What do you think?
Rate this book
Cupboard Kisses
Cristabel Swann accepts a job in a boarding house only to discover that the other female tenants seem unusually popular with men....
Well-bred orphan Cristabel Swann tolerates her thankless teaching job--until her uncle dies unexpectedly. Arriving in London to claim her inheritance, Cristabel encounters something else entirely--a loutish naval captain who won all of the old man's property in an evening's gambling, leaving his niece nothing but debt! To his credit, Captain Chase recognizes her desperation and offers her a position as landlady of a "boarding house" in Kensington.
Cristabel is happy with her new situation and with the female tenants of the house. They are exceedingly well dressed for working-class girls and have many admirers. Cristabel soon has a beau of her own--the dashing Lord Winstoke, who seems just a tad familiar, both in appearance and in attitude. Of course, Cristabel maintains propriety in every situation. But she cannot understand why the men she meets are so forward. Could it be the company she keeps?
Well-bred orphan Cristabel Swann tolerates her thankless teaching job--until her uncle dies unexpectedly. Arriving in London to claim her inheritance, Cristabel encounters something else entirely--a loutish naval captain who won all of the old man's property in an evening's gambling, leaving his niece nothing but debt! To his credit, Captain Chase recognizes her desperation and offers her a position as landlady of a "boarding house" in Kensington.
Cristabel is happy with her new situation and with the female tenants of the house. They are exceedingly well dressed for working-class girls and have many admirers. Cristabel soon has a beau of her own--the dashing Lord Winstoke, who seems just a tad familiar, both in appearance and in attitude. Of course, Cristabel maintains propriety in every situation. But she cannot understand why the men she meets are so forward. Could it be the company she keeps?
215 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published December 1, 1989
16 people are currently reading
138 people want to read
About the author
Barbara Metzger
93 books200 followersBarbara Metzger is the author of over three dozen books and a dozen novellas. She has also been an editor, a proof-reader, a greeting card verse-writer, and an artist. When not painting, writing romances or reading them, she volunteers at the local library, gardens and goes beach-combing and yard-saling.
Her novels, mostly set in Regency-era England, have won numerous awards, including the Romance Writers of America RITA, the National Reader's Choice Award, and the Madcap award for humor in romance writing. In addition, Barbara has won two Career Achievement Awards from Romantic Times Magazine.
Source: http://www.barbarametzger.com/about_b...
Her novels, mostly set in Regency-era England, have won numerous awards, including the Romance Writers of America RITA, the National Reader's Choice Award, and the Madcap award for humor in romance writing. In addition, Barbara has won two Career Achievement Awards from Romantic Times Magazine.
Source: http://www.barbarametzger.com/about_b...
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews
January 13, 2015
Cristabel Swann is a well-bred, but penniless orphan teaching music at Miss Meadows school for young ladies when she receives a letter informing her that her uncle and only remaining relative has died leaving behind an estate. When the black-hearted bitch, I mean, Headmistress says that Cristabel can’t possibly be spared to go to London, she resigns her position, packs up her meager possessions and takes off into the great unknown. Except, when she arrives at her uncle’s town home, she finds a strange man in residence and her life takes a completely different turn than the one she expected.
Smooth-flowing, great plot, well-rounded characters and often funny. I had a wonderful time reading about Cristabel and her new job. The lengths people went to keep her in the dark made for great entertainment. As for the Captain, I liked him very much. I especially enjoyed the way he ran his new house like he was still the Captain of a ship. LOL
This was certainly not a boring book. I can’t wait to read more by Barbara Metzger.
*The publisher provided a copy of this book to me for review. Please see disclaimer page on my blog.
Smooth-flowing, great plot, well-rounded characters and often funny. I had a wonderful time reading about Cristabel and her new job. The lengths people went to keep her in the dark made for great entertainment. As for the Captain, I liked him very much. I especially enjoyed the way he ran his new house like he was still the Captain of a ship. LOL
This was certainly not a boring book. I can’t wait to read more by Barbara Metzger.
*The publisher provided a copy of this book to me for review. Please see disclaimer page on my blog.
