Lady a lord

Mistress #1

by Betina Krahn

Pomstiť sa je sladké, aj keď úlohy protagonistov sa môžu paradoxne vymeniť.

Lady Antónia Paxtonová je veľkorysou ochrankyňou osamelých vdov. Do ich bezútešného života vnáša novú nádej. Podnikavá lady Toni totiž vymyslela rafinovanú metódu, ako dostať svoje chránenky opäť pod čepiec a zabezpečiť im tak dôstojný život. Úplne opačný postoj k jej počínaniu majú však jej obete - bohatí londýnski džentlmeni, ktorí si chcú s peknými vdovami len vyhodiť z kopýtka a nemienia si komplikovať život manželstvom.

Nástrojom ich pomsty sa má stať zaprisahaný starý mládenec Remington Carr, ktorý je povestný svojimi radikálnymi názormi na postavenie žien v manželstve a ich práva na vzdelanie a prácu.Dokáže Remington dva týždne vykonávať bežné ženské práce v domácnosti? A zvládne Antónia pracovné povinnosti, ktoré boli koncom XIX. storočia výlučne doménou mužov? Kto vyhrá ich stávku?

Genres: Romance, Historical Romance, Historical, Victorian, Historical Fiction, Regency, Fiction

420 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

Krahn, born Betina Maynard, is the second daughter of Dors Maynard and Regina Triplett. Krahn learned to read at the age of four, and began making up her own stories when she was only six. In fifth grade she won a silver "Noble Order of Bookworms" pin for her achievements in reading, and the following year she began writing down her stories.

Krane was graduated from high school in Newark, Ohio and received a B.S. in Education (Biological Sciences) at Ohio State University. After college, Krahn taught science in Newark, and studied for a graduate degree at Ohio State in the summers. It was during those summers that she met her future husband, physics graduate student Donald Krahn.

The family moved to Oklahoma, where Krahn finished the work for her Masters of Education in Counseling in 1973. In 1974, she gave birth to her first child, Nathan, with the second son Zebulun arriving in 1978. With two young children, Krahn became a stay-at-home mother for a time, also finding time to volunteer on a community board working to get funding for mental health care in part of Western Oklahoma. Once the funding was secured, Krahn worked as an HR director for a mental health center.

Reviews

[Regan Walker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Victorian Romance At Its Best!

Betina Krahn is a favorite author of mine with her detailed, well-crafted stories. And this is one of my favorite Victorian romances.

Set in London in 1882, a beautiful young widow, Lady Antonia Paxton, occupies her time by saving widows and trapping gentlemen into marrying them by using their own perfidy against them. When a bachelor seeks to take a young widow's virtue--albeit a woman he's ostensibly been courting--Antonia follows them and, interrupting, forces the man to do the gentlemanly thing and marry the girl.

With 13 marriages to her credit, the men of White's club in London become concerned. They decide they must see “The Dragon Lady of Matrimonia” brought down, and what better man to do it than Remington Carr, Lord Landon? A confirmed bachelor, handsome as the devil, who advocates the vote for women and sending "surplus women" off to work to earn their keep, he is definitely against marriage. Antonia, on the other hand, believes marriage is a noble state and the salvation of many a widow.

Antonia offers Remington a wager...two weeks of women's work to change his mind about a woman's place. And if his mind isn't changed, she will do two weeks of a man's work. He accepts the wager, thinking to seduce her, but Antonia has her own plans.

Krahn had me laughing out loud when Remington put on a corset (after all, how could he do work as a woman does without having to bear the restrictive garment?). You will be amazed at the history contained in this seemingly light romance. It isn't really light at all. It's a meaningful tale of what widows suffered in Victorian times, when they were raised to be wives and mothers but were left bereft with no way to earn income.

