A Lady of Rare Quality

by Anne Ashley

They've never seen Viscount Greythorpe listen so intently when a lady speaks. To have caught the eye of this esteemed gentleman, Miss Annis Milbank must be a lady of rare quality indeed! With a wry smile tugging at the corner of his lips, the aloof, distinguished Viscount Greythorpe is confident that she will be his...

Genres: Historical, Regency, Historical Romance

297 pages, Paperback

Published November 1, 2006

About the author

Anne Ashley was born in Leicester, England, UK, where she was educated. She lived for a long time in Scotland, but she now lives in the West Country, England, with her husband, two sons and two cats. She writes historical romances for Mills & Boon since 1997.

Reviews

[Anna Cann · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my all time favourite regency romances. Some Anne Ashley books are ruined by a single scene (usually involving the hero's mistress) but this book has no disappointing moments. Balanced, romantic and entertaining, this is both a gentle and unforgettable story. Some readers seem to prefer regency romances written in a modern manner, but this story is written in a regency style which to me evokes the age and the world much better.

[Claire S · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's hard to describe the plot for this book because some events that happen in the beginning seem important, but they end up only being the catalyst to the main characters getting together and then only mentioned again in passing. But it's so convoluted that you'd think there would be a simpler way to make it happen. So, basically, Annis' godmother asks her help to talk to the Viscount about his half sister's visit. The half sister seems to be falling in love with a fortune hunter and the godmother is trying to prevent it. There are a lot more details than that, and you think that the half sister will eventually make an appearance, but it never happens. Upon her arrival at the Viscount's estate, she finds an injured man (who happens to be the Viscount), and she's eventually welcomed into his household. There's a bit of mystery over who tried to hurt him, but it's more about how Annis becomes essential to his household and helps the family.

This book has my favorite type of heroine: older, smart, and sensible. The problem with it is that she is almost perfect. She can tend to the wounded (her father was a physician), she can read people's character and make deductions like Sherlock Holmes (also from her dad), she can play cards extremely well and knows all the tricks on how to cheat (from her grandfather), and she can set the best stitches (not sure where that one came from). Even though she's not beautiful, she's very attractive and has received several offers. Everyone loves her: the young and the old, the rich and the poor, and animals (the only ones who don't like her are villains, of course). She was very interesting at first, being so outspoken and confident, but it got really tiresome halfway through.

The hero was a very nice guy. He comes off standoffish at first, but he changes very quickly. He's obviously enamored of the heroine (and bonus points for not being rakish), but even that became tiresome. He's always thinking about how virtuous she is and how she's changed his household for the better that you're just waiting for a conflict to change things up a bit. The villain is pretty obvious and the mystery ends up not being that interesting. I ended up more interested in the Viscount's sister's story. She's a spinster in her late 20's (I think) who had to take care of her cruel father for the last few years of his life. She's reserved and prefers a quiet life. Not much happens to her in the book, but I could absolutely see her having her own story. Perhaps finding a worthy occupation related to charity and, eventually, finding a worthy man who loves her for who she is. In any case, this is just a reflection on wanting a heroine a bit more flawed (likeable doesn't have to mean perfect).

All in all, it wasn't a terrible story, but I won't be re-reading it. This is clean - kisses only.

[Vale730 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Premetto che generalmente non leggo harmony, non sono proprio nelle mie corde. Dovendone scegliere uno per la InkBooks Challenge mi sono rivolta al sottogenere storico sperando, in questo modo, di evitare ridicole descrizioni di sesso ad ogni capitolo. Sono stata fortunata. Certo, il romanzo, dal mio punto di vista ha innumerevoli difetti: i personaggi sono tagliati con l’accetta (o buoni o cattivi); i buoni sono tutti affascinanti e bellissimi qualunque cosa indossino e in qualsiasi momento della giornata vengano descritti, anche appena alzati… La trama è prevedibilissima, si capisce il finale già alla quinta pagina… Però è stata un’esperienza comunque gradevole, mi sono divertita e, nel libro c’è anche un piccolo mistero da risolvere che accresce il senso di aspettativa del lettore. Tutto sommato promosso!

[Laur Laur · Rating 4 out of 5]

If I'm ever stranded on a deserted island, I hope it's with Annis, the heroine.

[Usagi Tsukino · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ahahahah, I've never read a book as ridiculous as this, or maybe I have but this book clearly overcomes the others. I was in a "facepalm" mode for half of the book, for the other half I was in a "shake head" mode. =__= In one word: awful.

[Cat · Rating 1 out of 5]

I only read half-way through. Some part is ok, but most of it are not very interesting. I keep falling sleep while reading it.

[Sabrina (Soter) Sally · Rating 3 out of 5]

La guardò negli occhi e gli fu impossibile non sorridere. «E non posso fare altro che pensare che ora la mia vita è perfetta, visto che la dividerò con te.»

[Monique · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was really cute!
Would recommend!