December 10, 2013
There was so much to enjoy about this novel. Such as the first meeting between the hero (Captain Chase/Lord Winstoke) and heroine (Cristobel Swann), although I have to admit I didn't like have his rakish behavior thrown so hard in my face. The two got off on the wrong foot right away, but in such a funny way (including some literal tripping over Cristobel's harp)! But how could things not get off on the wrong foot, given he had "stolen" (won in a card game) her inheritance. I couldn't help but think how differently it would have gone if Chase could have seen her, but I'm glad he didn't. Anyway, despite the less than pleasant meeting, Chase is a good guy. He tries to help Cristobel.
But of course, with Metzger, things don't get better before they get worse. The lodging house Chase gives her is actually a bordello, a fact which Chase didn't know and that the residents and current managers of do their best to hide from her. And then when Cristobel does find out, things get even worse for her--I won't say how, for it will spoil things. But suffice it to say, from beginning of her plight to this point and beyond, Cristobel handles it with strength, so while I sympathized with her, I knew she is a capable woman.
And of course, there is also the romance, which starts off, once again, on the wrong foot--for the two do not recognize each other! Though this time, they have time to interact and to start falling in love.
Overall, the whole novel was great. So great that I read it in two days, and I was left with few regrets. One regret was the aforementioned rakish incident I did not like all that much, but was so brief and minor it is scarcely worth mentioning. Another was Cristobel's former employer (a woman "with a heart so coal-black it could stoke the fires of hell a good long while"). Metzger wrote her so well, I expected and wanted to see more of her, but we never saw her again, except for a few mentions that tapered off throughout the novel. Finally, there was the resolution of a few plot-lines, one being the antagonist's and another being the discovery of who Chase is, that felt a little rushed. But even so, these fit with the overall light, funny tone of the novel, so they are not enough to deprive this work of its fifth star.
Heat Level: mostly sweet. You will see a little heat in the situation (the bordello) but nothing explicit. Also the rakish incident, a few kisses, and pondering of non-marriage sexual relationships.
But of course, with Metzger, things don't get better before they get worse. The lodging house Chase gives her is actually a bordello, a fact which Chase didn't know and that the residents and current managers of do their best to hide from her. And then when Cristobel does find out, things get even worse for her--I won't say how, for it will spoil things. But suffice it to say, from beginning of her plight to this point and beyond, Cristobel handles it with strength, so while I sympathized with her, I knew she is a capable woman.
And of course, there is also the romance, which starts off, once again, on the wrong foot--for the two do not recognize each other! Though this time, they have time to interact and to start falling in love.
Overall, the whole novel was great. So great that I read it in two days, and I was left with few regrets. One regret was the aforementioned rakish incident I did not like all that much, but was so brief and minor it is scarcely worth mentioning. Another was Cristobel's former employer (a woman "with a heart so coal-black it could stoke the fires of hell a good long while"). Metzger wrote her so well, I expected and wanted to see more of her, but we never saw her again, except for a few mentions that tapered off throughout the novel. Finally, there was the resolution of a few plot-lines, one being the antagonist's and another being the discovery of who Chase is, that felt a little rushed. But even so, these fit with the overall light, funny tone of the novel, so they are not enough to deprive this work of its fifth star.
Heat Level: mostly sweet. You will see a little heat in the situation (the bordello) but nothing explicit. Also the rakish incident, a few kisses, and pondering of non-marriage sexual relationships.
April 30, 2020
Cristabel Swann is a gently born lady fallen on hard times after the death of her parents, father a vicar of course and no money to be had to support her. The story opens with Cristabel working as music teacher (piano and harp) in a girls school for the upper classes. Of course, all who work there are treated abysmally, and when Christabel receives legal notice of the death of her only remaining relation, Uncle Charles Swann* , Lord Harwood, she burns her bridges at the school and heads to London hoping to find some pittance or provision to allow her a living without teaching at the school. What she discovers instead is a bankrupt estate, a bellowing partially blind Naval Captain recovering from war wounds residing in the house which he had won at a card game shortly before Lord Harwood stuck his spoon in the wall. After some yelling and chaos, the Captain remembers another property in the Kensington section of London that was included int he settlement of Harwood's debt of honor to the Captain, and after vaguely remembering it was a boarding house, sent our naive but spunky Cristabel off to be the landlady of the boarding house with a loan of 100 pounds to get her started.