Remington is an intelligent rake you will come to love and Antonia is a woman we would all want to know...a woman with a kind heart and a good mind who crafts devious plans to prove the damn men wrong. Even Queen Victoria supports her. Remington and Antonia are well matched and in an ironic twist will end up advocating each other's positions. The story is detailed, historically accurate and charming. I highly recommend it.

[HR-ML · Rating 3 out of 5]

England 1882. This story started off strong but the last few
chapters tied up the issues too perfectly

Remington, an earl, & widowed Lady Antonia ("Toni") had
opposing views on the roles of men & women. Remy scorned
marriage & wanted all men and women to be self-sufficient.
Toni helped 13 widows, by trapping ea. man getting amorous
w/ a particular widow. (This trope didn't thrill me). She later
regreted her actions. 6 trapped husbands wanted the H to
seduce/ compromise the h, & for her to be discovered.

Outside Parliament the MCs met for the 1st time. She was
clueless as to his ID, but familiar with his anti-marriage
stance from magazines. A young MP informed her of the
man's identity.

Later H & Toni bet that he would do "an average woman's
work" x2 wks, and if need be, she'd do the same for men's
work. The objective: each to change the other's POV. Fitch,
a 'scandal sheet' writer learned of the wager & followed
the activities of these 2. He contributed many headlines &
stories concerning this couple. He hung outside the home
of each MC and should have been arrested for trespassing.

Toni had 12 elderly ladies who lived with her including Aunt
Hermione, widowed 4x. They lived like family & these ladies
added wit and wisdom.

This had great dialogue and bantering. But at times the story
felt too long. The H & h reflected on their views and actions
& each slowly changed for the better.

[daemyra, the realm's delight · Rating 1 out of 5]

Sad to report this one didn't do it for me.

The Last Bachelor is a well-written and researched Victorian romance. It even has moments of delightful comedy in the bovine husbands who initially start the wheels of this plot in motion by petitioning Remington to slay the so-called Dragon, Antonia "Toni" Paxton, by seducing her so that she gets a taste of her own medicine and get caught in an awkward situation. Toni has earned a reputation after forcing about 11 men to marry the widows they were most likely not planning to marry after a nighttime visit.

It was hard for me to get involved in the story because I was frustrated by the sexual politics. Remington is a misogynist who is a suffragist. This is a nice, ironic touch. He advocates for women in the workplace because he doesn't want men to shoulder the burden of providing for women. Toni is completely against women in the workplace but believes men need to simply suck it up for hearth and home.

Remington and Toni decide on a wager - Remington will do women's work for 2 weeks and see if he has a change of heart. This is where the research of the story shines. Oh and also in Rupert Finch, the reporter of the tabloids. One of the most delightful moments is when Rupert sees Remington in a corset taking out the trash. Remington learns about what middle-class/poor gentry women actually do and it requires strength and wits to clean or to barter for food that is not adulterated. Toni similarly gets a lesson in men's work and how men's work and women's work are the same, and perhaps marriage isn't the best security offered to women...

I think I just wanted one scene - just one - where Toni called Remington on his bullshit. I wanted someone - the narrator? - to explain why Toni believes in hearth and home so much, or at least caveat that by saying marriage is not perfect but in a patriarchal society where women's worth is tied to the men in their life then that is why Toni believes in marriage over the workplace - better an evil you know than an evil you don't. I guess that would be terribly anachronistic but I would be ok with that. I suppose that is also the double irony too, the switched positions of both hero and heroine: the misogynist who believes in women working (because he does not want to provide for them) and the independent widow who believes marriage is the safety net for women.

This is a fun read but it wasn't a page-turner for me.

[Niranjana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sometimes even a predicatable storyline can be enjoyed if the book is executed as impressively as Betina Krahn managed The Last Bachelor. The main characters: Remington Carr and Mrs. Antonia Paxton (the widow), were well developed and realistic. Although I personally did not favour either of them, they were well written and ideal in their characters.

