French and nearly died as a spy for Wellington. Nothing has made him more fearful than arriving home to his ward's governess tearfully confessing she has lost Lucy! Hartleigh is terrified he has failed his late friend. He promised he would look after Lucy and now she's lost in the middle of an unfamiliar and dangerous city. How could this have happened? Isabella Latham is in Town to chaperone her younger cousins' first Season. She's a spinster at 26 and was penniless since her father's death but now has a decent fortune. As she's about to leave her dressmaker, she comes across a small child sleeping in the corner. When the little girl awakes, she cries for her Mama, and Isabella's motherly instincts are aroused. Isabella is about to return little Lucy home when Hartleigh finally finds them. Hartleigh is so worried about Lucy, he is quite rude to the woman he assumes is a shopkeeper. He admires the way she handles Lucy and immediately realizes his mistake. He calls to apologize, but as Isabella's Mama points out later, timing is the enemy. His disreputable cousin Basil has already set his sights on Isabella or at least her fortune. Isabella is discommoded by the man with the cat's eyes. She fears being caught in his trap but is also a little bit curious about what it would be like to be with such a man. At least he makes no pretenses about courting her fortune, unlike her other suitors. Lord Hartleigh decides he needs to find a Mama for Lucy. He tries to court the young ladies his aunt has picked out for him but none of them attract his attention as much as Isabella. He enjoys the time spent conversing with her and is attracted to her. Isabella's aunt is annoyed at Hartleigh's attentions to Isabella. He's way too good for Isabella and should marry her empty headed daughter Veronica instead. As Basil becomes increasingly desperate, he spins gossip in such a way that will damage not only Isabella's reputation but ruin the chances of her younger cousins. She's confused about which one to pick for Lord Harleigh doesn't seem to love her any more than his cousin does. Though she loves him, she can not marry him if he does not love her. Finally, old scandals come to light as the two gentlemen try to win Isabella's hand.

This is Loretta Chase's first published book and as such, it's a good one. The plot kept me interested to find out how the HEA would come about. I tried to stop at the halfway point but at the point, something happened and I couldn't put it down. The romance plot could use a bit more courtship but I liked it. There are a lot of misunderstandings and I felt like yelling at Isabella "Just talk to him even though it's not proper!" Isabella's time spent with Hartleigh goes by very quickly and is mostly his thoughts about her. I would have liked more dialogue and interaction showing how compatible they are. I do get a sense of why he loves her but not so much why she loves him. The scandal is predictable and I wondered about it early on. I would think there would be legal hurdles to jump if such a thing happened. It wouldn't be so neat and tidy. I also didn't like the end of Maria's plot. At first I did but then the other person does something that was typical of gentleman at the time but I didn't like it at all.

I liked the characters in this book a lot. I especially liked Isabella's Mama, Maria. She acts like the quiet beta heroes in Georgette Heyer. Isabella is sensible and had a good head for business. She doesn't allow Basil to fool her as to his intentions. She thinks she can control him. Basil is a nasty man. He convinces himself that his lies are the truth and will stop at almost nothing to get money and to thwart his cousin. He's entirely despicable and untrustworthy. However, Basil seems to learn a lesson at the end. Little Lucy is cute. She sounds and acts more like 4 or 5 than 7 though. She's used enough to forward the plot and add some humor but not so much as to be annoying. Hartleigh is an honorable gentleman. As far as the reader knows, he's pretty much a saint. He's a war hero, a devoted friend and trying to be a loving guardian. He's not entirely perfect. He acts like Mr. Darcy at first but he realizes his mistakes some of the time. The characters are driven by lust at times and there is some kissing not on the lips. The door closes on a married couple but the pre-marital kissing is much more intense. This book is far more clean than Loretta Chase's current books. (She is now writing Regency Historicals).

[Estara · Rating 2 out of 5]

This must be a reread though I don't remember it, because I bought those double editions of old Loretta Chase regencies in paperback in the 90s, hmm *checks shelves again* Yup. It obviously didn't leave any real impression with me. Interesting, because some of the combined editions I quite liked and remember.

Production values:
+ NYLA publishers (an agent that publishes books is a publisher in my book) managed to pick a much prettier cover than they had for the first release of Lord of Scoundrels
+ generally paragraphs and indentation and punctuation are fine

- no major paragraph breaks when the scene shifts somewhere else, you need a minute to realise you are now looking at other characters
- obviously no one copy-edited the scanned content too carefully - while there are only one or two real spelling mistakes, there are lots of wrong words in the wrong place "His Grace the Countess of Hartleigh", "Mend" instead of man(?), Mart instead of Matt, etc.