Of course, a proper boarding house is not what Cristabel finds, although it takes her some time to tumble to the truth because she's too busy living in fantasy land and being distracted by a handsome ne'er-do-well of a military man seemingly recovering from a war injury - or is he? May misunderstandings and deceptions are at play, and even some mistaken identity issues - sort of - revolving around our Naval Captain. When she does tumble to the truth, the spunky Cristabel with a strong backbone takes charge, chaos ensues, and we start rapidly to a satisfying conclusion and a happily ever after for Cristabel.
Metzger is one of my favorite regency romance writers because there is so much humor built into her stories -- through manyy of the characters, their actions and the pets. And there are plenty of amusing side characters -- Fanny the maid whose enormous extended family seems to have a knack for dying in unusual but hilarious circumstances, Boy who hates bathing and collects strays, and even those strays, like the dog Meadowlark who is anything but as sweet as that name suggests. Metzger is reminiscent of Heyer -- but not as sophisticated. But I find them incredibly funny.
I give this a 3.5 - not the best of Metzger's work and took longer for the really humorous silly nonsense to captivate me, but still an excellent distraction. Total unabashedly entertaining fluff and nonsense.
*Oh the irony! Charles Swann is a significant character in Proust...
Of course, a proper boarding house is not what Cristabel finds, although it takes her some time to tumble to the truth because she's too busy living in fantasy land and being distracted by a handsome ne'er-do-well of a military man seemingly recovering from a war injury - or is he? May misunderstandings and deceptions are at play, and even some mistaken identity issues - sort of - revolving around our Naval Captain. When she does tumble to the truth, the spunky Cristabel with a strong backbone takes charge, chaos ensues, and we start rapidly to a satisfying conclusion and a happily ever after for Cristabel.
Metzger is one of my favorite regency romance writers because there is so much humor built into her stories -- through manyy of the characters, their actions and the pets. And there are plenty of amusing side characters -- Fanny the maid whose enormous extended family seems to have a knack for dying in unusual but hilarious circumstances, Boy who hates bathing and collects strays, and even those strays, like the dog Meadowlark who is anything but as sweet as that name suggests. Metzger is reminiscent of Heyer -- but not as sophisticated. But I find them incredibly funny.
I give this a 3.5 - not the best of Metzger's work and took longer for the really humorous silly nonsense to captivate me, but still an excellent distraction. Total unabashedly entertaining fluff and nonsense.
*Oh the irony! Charles Swann is a significant character in Proust...
November 14, 2018
I would have liked this a lot more if the heroine didn't spend the majority of the book being uppity and unaware. It really picked up when she discovers that the house she was living in was a brothel but before then, it was pretty boring. It didn't help that she was uppity and moralistic, which is just not my cup of tea. I liked that she helped the boarders afterwards though. This was when the book picked up. I liked that she followed through. She continued to teach the boy and girl to read. She let the seamstress stay while she gets her feet on the ground. She advises the mistress to ditch the married man who was full of promises that never come. Before then, she was just wildly unaware that it wasn't a fun story.
The story revolves around Cristabel. She left a secure but a dead end job on the promise of inheritance. Her uncle dies and she gets a letter from a solicitor summoning her. She thinks it is an inheritance but in reality, it was the solicitor hoping a relative would tie up some of her uncle's debts. She is understandably distraught by her situation as she had great expectations. She demands things out of the man who won her uncle's debts. She thought she was getting the house but she wasn't. Her ranting did earn her a property. She inherited an unexpected boarding house. Winstoke was just glad to be rid of her. What they both don't know is it was a brothel.
Prim and proper Cristabel claims the house. The inhabitants keep the nature of it hidden from her.
Cristabel finally wisens up. Once she was told, she kicked everybody out. Some with no place to go to stayed. She cleans the place and she gets proper guests. She finally turns a profit.
