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True Lady
Trudie Barten, bored by her restricted life in London with her brother gone to Newmarket, offered Latin tutoring to his friends. Misunderstanding her intent, the arrogant Lord Luten accused her of being a lightskirt determined to capture his wealthy, naïve young nephew. So Trudie and her aunt joined her brother for the Newmarket horse training, and Luten followed, but there was more villainy afoot.
224 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published December 12, 1985
25 people are currently reading
47 people want to read
About the author
Joan Smith
360 books155 followersJoan Smith is a graduate of Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, and the Ontario College of Education. She has taught French and English in high school and English in college. When she began writing, her interest in Jane Austen and Lord Byron led to her first choice of genre, the Regency, which she especially liked for its wit and humor.
Her favorite travel destination is England, where she researches her books. Her hobbies are gardening, painting, sculpture and reading. She is married and has three children. A prolific writer, she is currently working on Regencies and various mysteries at her home in Georgetown, Ontario.
She is also known as Jennie Gallant
Her favorite travel destination is England, where she researches her books. Her hobbies are gardening, painting, sculpture and reading. She is married and has three children. A prolific writer, she is currently working on Regencies and various mysteries at her home in Georgetown, Ontario.
She is also known as Jennie Gallant
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
May 24, 2013
I had been eagerly awaiting this book in the mail and read it as soon as I got it. I admit I'm a very specific regency reader...rather than lamenting the same recycled plots, I seek out all my favourite ingredients a book - each time hoping to being wowed into discovering a new favourite.
I LOVE books based on initial misunderstandings or wrong impressions (HELLO Pride & Prejudice!) and a bickering couple (the more high-handedness and outrageousness the better) so this, this had potential. It had a plot pulled directly from Faro's Daughter which is by far my favourite Heyer book. The heroine Trudie (23yrs old) stays with her aunt and is mistakenly presumed to be living the life of a lightskirt and establishing a 'premises' when in reality she was tutoring a bunch of young men in latin. Meet student and nephew Peter who comes for lessons then gets slightly enamored with Trudie. Cue entrance of uncle Luten (30yrs old), bounding in at the mother's request to force the wench to release her talens. Instead of taking grave offense at his insults and insinuations - including offering her the opportunity to become HIS mistress and forcefully kissing her, she vows revenge and uses his threats against him. She figures if he was going to steal his nephew's mistress, he better set her up in style. Oh the horse and carriage he buys her! The game of one-upmanship. Hilarious. The whole revenge scheme I'd say is better than Faro's.
They eventually leave London for Newmarket where her brother trains a filly he hopes to enter into a famous race. Against this new backdrop, here ends Faro's daughter contribution and Wickham straight out of Pride & Prejudice joins the party in the form of O'Kelly. Trail of debts? check. Sweet talker? check. Devishly handsome? check. Turns heroine a little bit smitten and against the hero? check. Up until this point the book was a solid 5 stars...I was ready to be in raptures.
The climax however, is when it all falls apart. Let's just say heroine goes behind hero's back and plays a part in getting Peter conned by O'Kelly. In the meantime she's being idiotically indiscreet with O'Kelly (not physical but conversational). She later gets a major scolding from Luten about the idiotic leading the idiotic in which instead of actually learning a lesson she digs in her heels and stubbornly gets angry at him. She then decides to try and get back the money from O'Kelly who has obviously done a runner. She goes behind Luten's back AGAIN and goes chasing the scoundrel with her docile and useless younger brother WEAPONLESS and BACK-UP PLANLESS. Seriously are you kidding me?!? *Cue book meet wall thoughts*
In the regency world there's hare-brained scheming stupid, airhead stupid and this example of plain bloody stupid. So Hero saves heroine and the story ends before I had finished my string of mutterings. For me it was a very unsatisfying ending as I was so exasperated at her behaviour. Perhaps a part can be contributed to the fact that her living situation caused her to be a social recluse (not willingly but because of a lack of London connections) and sadly lacking in street smarts.
It's a great shame because this book could have been a classic and the first half is bloody fantastic. Character-wise Luten is a noble hero who is less overbearing but more temperamental than the typical hero. London based Trudie was a hoot, Newmarket based Trudie must have gone a little mad with all the horse stench.
It's not Joan's greatest but nor her worst. True Lady is a sprightly and fun read and my opinion of the climax is only my opinion so you may see otherwise!
I LOVE books based on initial misunderstandings or wrong impressions (HELLO Pride & Prejudice!) and a bickering couple (the more high-handedness and outrageousness the better) so this, this had potential. It had a plot pulled directly from Faro's Daughter which is by far my favourite Heyer book. The heroine Trudie (23yrs old) stays with her aunt and is mistakenly presumed to be living the life of a lightskirt and establishing a 'premises' when in reality she was tutoring a bunch of young men in latin. Meet student and nephew Peter who comes for lessons then gets slightly enamored with Trudie. Cue entrance of uncle Luten (30yrs old), bounding in at the mother's request to force the wench to release her talens. Instead of taking grave offense at his insults and insinuations - including offering her the opportunity to become HIS mistress and forcefully kissing her, she vows revenge and uses his threats against him. She figures if he was going to steal his nephew's mistress, he better set her up in style. Oh the horse and carriage he buys her! The game of one-upmanship. Hilarious. The whole revenge scheme I'd say is better than Faro's.