The book was a rather long read and I found myself getting bored in the middle and especially the parts where Remington or Antonia were keeping up their ends of the wager and performing "women's work" or "men's work". I really didn't need to know the mundane functionings of an English home back in the 1800s or whenever it was that this novel was set. There were moments when I felt Betina Krahn managed to sound too much like a debator for women's rights or some such-like. Those were the tedious parts to read as well. Moreover, I really expected much, but I felt the book lacked sorely on more romance, and for one that is so long it is highly inexcusable.

[Carol Storm · Rating 5 out of 5]

The ultimate Victorian romance -- warm, funny, exuberant. And the love scenes are plush, luxurious, and oh-so-discreetly sensual!

[Margaret Foxe · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is great classic romance, and my favorite by this author. The historical detail of this work is really well-done. You actually learn a thing or two about the early suffrage movement in Victorian England, and all of the different social obstacles and conventions women had to circumvent in order to gain civil rights. But it doesn't turn into a history lesson, either. The romance is charming, and the hero, who starts out a bit of a misogynist, really redeems himself by the end. If you want a well written Victorian battle of the sexes, I recommend this one.

And what a great title!

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

As usual, Mz. Krahns books have so much more depth than the romantic story. All the back and forth learning and teaching of the 2 main characters was interesting, and it gave a lot of the general perspectives of men and women of the day; the situations and opinions regarding the roles of women in marriage and society, and the attempts to break free of societal norms.

[Krista · Rating 3 out of 5]

Every now and again I feel a bit nostalgic and reach for a historical romance. This one sounded uniquely entertaining. The wager made by the match-making widow and the marriage-opposed bachelor hinted at the possibility of humorous situations gone awry as well as plenty of opportunity for lust to turn to love. I was not disappointed. The nobleman being coerced into a corset and an apron was quite funny. What I did not expect was the widow's many companions. I expected young women but found Antonia's roommates were instead elderly ladies whose husbands had left them in rather dire straights upon their deaths. This cast of characters added a certain sentimental sweetness to help counter the headstrong tendencies of their gracious hostess and the man she had challenged to endure a couple weeks worth of "women's work".

The challenge would have been enough by itself to get our heroine and hero in the same space where physical attraction would have overcome propriety. However, society loves a great scandal and the spectacle of a nobleman in a corset and apron cannot be ignored. Soon the wager becomes a public affair that even the Queen could not completely avoid and royal scrutiny bears its own costs.

Entertaining and well thought-out as this was, I must admit I found myself struggling to stay engaged. I blame this not on the book, but on how much my reading tastes have evolved over the years. It gets harder and harder to lose myself in historical romances.

[Corrine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would give this one 4.25 stars. The first half is amazing, but it falters when Remington tries to hold Antonia to her side of the wager, and never really recovers. Although, once again, this is a glimpse at a fascinating period in history and how social progressiveness rose up against a tide of morality. I’m still confused why this series is called “Mistress” though.

[🐝 Shaz 🐝 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good read, Loved both Antonia and Remington. warm and funny, also shed a tear in parts. Lots of other characters involved,
Victorian battle of the sexes.

[Jackie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Written in 1994 but set in the 1880s, Krahn's story is a classic battle of the sexes tale: widow Lady Antonia Paxton, who helps widows trick men into marrying them, meets Remington Carr, Earl of Landon, who advocates for women's rights because he feels men are oppressed by having to support women through marriage. The two enter into a bet: Landon will do "women's work" for a fortnight to see if his opinion of the uselessness of women changes; if it doesn't, Antonia will do "men's work" for two weeks.

Krahn's novel is more of an intellectual than an emotional exploration of the "Woman Question"; we learn many, many details about housework and business practices of the period. And with its generic roots in comedy more than romance, it gives us a happily ever after for all, simultaneously promulgating heteronormativity and marriage as the one and only path to fulfillment and happiness. A book that I can admire while still resisting its stifling ideology.