Meanwhile, Winstoke fell for her. He thought she was a prostitute as well and propositioned her. She thought he was talking about marriage. When the misunderstanding was cleared, she summarily rejected him. However, he can't get her out of his head. He offers her marriage for real and she accepts.
There is this whole thing about Winstoke not making the connection between the harridan that demanded her uncle's house and the beautiful lady that he kept on meeting. It didn't really make an impact on me because the hero and heroine doesn't interact that much. I feel like he popped in the beginning briefly, disappeared for a long while, and then reappeared out of nowhere.
The story revolves around Cristabel. She left a secure but a dead end job on the promise of inheritance. Her uncle dies and she gets a letter from a solicitor summoning her. She thinks it is an inheritance but in reality, it was the solicitor hoping a relative would tie up some of her uncle's debts. She is understandably distraught by her situation as she had great expectations. She demands things out of the man who won her uncle's debts. She thought she was getting the house but she wasn't. Her ranting did earn her a property. She inherited an unexpected boarding house. Winstoke was just glad to be rid of her. What they both don't know is it was a brothel.
Prim and proper Cristabel claims the house. The inhabitants keep the nature of it hidden from her.
Cristabel finally wisens up. Once she was told, she kicked everybody out. Some with no place to go to stayed. She cleans the place and she gets proper guests. She finally turns a profit.
Meanwhile, Winstoke fell for her. He thought she was a prostitute as well and propositioned her. She thought he was talking about marriage. When the misunderstanding was cleared, she summarily rejected him. However, he can't get her out of his head. He offers her marriage for real and she accepts.
There is this whole thing about Winstoke not making the connection between the harridan that demanded her uncle's house and the beautiful lady that he kept on meeting. It didn't really make an impact on me because the hero and heroine doesn't interact that much. I feel like he popped in the beginning briefly, disappeared for a long while, and then reappeared out of nowhere.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 17, 2020
Not sure about this book, I was not a fan of the hero, the heroine was great and the whole mistaken identity plot got annoying after a while.
The first time she meets him he was in bed with another woman, after a operation on his sight. Not the best of starts. Nevertheless, that wasn’t the issue for me, it’s the way he treats the heroine after winning her inheritance in a card game from her uncle. She gives him a hard time of course which is only responsible, but his answer was to ship her off to get her out of his way because she is penniless and has no family, and he has no choice. Of cause he does not know where he sends her off too, but he doesn’t really care enough to investigate. When he does meet her or sees her for the first time he wants to make her his mistress, and clearly it is something she does not want. Furthermore, he doesn’t do much to help her either with her situation at first, with her new lodgings (her life is threaten by Nick and is being drugged). He just carries on with the facade of his two identities and trying to bed her until nearer the end of book. The ending was bad and I thought she let him off the hook to easily, and I still wasn’t sure about him as a character. I personally thought she could do better. I was not rooting for them as a couple. 😐
I ❤️ her stories this just wasn’t one of my favourites by Barbara.
The first time she meets him he was in bed with another woman, after a operation on his sight. Not the best of starts. Nevertheless, that wasn’t the issue for me, it’s the way he treats the heroine after winning her inheritance in a card game from her uncle. She gives him a hard time of course which is only responsible, but his answer was to ship her off to get her out of his way because she is penniless and has no family, and he has no choice. Of cause he does not know where he sends her off too, but he doesn’t really care enough to investigate. When he does meet her or sees her for the first time he wants to make her his mistress, and clearly it is something she does not want. Furthermore, he doesn’t do much to help her either with her situation at first, with her new lodgings (her life is threaten by Nick and is being drugged). He just carries on with the facade of his two identities and trying to bed her until nearer the end of book. The ending was bad and I thought she let him off the hook to easily, and I still wasn’t sure about him as a character. I personally thought she could do better. I was not rooting for them as a couple. 😐
I ❤️ her stories this just wasn’t one of my favourites by Barbara.