They eventually leave London for Newmarket where her brother trains a filly he hopes to enter into a famous race. Against this new backdrop, here ends Faro's daughter contribution and Wickham straight out of Pride & Prejudice joins the party in the form of O'Kelly. Trail of debts? check. Sweet talker? check. Devishly handsome? check. Turns heroine a little bit smitten and against the hero? check. Up until this point the book was a solid 5 stars...I was ready to be in raptures.
The climax however, is when it all falls apart. Let's just say heroine goes behind hero's back and plays a part in getting Peter conned by O'Kelly. In the meantime she's being idiotically indiscreet with O'Kelly (not physical but conversational). She later gets a major scolding from Luten about the idiotic leading the idiotic in which instead of actually learning a lesson she digs in her heels and stubbornly gets angry at him. She then decides to try and get back the money from O'Kelly who has obviously done a runner. She goes behind Luten's back AGAIN and goes chasing the scoundrel with her docile and useless younger brother WEAPONLESS and BACK-UP PLANLESS. Seriously are you kidding me?!? *Cue book meet wall thoughts*
In the regency world there's hare-brained scheming stupid, airhead stupid and this example of plain bloody stupid. So Hero saves heroine and the story ends before I had finished my string of mutterings. For me it was a very unsatisfying ending as I was so exasperated at her behaviour. Perhaps a part can be contributed to the fact that her living situation caused her to be a social recluse (not willingly but because of a lack of London connections) and sadly lacking in street smarts.
It's a great shame because this book could have been a classic and the first half is bloody fantastic. Character-wise Luten is a noble hero who is less overbearing but more temperamental than the typical hero. London based Trudie was a hoot, Newmarket based Trudie must have gone a little mad with all the horse stench.
It's not Joan's greatest but nor her worst. True Lady is a sprightly and fun read and my opinion of the climax is only my opinion so you may see otherwise!
April 18, 2021
It's Joan Smith. She's my bias. What can I say? The worst Joan Smith is 3 stars and even then it's better than most of the stuff out there. While not her best I enjoyed it. It's light and fluffy and great for when you're reading something stressful and need a break.
November 9, 2021
Not one of my favorite Joan Smith books. No young lady of that time period would be without a chaperone that much.
September 26, 2025
If you desire an excellent entertaining read...
Such a marvelous romp... If you like to smile and even laugh out loud while you read this is the book for you. The heroine is plucky, inventive, and quite loveable. The hero is an arrogant lord who knows what he deserves. In other words quite toplofty , with a growing soft spot for our heroine. Then they take this show on the road or as they in the book on the turf. Too cute and very entertaining.
Such a marvelous romp... If you like to smile and even laugh out loud while you read this is the book for you. The heroine is plucky, inventive, and quite loveable. The hero is an arrogant lord who knows what he deserves. In other words quite toplofty , with a growing soft spot for our heroine. Then they take this show on the road or as they in the book on the turf. Too cute and very entertaining.
September 8, 2019
Cosa leggere quando si è costretti per lavoro a tradurre e cercare di capire pagine e pagine di antichi commentari greci? Ma Joan Smith, naturalmente, sperando che ti distragga a sufficienza.
Questa volta la brava Joan non mi ha deluso: con i suoi assurdi qui pro quo ha riempito i miei momenti liberi, divertendomi quasi come l'imbattibile Georgette Heyer, e lasciandomi la mente fresca e riposata.
Questa volta la brava Joan non mi ha deluso: con i suoi assurdi qui pro quo ha riempito i miei momenti liberi, divertendomi quasi come l'imbattibile Georgette Heyer, e lasciandomi la mente fresca e riposata.
February 10, 2025
3.5 stars
I was all at to give this 5 stars up until about 2/3 of the way through. It seemed just as good as a Georgette heyer book. But then the hero and heroine did too much fighting and didn't treat each other kindly. And some things got stressful and a little cheesy. So u moved it down to 3.5 stars.
I was all at to give this 5 stars up until about 2/3 of the way through. It seemed just as good as a Georgette heyer book. But then the hero and heroine did too much fighting and didn't treat each other kindly. And some things got stressful and a little cheesy. So u moved it down to 3.5 stars.
July 31, 2024
imperious aristocrat meets spirited latin tutor. The attractive villain is a shifty horse trader, who makes horses swallow eels and drink beer. symbolism of intractible filly and difficult stallion.
March 31, 2022
Why is it that her heroines, no matter how smart and intelligent they were half the book, always manage to do something awefully out of character? Haha...
February 10, 2018
Trudie's innocent actions gets her into some funny situations. What is truly great about this story is she doesn't bite her tongue and goes toe to toe with any man.
July 5, 2016
It was a traditional regency with a typical cast of characters. The heroine seemed to be smart initially when she managed to make a fool of the hero who thinks she is out to trap his innocent nephew. Then they all land up in Newmarket for the races and go through a series of misadventures before finishing a happy ending. It was kind of humorous but seemed a bit silly too.
April 3, 2016
A classic Joan Smith.
Is the true lady the lady or the horse? Lord Luten is sure it's not the lady. His nephew is taking "Latin lessons" from her, and he suspects the worst. His plan of course is either to buy her off or seduce her away from the lad. What could possibly go wrong?
Is the true lady the lady or the horse? Lord Luten is sure it's not the lady. His nephew is taking "Latin lessons" from her, and he suspects the worst. His plan of course is either to buy her off or seduce her away from the lad. What could possibly go wrong?
March 19, 2013
I know what i can expect of this kind of books, so it didn´t let me down. It was light hearted and sweet.
January 31, 2016
Another very average romance by Joan Smith. A young woman teaches Latin to a young fellow whose relative decides to save him from her.
Want to read
May 16, 2013finally as an ebook.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews