The Education of Lady Frances

by Evelyn Richardson

THE MASTERFUL MARQUESS

Lord Julian Mainwaring, Marquess of Camberly, was the very opposite of Lady Frances Cresswell's ideal. Mainwaring was the dazzling star of a London society that Frances scorned. He treated females as sensual playthings, while Frances believed women should be informed and independent.

Frances had no wish to have anything to do with this arrogant lord. But when he ordered his niece and Frances's friend, Kitty, to London for the Season, Frances had to come along to protect the young innocent from his influence. There was no one, though, to protect Frances, as she learned how strong love's power was, and how frail her defenses.

Genres: Romance, Regency, Historical Romance, Regency Romance

238 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published September 30, 2010

About the author

Even before studying eighteenth-century literature in graduate school, Evelyn Richardson decided she would prefer to have lived between 1775 and 1830. Now living in Boston, she enjoys access to the primary sources that allow her to explore the specific details of the period and immerse herself in the same journals that her heroines enjoyed.

Reviews

[Nightwitch · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interestingly old-school regency (i.e. clean) romance. The writing was strong, the research was thorough, the pacing was extremely slow, and the "other woman" plot had the interesting side effect of making me more curious about her than the heroine. In this era, I suspect she would be the heroine. The usual flaws of an old-school regency, and at the very end the heroine is kidnapped by gypsies for basically no reason whatsoever (I refuse to spoiler-tag it because it happens in like the last three pages and is totally irrelevant to absolutely everything), so avoid if that kind of thing upsets you.

[Catsalive · Rating 2 out of 5]

A pleasant enough tale, if a tad dull. Frances Cresswell may be a very nice woman but, given her age & responsibilities, she is presented as too naive & really rather boring. Julian Mainwaring is a man of the world, well-travelled & closely involved in the politics of the time, but even he became tedious. I suppose, if he's going to settle down on his acres, Frances will be just the wife for him.

I do not believe that Vanessa Welford would have insulted Frances in that way, especially not in front of Julian, nor can I see the point of Snythe or the gypsies.

I see that this is the author's debut; a nice start, if unremarkable.

[QNPoohBear · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lady Frances Cresswell has been in charge of the estates since their father's death two years earlier and her younger siblings since their mother's death 10 years ago. Frances is smart and strong-willed and easily able to cope with estate matters and the rambunctious twins. She has even devised her own educational system to make learning fun. When her younger friend Kitty Mainwaring is summoned to London for the Season by her uncle, Frances offers to join the nervous Kitty in London for the Season, despite unpleasant memories of her own first Season. When Frances first meets Kitty's uncle, Lord Julian Mainwaring, The Marquess of Camberly, they argue over estate matters and he instantly labels her a bluestocking and a prude. Subsequent meetings between Frances and Julian prove Frances to be intelligent but not overbearing and Julian is surprised to discover that he enjoys the company of Frances and the younger children very much. Julian and Frances provide each other with the intellectually stimulating conversation they both crave and soon Julian finds that the time he spends with Frances is far more agreeable than spending time with his mistress. However, the romance moves slowly and may never evolve into more than friendship so those closest to the pair intervene to give Frances confidence in herself and Julian a little push!

Frances is an unusual heroine and one I could strongly identify with. I quite agree with her opinion of the ton and her unorthodox teaching methods would have made school a lot easier. I loved all the little period details which were woven into the plot. I usually don't like children in my Regency novels but Cassie and Freddie are amusing as are their animal companions. However, there were a few things I didn't like about this novel, namely Julian is a bit of a boring hero. We are told a lot of what he does but never get much of the action. The story is told from an omniscient point of view, so we know what everyone is thinking, even the pets, which is a little jarring at times. There are a few grammatical errors in some of the sentences which are a little confusing. Overall, this is a good read, especially if you love novels set during the Season and historical details. Skip this one if all you want is romance.

[Nenya · Rating 1 out of 5]

The 'intelligent' conversations were boring. The plot with the OW (Vanessa Welford) was very tedious. It's quite standard fare for romance novels, but not one that I'm fond of.