April 22, 2013
This is a classic Barbara Metzger romance. It has everything that I love about her: humor, likable main characters, secondary characters that steal the scenes, and new twists on an oft-used plot. Cristabel is naive, but not stupid and Kenley is definitely cynical, but not so much that he doesn't appreciate good when he sees it. Yes, it was a little far-fetched that Christabel didn't catch onto Mac's racket sooner, but it was fun to watch the occupants of the house go about their daily (and nightly) business all the while trying to keep her in the dark.
My one major issue with this story was the whole Captain Chase/Lord Winstoke thing. I don't think the story needed it to go as far as it did and it was really unnecessary. I just don't understand why he didn't tell her that he was Captain Chase. And while I am usually against people holding grudges for long, I think she really let him off the hook too easily at the end.
I would rate this book a solid four stars. I can see myself reading it again next year and still being entertained by the witty dialogue.
My one major issue with this story was the whole Captain Chase/Lord Winstoke thing. I don't think the story needed it to go as far as it did and it was really unnecessary. I just don't understand why he didn't tell her that he was Captain Chase. And while I am usually against people holding grudges for long, I think she really let him off the hook too easily at the end.
I would rate this book a solid four stars. I can see myself reading it again next year and still being entertained by the witty dialogue.
January 4, 2023
A Cute Madcap Romance
Cristabel Swann is a music teacher at a lowly finishing school for girls in Bath when she receives a letter telling her to come to London regarding the Will of her now deceased uncle, Lord Harwell who has lost all his property to a Captain Chase. The shenanigans that follow Cristabel from the time she quits her job (she is sent by Captain Chase)
to live at a newly discovered property (Rooms for Rent) which looks strangely like a bordello) to the end of this book (she realizes that Lord Winstoke is man of her dreams and she is sure he loves her as much as she loves him, but why doesn't he offer for her) are hilarious. Barbara Metzger is a funny writer. Recommended.
Cristabel Swann is a music teacher at a lowly finishing school for girls in Bath when she receives a letter telling her to come to London regarding the Will of her now deceased uncle, Lord Harwell who has lost all his property to a Captain Chase. The shenanigans that follow Cristabel from the time she quits her job (she is sent by Captain Chase)
to live at a newly discovered property (Rooms for Rent) which looks strangely like a bordello) to the end of this book (she realizes that Lord Winstoke is man of her dreams and she is sure he loves her as much as she loves him, but why doesn't he offer for her) are hilarious. Barbara Metzger is a funny writer. Recommended.
October 11, 2025
This was a bit different. A schoolteacher travels to London to talk about his late uncle's estate with the lawyers. But her uncle has gambled everything away to a captain in danger of losing his eyesight. She considers him a libertine but he gives her the deed to a house. She thinks it's a boarding house. But...
It was a fun romp but the most of it Cristabel is dealing with for herself and the main couple interacts relatively little so I didn't really think he was particularly swoony.
It was a fun romp but the most of it Cristabel is dealing with for herself and the main couple interacts relatively little so I didn't really think he was particularly swoony.
December 18, 2025
The premise was good but the execution poor. The heroine is naive to the point of stupidity & I didn't believe in the romance between Cristabel & Winstoke. There were some amusing moments but they too often wandered into the farcical.
April 16, 2018
Was boring. Couldn’t connect with romance. A lot of regency romp involved.
May 23, 2018
Don't like.
September 28, 2020
A fun story of misunderstandings and mistaken identities. Nicely done.
November 7, 2022
Audible
Not my favorite Metzger but still a unique and interesting story.
Not my favorite Metzger but still a unique and interesting story.
December 1, 2022
This has been my least favorite book by Barbara Metzger. The whole mistaken identity plot seemed implausible; it seemed to drag on before a resolution in 6 pages.
December 23, 2022
Horrible story .
March 6, 2023
3.5
Light on the romance and a disproportionate amount of the book is spent on the heroine being a naïf.
Light on the romance and a disproportionate amount of the book is spent on the heroine being a naïf.
May 30, 2023
kissing, cupboard or otherwise, is close to nonexistent. skippp it.
April 13, 2024
This book had me chuckling throughout with all the misunderstanding. Fun read.
April 25, 2018
A really sweet story of mistaken identities with a twist.
