Lady Tara

by Leonora Blythe

The slender young highwayman who held up Lord Raven's coach was shocked to discover he had made a terrible mistake. He turned and fled, but not before Lord Raven had put a bullet in his shoulder. It was then Raven's turn to be shocked. For the wounded highwayman turned out to be a beautiful young woman, the kind of woman the rakish Raven had been seeking all his life-Lady Tara. It was some time before Lady Tara could tell Raven the truth about this frightening masquerade. But when she did, she plunged them both into a dangerous mission that was to change their lives....

Genres: Regency, Romance, Historical Romance, Historical

Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1978

About the author

Leonora Burton was born in South Wales. After school in England, she got a job in London in the film industry in Soho. This led to New York and a job with Warner Brothers which owned a failing magazine,Coronet for which she became publisher .Under the pen name,Leonora Blythe she published a number of Regency romances. Her latest book, Lament of an Expat, written under her real name, Leonora Burton, chronicles her adventures in the U.K. and America. She lives with her husband in the Hudson Valley.

Reviews

[A Voracious Reader (a.k.a. Carol) · Rating 4 out of 5]

*Book source ~ Many thanks to Untreed Reads for providing a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

When Lord Raven’s coach is held up by highwaymen he is surprised that they were looking for a specific coach and he just happens to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. But it’s the same case for the highwaymen when Lord Raven calmly shoots one of the men in the shoulder. But he’s even more surprised when he finds out the man is really a woman. Now his curiosity and his need to unravel the mystery have been thoroughly aroused as well as certain other parts of him, like his heart, which he thought was long gone. But Lady Tara is proving to be stingy with the facts and it’s up to Raven to figure it out and keep her safe.

This is a delightful historical romance with awesome characters, a slightly twisty plot, spies and humor. The POV changes are a bit wonky though, sometimes coming in the same paragraph, so I couldn’t rate it a 5 biter, but it is a thoroughly enjoyable read despite that. I’m definitely going to be looking up more stories by Leonora Blythe.

[Lynne Tull · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had to keep in mind that this book was published more than thirty years ago. It was not a complicated story, but contained all the basics: intrigue, a handsome hero, a feisty beautiful heroine, a villain and a happy ending. What more could you want? It reminded my somewhat of a Georgette Heyer novel although the author does not have her reputation and following. Indeed, I could find only six novels that she has published. I probably will not read any of the other five. There are too many books in my TBR pile and so little time.

[Melody G · Rating 2 out of 5]

This started out to be sort of a fun book to read but as it advanced, the dialogue and characters became less....interesting? Less something.... I'm not even sure of the word I want here. I was honestly shocked at the short burst of activity that was worthy of the typical bodice-ripper. Three quarters through the book, it's very tame, very Cinderella-story-like, which is pretty much why I read Regencies, and suddenly Wham!!! Our hero visits his mistress, suddenly jumps her bones, calls her by another girl's name, realizes he's broken the mistresses heart, and in the next paragraph he's whistling on his way home, thinking about his true love. I lost my respect for him right then and there. Especially after the author making such a big deal about him having his heart broken when he was younger, sobbing his eyes out with his head buried in his sister's lap. The part about our heroine pretending she is a boy, sitting but inches away from a Duchess, and flirting with her was absolutely ridiculous. We were given to understand that Lady Tara is exquisitely beautiful so why wouldn't the Duchess realize she's talking to another woman, albeit a young one....
I haven't finished the book yet and after the mistress episode I'm really not interested in finishing it. She really lost me there.

[Tara · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read this a part of a name origin project and sad to say there wasn't enough Lady Tara in Lady Tara! I enjoyed her drag, her revenge, and her general disdain for marriage. I wished her character filled up the pages more!