[BookAddict ✒ La Crimson Femme · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay, this one I did find amusing and remember it. Antonia's focus on getting a woman married off is the worst idea I've ever seen. I do realize many people do this all over the world, but I still disagree with it. In this story, I'm thrilled that Antonia receives her comeuppance. She's kind of annoying to me and I wish she was humiliated a bit more. Remington was not too much better off, but at least he tried. The "wager" was amusing but after a while, I was bored with it. The end is a happily ever after since it is a romance.

[Maura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Historical England 1890's I enjoyed the theme of man vs. women in a classic battle of wills. Loved the setting and various character's that populated the story. Each person learned a lot about themselves and the other sex. This story was funny, romantic and thoughtful. I'm glad I read it.

[Nessa · Rating 5 out of 5]

ONE OF THE GREATEST HISTORICAL ROMANCES I HAVE EVERY READ! KRAHN'S WRITING ENCOMPASSES AND TRANSCENDS BEYOND THE NORMAL STORIES YOU HAVE READ, YET AT THE SAME TIME ADDRESSING ISSUES THAT HAVE BEEN THERE SINCE THE EARLY 80s. THIS WAS A WHOLESOME STORY, THAT STARTED OFF WITH A MAN AND A WOMAN, WHO LOGGED HEADS BECAUSE OF DIFFERING OPINIONS, YET IT WILL SERVE TO BRING THEM TOGETHER.

OUR HERO is a man who was simply dragged into the the mess that the Matrimony Dragon has wrought, and he's an Earl of Landon who owns a departmental store. I am guessing that the periodic of this story is set in the late 80s-early 90s where the aristocracy are leaning towards the industrial era. It's not that Remington loathes women, he even respects and treats them quite well except Lady Antonia has thrown down a gauntlet he cannot resist, and she symbolises a challenge and perhaps a bit of a threat to the male popularity. During their public set-down, she throws out a wager that he gives her two weeks of his time, and do 'Women's Work'. If he loses, he will have to agree that women should not be overlooked or overstepped by men, just because they are the supposed weaker sex, and should be ignored by their husbands etc etc. It's the same issue that the females of 2017 still face, the gender inequality issue, except it was WAY worse during Antonia's time. Remington has never experienced love, and that is part of the reason he never understood the foundations of a good marriage. He loathes marriage itself because he believes it to be a trap for men, where they are shackled with wives, to feed, clothe, and spend money on them, to hear their incessant whinings etc etc. His views are manipulated by his dead father's bad behaviour, and having left him two mistresses to financially pamper over, it doesn't make him see women in good light. That's mostly because those women are LOOSE women, who just can't think with their brains even if their lives depended on it. You can say that he is biased based on his personal traumatic experiences, so when he meets Antonia and the brood of old widows in her home, his well guarded heart and iciness starts chipping away and thawing from their warmth and genuineness. It was absolutely fun and delicious to watch them banter about, the sexual tension between them was just simmering below and the moment they combust, it was just a sweet treat for us readers. Halfway through the story, it's obvious dear Remy has fallen for Antonia, and it hits him like a ton of bricks because she was an enigma. He didn't even see it coming. One minute he's dressed in woman's corset, dusting, cleaning and cooking, and then he's looking forward to every second of catching a glimpse of the beautiful, infuriating woman and basking in her wittiness. What you can't find fault with him at all, is his determination, and he's quite an honorable man who prides on adhering to his own principles, yet he's not rigid not to bend his rules once in a while, even being open to accepting different opinions. He's a terrific hero!