In this book you will see very early signs of Chase's gift for humorous situations and turns of phrase, and of captivating characters like Maria Latham, or Hartleigh's & Trevelyan's aunt, or Harry Latham - I could see Basil as sort of a predecessor of Ismal of The Lion's Daughter, respectively Captives of the Night (where he is utterly delicious). Actually he's probably more realistic, but therefore shabby/shady.

I liked what I could see of Lucy, but she's really only a plot moppet here - when Chase thinks to use her she's delightful and her own persona, but the author forgets about her for long stretches of time, especially at the end.

I think a book about Harry Deverell and Maria Latham would have been fascinating.

Summing up: only read this if you are a completist of her oeuvre.

[D.W. Nichols · Rating 3 out of 5]

Loretta Chase es una de mis autoras preferidas y, así y todo, este libro me ha defraudado mucho. Sería correcto para cualquier otra autora, pero siendo suyo, no parece escrito por ella. No hay picardía, ni situaciones absurdas, ni diálogos ingeniosos. Le doy un tres porque es una novela correcta, como ya he dicho, pero muy por debajo de su nivel normal.

[Astra Astrid · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just to be clear, I absolutely adore this book; so much so, that I'm not sure how many times I've read it. But the rating is for the quality, and it's not exactly a masterpiece. Which means that, while I love it, I do recognize it's the faults.

As I usually do, here, I checked out other people's opinions. I particularly like looking at negative reviews because I feel they tell you a lot more about the book than do positive ones.

So, what were people saying? Too much plot for the length; villain gets more screen time than does the hero; too many unlikeable characters; too much repetition in naming those characters' flaws; heroine lacks backbone.

I agree with all of these except the last. Isabella had tons of backbone. Right at the beginning, she stood up to a big, scary nobleman. She doesn't back down until her family is threatened. That's not lacking a backbone.

She does question her own attractiveness, but that makes complete sense, given her background. And Basil uses that weakness against her exceedingly well. The only excuse I can find for her mother not taking better care of Isabella, especially not protecting her from the aunt, is that perhaps she's been depressed all this time. But I'm not sure.

Bottom line: it's got weaknesses. Many weaknesses. But I love it anyway. Probably because Chase has talent. I'd love to see her tackle this again, with her current knowledge and ability, but that's extremely unlikely to happen.

[Gail · Rating 4 out of 5]

Is this book perfect? Maybe not. Was it just exactly what I needed? YES. Isabella is an heiress of modest standing and disposition over whom two cousins battle, enchanted as they are by her quiet intelligence. Yes, the plot took a fairly predictable course. Yes, the characters lacked depth. Yes, the tone of the storytelling abruptly changed. No, there weren't any steamy scenes. And yet, I loved it. Go figure. It probably has something to do with zingers like the following that seem to both epitomize and wittingly skewer the genre: "Now it is very true that Lord Hartleigh had unusually high notions of duty and a powerful sense of honour and right. But at the moment, having already sent Propriety to the Devil, he was exceedingly loath to recall it."

[Vero · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable and clean historical <p> </p>
<p>With a nice and interesting heroine. The hero remained a bit stereotypical, but the story was sweet enough to carry him through.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>What I liked most: There were no cheap shots - the way the blackmail plot was resolved was well done. I was afraid when this started to show on the horizon that the reader (me) would be treated to a lot of useless whining and crying while the solution is glaring into everybody's face.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I liked Isabella's mother the most - she was a very interesting character. </p>
<p>There a little too many characters. It was confusing in the beginning as to who belonged into which family and how...</p>
<p> </p>
<p>And the biggest No-No: Basil.</p>
<p>[spoiler]</p>
<p>I guess he is the hero in one of the sequels and that is why everybody puts up with him. I didn't see much reason why everyone found excuses for him. </p>
<p>He tried to force a young woman into marrying him so that he could use her fortune to pay his debts and then live of her money. This is so low, I don't know why anyone would want to have further contact with him. I may accept it from his doting aunt, but Isabella, his intended victim? And even worse, her uncle?</p>
<p>[/spoiler]</p>
<p> </p>

[Alison · Rating 3 out of 5]

Loretta Chase is in my top three list of favorite historical romance writers, but this earlier work was not my favorite although it did show just how deft she is at creating interesting characters.

At times there was almost a farcical edge to the dialogue and character descriptions which made this book very fun and entertaining. One of my favorite characters was Isabella’s mother, Maria Latham. She reminded me of an old, lazy, cat (but she is only one of those things). I found the end to be extremely fun and a bit cheeky.