January 13, 2015
This book was quintessential Metzger, but I enjoyed it even more than usual because the harp features prominently; my sister plays the harp as does the main character Cristabel. Unlike during the Regency when every milk-and-water miss played the harp, today anyone who plays it is looked upon as angelic--which gets old fast, I can tell you! Listeners never fail to gasp how "angelic" the music sounds--and by extension, how angelic the performer must be. (As if!) I couldn't help recall all the other Metzger stories in which the harp is poked fun at, in which plucking strings at dreaded musicales is de rigeur for Regency misses.
We learn early on that Cristabel teaches harp (and piano) at her school in Bath, but she quits soon after, hauling her harp with her. I know from experience how unwieldy the thing is because I had to help cart my sister's to and from high school. So I got a kick out of lowlife Nick having to haul it up the stairs to the 4th-floor attic, her having to hire a special coach because regular coach drivers refused to take it, her schlepping it in and out of inns so it isn't subject to the weather, hauling it to the meeting with the solicitor, then to the "boarding house" on Sullivan Street. A harp is as improbable in a bordello as is naive Cristabel. And when she finally gets a chance to practice in her attic garret, neighbors complain. Too rich for words.
But back to the beginning...
When heroine Cristabel arrives in London, she is still wearing her schoolmarmy dress and is bedraggled from the rain. She is no insipid miss, however! She has "pluck" (ha) and berates the Naval captain/viscount the minute she meets him. He has a bandage over his eye and bumps into the harp, then trips over her valise. She may be a naif--the only person to not realize she lives in a bordello--but she has principles and won't accept the captain's gift of money. Indeed, the back-and-forth exchange of letters with the 100 pounds is pretty comical in itself.
Metzger's classic canine isn't missing in this story, either; in fact, there are several, each with its own distinct personality. She names the flatulent house dog after her previous employer, and the burglary scene, where the pipsqueak defends its larger cherie amour by clamping its jaws around Nick's ankle is laugh-out-loud funny.
The only disappointment was the disappearance of the captain's friend after his introduction at the beginning of the book. Did he feature in a previous book that I missed, or does he return in another tale?
The story is tied up with a bow when the curmudgeonly captain can, post-eye surgery, now "see" that Cristabel is a lady, and a beautiful one at that. Great story!
We learn early on that Cristabel teaches harp (and piano) at her school in Bath, but she quits soon after, hauling her harp with her. I know from experience how unwieldy the thing is because I had to help cart my sister's to and from high school. So I got a kick out of lowlife Nick having to haul it up the stairs to the 4th-floor attic, her having to hire a special coach because regular coach drivers refused to take it, her schlepping it in and out of inns so it isn't subject to the weather, hauling it to the meeting with the solicitor, then to the "boarding house" on Sullivan Street. A harp is as improbable in a bordello as is naive Cristabel. And when she finally gets a chance to practice in her attic garret, neighbors complain. Too rich for words.
But back to the beginning...
When heroine Cristabel arrives in London, she is still wearing her schoolmarmy dress and is bedraggled from the rain. She is no insipid miss, however! She has "pluck" (ha) and berates the Naval captain/viscount the minute she meets him. He has a bandage over his eye and bumps into the harp, then trips over her valise. She may be a naif--the only person to not realize she lives in a bordello--but she has principles and won't accept the captain's gift of money. Indeed, the back-and-forth exchange of letters with the 100 pounds is pretty comical in itself.
Metzger's classic canine isn't missing in this story, either; in fact, there are several, each with its own distinct personality. She names the flatulent house dog after her previous employer, and the burglary scene, where the pipsqueak defends its larger cherie amour by clamping its jaws around Nick's ankle is laugh-out-loud funny.
The only disappointment was the disappearance of the captain's friend after his introduction at the beginning of the book. Did he feature in a previous book that I missed, or does he return in another tale?
The story is tied up with a bow when the curmudgeonly captain can, post-eye surgery, now "see" that Cristabel is a lady, and a beautiful one at that. Great story!
June 14, 2019
Cristabel is teaching at an all-girls school when her uncle dies. Only after she crosses her dragon headmistress to find out what she has inherited, does Cristabel find that her uncle lost all of his possessions just before his death. In a real pickle, Cristabel approaches the winner of her uncle's goods, one Captain Chase.
