A House Party

by Fenella J. Miller

When Lady Dalrymple, Penelope Coombs great-aunt, accepts an invitation to Lord Weston's prestigious house party, Penny is most displeased. She was slighted by the Earl of Rushford during her season and has no wish to repeat the experience. Lord Weston, who secretly works for the British government, is searching for the traitor who is smuggling gold to France. He suspects the villain is masquerading as a pilot with a traveling air balloon party, so Edward invites the balloonists to his home in order to investigate his suspicions. Penny is almost abducted on her ride over to Upton Court and this is only the beginning of a series of ever more alarming events. James Weston, Edward's cousin is always there to offer her support and comfort. Will the handsome Frenchman, Count Everex, evade capture or will he succeed in his nefarious plans?

215 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 31, 2008

About the author

Fenella Jane Miller was born in the Isle of Man. Her father was a Yorkshire man and her mother the daughter of a Rajah. She has worked as a nanny, cleaner, field worker, hotelier, chef, secondary and primary teacher and is now a full time writer.

She has over twenty five Regency romantic adventures published plus one Jane Austen re-telling and one YA romantic fantasy.

see also Fenella-Jane Miller

Reviews

[Virginia Tican · Rating 4 out of 5]

The last story in The Regency Series Box Set 1. More than a year ago, Lord Weston used Penelope as his cover in his mission for the Crown. Now, he was again ordered to utilize their past attraction for one another to catch a dangerous smuggler. Unfortunately, once~bitten~twice~shy Penny wont play; hence, Weston's house party. Lord Weston has become distracted facing a conundrum. His acknowledged feelings for Penny, a nameless enemy trying to harm her and his quarry. As in the first 2 books of this set, I take issue on Weston's alpha male see~saw character that always causes the contention between the 2 lovers. Other than this, it is still a Good read.

[Julia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book

[Reading Fanatic · Rating 4 out of 5]

***4 1/2 Stars***

I've read this book twice. Not sure why I never reviewed it after I read it the first time but, as the saying goes, better late than never! The book is nicely written, with an interesting plot that incorporates both romance and intrigue, and characters that are quite well drawn.

The story is set in Regency England during the time of the Napoleon war. Ned Weston, Earl of Rushford, secretly works for the English government. He and Penelope meet one season, when Ned is involved in a clandestine investigation for the War Office. In order to divert suspicion from his activities relating to his investigation, Ned pretended an interest in setting up his nursery. To that end, Ned singled Penelope out from the dozens of eager young debutantes, to escort to numerous soirees and balls, which resulted in raising not only Penelope's expectation of an offer of marriage, but also society's in general. When the two parted with no offer of marriage forthcoming, Penelope was devastated.

The story begins one year later. Penelope is determined to become a lady of business. Ned is given another assignment by the War Office, and is instructed that as part of his "cover" he is to reacquaint himself with Penelope. The idea is for him to use their connection to once again divert suspicion from his activities. Ned's last experience with Penelope had left a bad taste in his mouth, thus he is reluctant to once more use Penelope in such a manner. Nonetheless, he is given no choice in the matter.

In the meantime, Penelope's Aunt Lucy is determined to play matchmaker and concocts her own ruse to get Penelope and Ned within the same vicinity. Once that is accomplished, Ned extends an invitation for his house-party to the ladies, which Aunt Lucy accepts with alacrity, much to Penelope's dismay. From there the story quickly progresses to its conclusion, complete with HEA.

The plot is chock full of excitement what with betrayal, jealously, greed, murder plots, smugglers, and French spies. The romance between Penelope and Ned is very sweet, and quite intense. There are a number of attempts against Penelope's life, and Ned is fiercely protective of her. Sigh.

Ned is portrayed as a stereotypical quick tempered redhead. I have to admit that when he loses his temper it can get a bit scary, especially when combined with jealousy...it certainly gave Penelope cause for pause. I liked the way the author handled Ned's temper and Penelope's reaction to it in a realistic manner. Overall, Penelope is a bit intimidated by Ned's temper--really, who wouldn't be?--but despite her trepidation, she is no pushover and refuses to let Ned order her about. The two make for quite a combustible combination at times.

I did have a couple of issues with the book, the first being editing errors. There were quite a few--mostly missing words--but, fortunately, it wasn't anything that was too distracting. Another issue, that slightly annoyed me was the use of incorrect forms of address. I don't know why so many authors get this wrong, when the subject is so easily researched...just google it! In any event, Ned's name is Edward Weston, Earl of Rushford, therefore, his correct form of address should be Lord Rushford, NOT Lord Weston. Fortunately, this is a minor issue in this book, as Ned is the only peer of note in the story.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I highly recommend it as a worthwhile read. FYI, this is a clean romance. Happy reading!

[H2bourne · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the fourth novel by this author that I've read and so far it's the one I've enjoyed the most. This seems to have a more developed storyline. There is suspense and intrigue due to the main character not only being an aristocrat but also a government man aka spy. Though I was able to discern early enough who was behind the murder attempts on Penny, the author reveals nothing until late in the plot which made this a somewhat satisfying read. There is good chemistry between the two main characters and any romantic scenes described were not too racy, thank goodness. This is more 3-1/2 stars than 3.

[Jennifer · Rating 2 out of 5]

Conversation was stilted and forced.