OUR HEROINE married at age 17 to a man old enough to be her grandfather, and it saved her penniless situation and from being thrown to the perverted clutches of her uncles' drinking friends. Like Remy, she has been moulded by the men in her life, her perspective about them shaped by how she has been treated, even by her own dead husband. Antonia has always believed that all woman should have a home to call her own, and driven by that blind-sided belief, she forces men into marriage traps she set with the women. What she doesn't know is that she only thinks she's doing the women a justice, yet she condemns them to a loveless marriage and it only daunts on her when she meets Remington. I think their wager was a brilliant idea. Because both parties were so biased against the other gender, believing terrible things about them, it gave Antonia and Remy a chance to learn about the opposite sex, and the harsh realities that their gender role faces. I have always loved it when the hero and heroine banters at first sight, because it gives them the opportunity to learn more about the other, eventually discovering that the person they disliked, is actually the one they need in their life. Antonia is a passionate woman by nature, and having a frigid dead husband who believes a lord's wife should not be passionate, she was forced to curb her nature, thus explaining the 20 buttons or more on her dresses. Antonia's actually a young widow who got married too early to an old man who didn't deserve her, didn't cherish her as a woman should, so I am extremely happy that she meets Remington, a man's real man.

OVERALL I adored this story word for word. The romance was very real, and the plot deals with real life situations of the past, carried forward to the future. Gender inequality will always be an addressed issue, and who is right or wrong? That's a very subjective point. But, this romance between the characters is all that matters, the way they eventually set aside their differences and learn to just love each other. I fell in love with this author at once after this story, can't wait to read more from her!

[Mary23nm · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good read with some tender 5 star moments.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved it! I certainly didn't want it to end, but I couldn't put the book down: I didn't want to sleep, or do anything else besides reading the next oaragraph, page, chapter. Toni and Remington's story was horribly wonderful! I loved how they changed each other's minds about the opposite sex and marriage. Simply wonderful. I don't remember where I found the book, or how it caught my attention, but I am so glad that I / it did. I discovered a new author, so I will be hunting down more of her books. Thank you for such an enjoyable page turner!

[Lisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't care for the attitudes, which was the point I guess. The idea was good, though predictable. There were some redeeming moments, and it did improve toward the last quarter of the book. I usually really enjoy Ms Krahn's books, but this one just didn't do it for me. I will try another of her books, though as I do like her writing and humor.

[marie fricchione · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Last Bachelor is brilliant!

This story of Antonia and Remington is the most romantic story ever. I loved this book so much that I read it 3 times! It was thrilling to find out how the two stubborn lovers finally find true love in each other’s arms! Antonia’s ladies are fun and informative and add to the delightful story.
Bettina Krahn is a masterful romantic storyteller!

[Antoinette · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent genre romance. Very good use of "feminist" women's work and men's work -- the battle of the sexes. Good chemistry between the hero and heroine. The set-up has the right balance of fun and silly. The old ladies are a bit sappy, but that's a minor element.

[Joan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book, lots of depth and dimension in each of the characters.
Little twists and turns keep you very engaged.
Tells about a lady showing a lord just how much a lady has to do and know and vise versa.
Lots of funny moments to enjoy.

[Maggie Hesseling · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm sure there are faults to this novel, but I've actually read it a couple times and the charm of it always has me completely immersed. I also have a point where I always want to have a little cry. A book that does that deserves t stars from me. No matter it's issues.

[Alexis · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars, I still struggle with deciding how I feel about this book it felt slow and boring at some parts but then really enjoyed it at others. The chapters were ridiculous long and it did bother me. I just don't know if I'll ever reread it. It was just alright.

[Miriamgreen · Rating 4 out of 5]

long winding road, 500 pp
but definitely worth the read, women's issues, an unusual courtship among a house full of elderly widows, masterful hero, stubborn match toe to toe heroine
worthy read

[Cath · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[EuroHackie · Rating 1 out of 5]

I made it 460 pages in and I just had to give up. It was beyond verging on the point of ridiculousness - it had tipped over into a full-blown soap opera, and not in a good way.

The first half of the book was delightful. Antonia and Remington are on opposite sides of the marriage question: Antonia sees it as the last bastion of protection for women, whereas Remington sees it as a trap. They make their "woman's wager," where Remington promised to do a fortnight of women's work and if he changed his mind about women, then Antonia would do a fortnight of men's work.