Where this story fell short was in some aspects of the execution. There were jolting changes in the POV between paragraphs and a meandering cadence to some of the inner monologues and exposition. We also get very little in the way of character development and actual moments where Isabella and Edward are together in the same space.

All in all, it was fun to go back and see some of Chase’s earlier writing and compare it to her more current books. This book is a testament to how much she has grown as an author and reminds me of how much I love her talent for storytelling.

[Tiffany · Rating 4 out of 5]

Deborah thanks again for another great book. This was a fun book. I was glad to read about a first kiss done right. This book had an amazing first kiss! I am always amazed to read books and when the first kiss happens the person starts discussing other things. Why? Why if you are suppose to be interested in this person would your mind start drifting to other things. If that is the case then you obviously aren't that interested in the person in the first place. Well I am done with my soap box but it was a great book that I thoroughly enjoyed!

[Willow Brook · Rating 3 out of 5]

2 1/2 stars. Published in 1987, this book comes nowhere near the delightful writing, wittiness,and interesting plotting that has made Chase one of my favorite authors. There are glimmers of her wonderful dialogue and glimpses of the quirky, well rounded characters of her later books, but the writing just wasn't honed yet. Add to that, my pet peeve of a major plot point being repeatedly hinted at until the big denouement and then leaving messy ends lying about unresolved. But it was better than just ok and I did want to see how the H/h got their HEA.

[Lucimar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Isabella é uma história singela, que gostei de ler; embora não tenha momentos arrebatadores é uma historia simples em que a personagem se divide entre dois homens. Um que deseja apenas seu dinheiro e o outro que se apaixona por ela, embora no início, eles parecem mais inimigos e por conta da afilhada que ele adotou é quem provoca a aproximação deles. E á assim que aos poucos eles se percebem apaixonados um pelo outro.

[Suzanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loretta Chase's debut novel features a large cast of interesting characters, a jam packed plot, and many moments of fun romantic farce. Although, there is perhaps too much going on for such a short novel, it was still very enjoyable! The hero and heroine are engaging, and their challenging path to romance is believable and satisfying. Plus, Basil, the diabolical but roguish villain, is well set up here for his own book, 'The English Witch', the second book in this Trevelyan Duet.

[Vikki Vaught · Rating 5 out of 5]

My Musings

What a delightfully witty read! This is one of Loretta Chase's early books, and I am so glad I found it. Isabella is an enchanting character and an easy heroine to fall in love with. Edward is all that is honorable and true. His gentle care of his ward pulled at my heart strings.
If you enjoy a well-written traditional regency, then you will love Isabella. Happy reading!

[Natalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun fast read. My friend Deb reviewed it very nicely. I've enjoyed this author's books before, and I look forward to trying more of her books in the future.

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you don't care for subtle humor or prosaic speach, you might have trouble appreciating this story. If you enjoy clean romance, self discovery, and on dit... You will enjoy this.

[Marianne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quite enjoyable. I believe this was one of Loretta Chase's first books, and it is a great debut. The heroine was great, the secondary characters interesting and the villain was well developed.

[Jennifer · Rating 2 out of 5]

Potentially offensive items: adult situations, bigamy, alcohol, blackmail, lying

This book was frustrating. Isabella, on the shelf, arrives in London with her mother to chaperone her two cousins for their first year. She stumbles across an orphan who belongs to Edward, Earl of Hartleigh, she finds him more interesting than a woman on the shelf should. When his cousin, Basil, a broke rake bound for debtors' prison appears and is willing to do whatever he must to win her money through marriage, Edward must fight to provide his ward with a mama.

The frustration came because Isabella knew Basil only wanted her money. She should have shook him off, but at some point she went from, I'll just go back home and live a spinster to it's better to be married for money than single. She wasn't really attracted to him, so her actions toward Basil made no sense within the nature of the story. That she would listen to or believe a word that Basil said was disgusting, and I lost all respect for her.

[Aida · Rating 2 out of 5]

Empieza fuerte, pero conforme avanza pierde fuelle, la intensidad de la historia se vuelve hasta un punto casi tedioso, llega a aburrir, incluso. Para resolverse en un chasquido apresurado. En cuanto a la narración y la gramática, decir que es algo rebuscada y hay algunos fallos, supongo que al traducir, que no han pasado la debida revisión.
Volviendo a la historia, en algunos momentos se escapa del hilo principal para acabar en callejones sin salida, sin relevancia. Rellenando huecos que bien podrían haber servido para una mejor vuelta de tuerca al final.
Si bien no ha sido terrible y hasta lo he disfrutado a veces, el final hace que lo que no estaba bien del todo al principio, esté mal a si término.