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Persons of Rank

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“Persons of Rank do not fall in love!” declares the Dowager as she sendsher niece Beatrice to London in search of a suitable husband for hergranddaughter Eleanor. Shy Beatrice soon crosses every eligible man off her list, except handsome Justin Serle. Despite her own feelings for Justin, Beatrice is determined to save him for her cousin. Regency Romance by Anna Jacobs writing as Sherry-Anne Jacobs; originally published by Random House Australia

200 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2009

97 people are currently reading
164 people want to read

About the author

Anna Jacobs

232 books512 followers
Anna Jacobs has 87 novels published as of April 2019. She writes historical sagas and modern novels alternately, and in the past has written historical romances and fantasy novels (the latter as Shannah Jay).

She's addicted to story-telling and writes three novels a year. You can find a list of books and series on her website at www.annajacobs.com

Anna reads 3 novels a week. Happy reading, everyone.

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5 stars
368 (48%)
4 stars
197 (26%)
3 stars
135 (17%)
2 stars
36 (4%)
1 star
18 (2%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews
Profile Image for Teresa.
755 reviews214 followers
December 12, 2022
Wanted a light read before I delve into my commitment reads so picked this one up as the cover caught my eye and I do like the author.
I enjoyed it mostly. The first three quarters was very good but I felt like it descended into farce towards the end. I liked Beatrice but I got a bit tired of her 'self sacrifice' and her tears. She was acting ridiculously about Serle and it got a bit wearing.
Eleanor, the feather head, was actually the more sensible and level headed at the end.
Still, an enjoyable read over all.
Profile Image for Cathy Corrella.
79 reviews
March 27, 2021
As a fan of Downton Abbey, I loved this little historical romance. The book had a simple plot with well developed characters who thankfully had happy endings.
Profile Image for Diane.
171 reviews1 follower
March 13, 2021
A nice easy read . Typical historical romance where love is looking like it will be thwarted but all is good in the end. In reality, not too much depth to the characters but easy to immerse in the tale and be rooting for the happy ending.
23 reviews
March 7, 2014
Easy read

I chose a five star rating as I have read a lot of Anna Jacobs books and as usual it is a great read the characters get you in at the start. this is my seventh book in a row by this author.
7 reviews
November 2, 2025
very good, read it in one day, it was reminiscent of a cheesy hallmark movie and I loved it 😀 💕💗
Profile Image for Cheryl Briggs.
229 reviews
May 20, 2025
Slow to start and predictable to end but a light easy read.
Profile Image for McCall Robinson.
4 reviews1 follower
June 13, 2023
Unbelievably boring and poorly written. While the story is not extremely difficult to follow that constant shifting of point of view from character to character is extremely distracting and at times difficult to keep up with who is telling the story. Also the chapters are painfully long.
42 reviews1 follower
July 3, 2020
Very enjoyable

Another brilliant read I'm never disappointed whenever I pick up a book by Anna Jacobs and I look forward to the next one I pick up.
Profile Image for Mara.
184 reviews
September 12, 2022
2022: One of my all time favourite books is by Anna Jacobs, so when I saw this book at my sister’s, I was a bit surprised as this was a completely different era than the other books I had read.
That having said, it was actually a lovely book. I thought Beatrice was a fantastic lead, although at 28 she was a bit green. The romance between her and Justin Serle was great as they grew into like and then love. The secondary love story between Eleanor and Crispin was much easier and quicker and possibly a bit sweeter. Although not more satisfying. The arrival of a nasty person was great, but a little disappointing in its final outcome.
In the end I felt this was an okay book which I wouldn’t mind sticking on my bookshelf, but the writing style felt a bit different from my favourite (Twopenny Rainbow) and was hard to get used to.
6,5 out of 10
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
287 reviews4 followers
February 27, 2020
Beatrice is appalled by her Dowager Aunt when she is ordered to go to London . Her task is to find a suitable husband for her granddaughter . Bea is 28 and very shy . Going to London is a great ordeal for her . Armed with a list of suitable men from her Aunt Bea finds herself crossing off all the names until only one is left . Justin Serle , he is perfect in every way . Unfortunately Bea is falling in love with him herself . Determined not to let her feelings show she flees back home .
In the meantime granddaughter Eleanor is ignoring the fact that she is a Person of Rank and is becoming more than friendly with someone else .
An interesting story with romance and humour throughout .
2 reviews
December 27, 2025
Every year, we celebrate jolbokaflod and this was the book I chose for myself as I'm a fan of Julia Quinn. It was a nice, easy read. However, I noticed some grammatical errors involving double quotation marks that made it seem that this book was not thoroughly edited. I was surprised at how some characters moved so quickly to romance given internal confusion, speculation, and societal expectations of regency times. Definitely seems like this book would be the equivalent of a regency era Hallmark movie. Good thing I like Hallmark movies. 😉
Profile Image for Elisha Bugg.
Author 4 books57 followers
July 31, 2020
I though this was a pleasant book.
It took me a while to get into it as I felt it started a little slow, but I loved Beatrice and Eleanors characters quite quickly.

The story was quite romantic, but lacked any real heat. Still it was one I struggled to put down and wanted to see what happened.

There were a few mistakes here and there, but overall it was a good read that I would recommend it to historical romance fans.
Profile Image for Wendy Green.
223 reviews1 follower
March 4, 2023
Was a very typical regency romantic book - so much of it JA based including a pond with the hero and heroine (much like the BBC's adaptation of P&P) plus the cleric; though this book had the cleric as the evil one (just like Mr Wickham). Jane Austen is the best so I suppose imitation is the best form of flattery but this was such a copy of P&P that you knew exactly what was going to happen.
Profile Image for Sean Harding.
5,807 reviews33 followers
April 16, 2018
Next book in the J challenge is first Anna Jacobs novel and is one of upper crust type people running around after "love" anyway quite uninteresting and foreign and not something readily that I could identify with.
544 reviews2 followers
August 26, 2023
A pleasant enough read although a little predictable. An elderly dowager with a large estate sends her niece Beatrice off to London to do the season and to find husbands for herself and the dowagers granddaughter.
7 reviews1 follower
December 27, 2025
The book was a predictable love story but it was a nice easy read. I read it in a day and a half and very much enjoyed it. Definitely recommend if you want a straightforward romance with limited twists and turns.
Profile Image for Lauren Strange.
22 reviews1 follower
May 12, 2024
Great light read in between heavy books! Fans of downtown abbey will love
Profile Image for Tracey.
3,013 reviews76 followers
August 27, 2025
A sweet regency romance with some damsel in distress moments. I liked the main characters.
86 reviews
July 5, 2025
enjoyed this book but was predictable but good
13 reviews
September 3, 2022
The book was an incredible slow read I found it difficult to get into but the characters were good and parts of the story I found worth reading a chapter of set up
Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews

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