Remington getting his comeuppance as he learns the real trials and tribulations of an average late Victorian woman was something to relish. HIs goal during this was to seduce Antonia, and he manages to do that, too, though he is no longer out for revenge on the Dragon of Decency. He calls off his side wager, but manages to horribly betray Antonia anyway, and the book just goes downhill from there.

The newspapers have covered the wager in salacious terms, and it gets all the way up to the Queen, who takes a personal interest in their case for some reason. She takes it as a personal affront that Remington doesn't do the honorable thing after compromising a lady - offering marriage - and basically forces him to do it. Antonia won't hear of it, and they end up on the opposite side of where they started: Antonia doing anything to get out of marriage, while Remington declares its the only solution.

He decides that he's going to bend Antonia to her will and forces her to go through with her half of the wager so he can spend time alone with her and seduce her again. I was not buying it this time. She had no trust in him, and he never earned it back - it basically became a battle of wills and she was the one who had to surrender. I didn't care for that at all. There was not enough grovelling for me, and their declarations of love rang false.

The whole media spectacle blows up, threatens to ruin Remington's business interests (what was a peer of the realm doing with business interests, anyway?), and he's arrested on a morals charge, and that's where I gave up because I can only take so much before my eyes permanently roll out of my head. Less than 100 pages to the end, and I just couldn't take it anymore.

Maybe if battle-of-the-sexes or enemies--to-lovers were my kinda tropes, I would've enjoyed this more. The writer is superb (if a bit preachy) and has done thorough research into the question of the institution of marriage. If the book at ended at its first natural ending place, it wouldn't been A++ for me, but instead this whole media sideline got way too much attention and eventually dragged the plot straight off the rails.

[Patrizia · Rating 1 out of 5]

L'autrice dichiara nella postfazione di essersi documentata: ha compulsato giornali dell'epoca, ha verificato dati storici, ha ricostruito addirittura il carattere e il comportamento della regina Vittoria. Ma tutto questo non impedisce che l'intreccio si presenti come un pasticcio infernale, i cui personaggi pensano e agiscono in modo stravagante e contraddittorio, e, per giunta, senza che un lampo d'ironia lasci immaginare, qua e là, che in fondo si tratta di un gioco, di un (lungo, lunghissimo) divertissement.
E mentre, sopraffatta dalla noia, seguo distrattamente la terza o quarta, ripetitiva, scena di letto, non posso non chiedermi come mai proprio le soi-disant scrittrici di 'Victorian Romance' siano così pronte a rinunciare al tratto più sensuale della letteratura inglese dell'ottocento: la negazione e la contemporanea sublimazione del rapporto d'amore, la sua esaltazione 'in absentia'.

[Loretta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent.

First few pages kinda hard to get thru- but after that- it was a solid page-turner.

I have read it more than once, though years apart. In my 30ies, 40ies and now later 50ies- it delivers, AND against a plethora of other romances I've read since- from the simple to the rawest erotica.

It's the type I always look for- think I've found, then cast aside as a great read- but not a keeper.

This one however is- and I'm sure I'll read it again in another 10 years.

I LOVE how she takes you inside the human heart, with all it's hopes, dreams and foibles.
Makes me so grateful to be alive and get to relive falling in love!

[Disha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely a fun read. It was interesting to see how Remington did all the right things but with horrible intentions and Antonia did all the wrong things but with the right intentions, and how they helped each other change that and ironically started supporting the others' view. Still, there were so many parts that were absolutely ridiculous, overdramatic and didn't make any sense so I wouldn't really recommend this.

[KP Pryce · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to give this book a higher rating because the characters were well developed and the storyline was refreshingly different. But this battle of the sexes was far too drawn out, and the reading therefore became tedious. The ending was let down as well.

[Danette · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute story, but a tad longish.