Captain Chase is recovering from war wounds and has had surgery. He is blindfolded during their exchange. Chase decides to give Cristabel a boarding house so that she can earn a living. Neither Chase nor Cristabel understands that the boarding house is a brothel.
When Chase meets Cristabel later, he is now called Viscount Winstroke. He thinks that Cristabel is a prostitute because of the company she keeps (with the ladies of the brothel). He wants her for his mistress.
Cristabel seemed a bit too naive for much too long to have carried the story as long as it lasted.
Captain Chase is recovering from war wounds and has had surgery. He is blindfolded during their exchange. Chase decides to give Cristabel a boarding house so that she can earn a living. Neither Chase nor Cristabel understands that the boarding house is a brothel.
When Chase meets Cristabel later, he is now called Viscount Winstroke. He thinks that Cristabel is a prostitute because of the company she keeps (with the ladies of the brothel). He wants her for his mistress.
Cristabel seemed a bit too naive for much too long to have carried the story as long as it lasted.
June 4, 2012
I love these little novels by Barbara Metzgar. They are light, quick reads, almost like watching a movie. Kenley Chase has just inherited an estate and title. He has also just won the property of Cristabel Swann's uncle. At the uncle's death, Cristable, a music teacher at a school for young ladies, goes to London to claim her inheritance only to discover it no longer is hers. Chase sets her up as the landlady of a house in Kensington, neither one of them realizing that it is a high priced brothel. The usual mix ups and misunderstanding ensue, with the longed for resolution.
July 29, 2014
Christabel is a rector's daughter; a former schoolteacher; and now the deed-holder of what turns out to be a brothel on Kensington Street. Chase / Winstroke is a new viscount; former Navy Captain; and now strangely into the new prostitute on Kensington Street...OH WAIT.
There were nonsense sentences, smidgens of You've Got Mail, and a Danny DeVito cameo--all in all, an entertaining romp.
There were nonsense sentences, smidgens of You've Got Mail, and a Danny DeVito cameo--all in all, an entertaining romp.
January 13, 2022
On re-reading this, and comparing it to everything I've read in the meantime, I've decided to upgrade it to 4 stars. Even though it doesn't have the "extra" that I normally look for in a 4-star book, it's just well written, and enjoyable. It doesn't have any of the common writing errors that abound, and the characters all act reasonably in context - even the villains. This is what I have come to expect from this author, and I appreciate it.
April 18, 2016
2.5 stars
Meh. It’s a regency romance, but the writing is below average, with lots of telling instead of showing, and the heroine’s naivety is almost unbelievable. The book is also very uneven. Some scenes are lovely, while others could use a lot of polishing or a complete re-write. I’m not inspired to read more of this writer.
Meh. It’s a regency romance, but the writing is below average, with lots of telling instead of showing, and the heroine’s naivety is almost unbelievable. The book is also very uneven. Some scenes are lovely, while others could use a lot of polishing or a complete re-write. I’m not inspired to read more of this writer.
April 14, 2009
Quite a lot of this book is spent on side characters that are never fleshed out, and Christabel's transformation, the romance aspect is never as full as I would like. There's the mistaken identity aspect on both sides, but I never saw or cared about either falling in love with either.
August 30, 2016
romance without romance. It was fun, certainly, but the crucial chunk of wooing and romancing is left out. We are told they've met a few times and suddenly the captain is developing Respectable Intention.. what the hell?
April 27, 2020
4/5
Nice mistaken/hidden identity romantic comedy. Not a ton of contact between the MCs until the last 25% or so, but it was still cute.
Content Warning: there is on page suicide by a secondary character, but it's brief and happens on the very last page of the first chapter.
Nice mistaken/hidden identity romantic comedy. Not a ton of contact between the MCs until the last 25% or so, but it was still cute.
Content Warning: there is on page suicide by a secondary character, but it's brief and happens on the very last page of the first chapter.
September 25, 2009
Regency
May 10, 2014
Delightful!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews