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The Daughters of Mannerling #6
The Homecoming
Lizzie is the sixth and youngest daughter of the late Sir Beverely, the patriarch who gambled away their beloved estate, Mannerling. Each of Lizzie's sisters had been entrusted by their ambitious mother to cast lures for the various owners of their former home. Instead, each one happily married for love. Now it's Lizzie's turn to save Mannerling. Yet the new owner, the Duke of Severnshire, is far too arrogant for Lizzie's heart. And while the duke has no intentions toward the saucy chit, her curt dismissal of him is perplexing--for no woman has ever refused him! Now, as his lavish house party to select a bride becomes a whirlwind of mismatches and scandal, lovely Lizzie is turning the duke's own thoughts away from a suitable marriage--to the wonders of falling in love!
209 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1997
61 people are currently reading
316 people want to read
About the author
Marion Chesney
139 books750 followersMarion Chesney Gibbons
aka: Ann Fairfax, Jennie Tremaine, Helen Crampton, Charlotte Ward, M.C. Beaton, Sarah Chester.
Marion Chesney was born on 1936 in Glasgow, Scotland, UK, and started her first job as a bookseller in charge of the fiction department in John Smith & Sons Ltd. While bookselling, by chance, she got an offer from the Scottish Daily Mail to review variety shows and quickly rose to be their theatre critic. She left Smith’s to join Scottish Field magazine as a secretary in the advertising department, without any shorthand or typing, but quickly got the job of fashion editor instead. She then moved to the Scottish Daily Express where she reported mostly on crime. This was followed by a move to Fleet Street to the Daily Express where she became chief woman reporter. After marrying Harry Scott Gibbons and having a son, Charles, Marion went to the United States where Harry had been offered the job of editor of the Oyster Bay Guardian. When that didn’t work out, they went to Virginia and Marion worked as a waitress in a greasy spoon on the Jefferson Davies in Alexandria while Harry washed the dishes. Both then got jobs on Rupert Murdoch’s new tabloid, The Star, and moved to New York.
Anxious to spend more time at home with her small son, Marion, urged by her husband, started to write historical romances in 1977. After she had written over 100 of them under her maiden name, Marion Chesney, and under the pseudonyms: Ann Fairfax, Jennie Tremaine, Helen Crampton, Charlotte Ward, and Sarah Chester, she getting fed up with 1714 to 1910, she began to write detectives stories in 1985 under the pseudonym of M. C. Beaton. On a trip from the States to Sutherland on holiday, a course at a fishing school inspired the first Constable Hamish Macbeth story. They returned to Britain and bought a croft house and croft in Sutherland where Harry reared a flock of black sheep. But Charles was at school, in London so when he finished and both tired of the long commute to the north of Scotland, they moved to the Cotswolds where Agatha Raisin was created.
aka: Ann Fairfax, Jennie Tremaine, Helen Crampton, Charlotte Ward, M.C. Beaton, Sarah Chester.
Marion Chesney was born on 1936 in Glasgow, Scotland, UK, and started her first job as a bookseller in charge of the fiction department in John Smith & Sons Ltd. While bookselling, by chance, she got an offer from the Scottish Daily Mail to review variety shows and quickly rose to be their theatre critic. She left Smith’s to join Scottish Field magazine as a secretary in the advertising department, without any shorthand or typing, but quickly got the job of fashion editor instead. She then moved to the Scottish Daily Express where she reported mostly on crime. This was followed by a move to Fleet Street to the Daily Express where she became chief woman reporter. After marrying Harry Scott Gibbons and having a son, Charles, Marion went to the United States where Harry had been offered the job of editor of the Oyster Bay Guardian. When that didn’t work out, they went to Virginia and Marion worked as a waitress in a greasy spoon on the Jefferson Davies in Alexandria while Harry washed the dishes. Both then got jobs on Rupert Murdoch’s new tabloid, The Star, and moved to New York.
Anxious to spend more time at home with her small son, Marion, urged by her husband, started to write historical romances in 1977. After she had written over 100 of them under her maiden name, Marion Chesney, and under the pseudonyms: Ann Fairfax, Jennie Tremaine, Helen Crampton, Charlotte Ward, and Sarah Chester, she getting fed up with 1714 to 1910, she began to write detectives stories in 1985 under the pseudonym of M. C. Beaton. On a trip from the States to Sutherland on holiday, a course at a fishing school inspired the first Constable Hamish Macbeth story. They returned to Britain and bought a croft house and croft in Sutherland where Harry reared a flock of black sheep. But Charles was at school, in London so when he finished and both tired of the long commute to the north of Scotland, they moved to the Cotswolds where Agatha Raisin was created.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 62 reviews
January 19, 2018
And so the saga ends. The latest owner of Mannerling is ready to marry. So begins the first episode of The Bachelor, Regency Style. Which of these lucky (desperate) ladies will be given a rose at the end of tonights episode and get closer to becoming the new Mrs. Duke?
Meanwhile, our youngest daughter is not interested in the Duke because he’s too old and she doesn’t want Mannerling anyway. The place is creepy haunted. It possesses some people and makes them be willing to commit murder to keep it. Yep, not a good choice.
Good book, nice story. Relaxing read. Good ending for the series.
Meanwhile, our youngest daughter is not interested in the Duke because he’s too old and she doesn’t want Mannerling anyway. The place is creepy haunted. It possesses some people and makes them be willing to commit murder to keep it. Yep, not a good choice.
Good book, nice story. Relaxing read. Good ending for the series.
June 30, 2018
This final installment in the series was fantastic ! I'd been tempted to discontinue the series during a couple of the earlier novels but I'm glad I decided to read the story about the final sister Lizzie. She's the youngest Beverley sister and her bitchy mother always bullies her and calls her the runt of the litter because Lizzie's a tiny, pretty redhead; Lady Beverley doesn't think that red hair is fashionable so she's resigned herself to thinking that her youngest daughter will remain a spinster. I hated how Lady B tried to destroy Lizzie's self esteem but luckily, the governess Miss Trumble was able to build up the heroine's confidence and prove to her that she's just as beautiful as her older sisters. This novel also starts with drama galore because it's finally revealed that Miss Trumble is not just an impoverished governess; in fact, she's the aunt of the Duke of Sevenshire. He's the hero and his first name is Gervase but he's mainly referred to as the duke in the novel. I enjoyed this novel a lot more than its predecessors because Lady Beverley didn't have any significant page space. Miss Trumble orchestrated a situation that allowed Lady B to go off to Bath with her social climbing friend Mary while everyone else is invited to a house party at the H's new house. The H just happens to be the newest owner of the old Beverley mansion Mannerling, but Lady B thinks that her redhead daughter will be unable to attract his interest so for the first time she actually resigns herself to not ever regaining Mannerling.
It was a huge relief not to have Lady B act as a pimp, just to sell her daughters off to whoever owns Mannerling. In the previous novels she had made 5 aggressively embarrassing attempts to pimp match her daughters to the then owners of the old family mansion. Lizzie is the only sister who decides, from the very beginning, that she is not going to chase after a guy just because he owns Mannerling and that's why she's my favourite among the Beverley sisters. In fact, Lizzie starts off the novel by totally hating the H and it's a bit warranted because he had found her trespassing inside the old mansion and the resulting altercation made them totally dislike each other. The H is also wary of Lizzie since she's the last unwed Beverley daughter. Lady Beverley's greed and shameless schemes to regain Mannerling have made her ( and by extension her daughters ) a bit infamous and most eligible men are unwilling to court the pretty Lizzie. I felt sorry for the heroine because she's in this unpopular position due to the schemes of her mother and her 5 sisters. Her sisters are all happily married but she has to live with the negative consequences of all the drama that they had caused in the 5 preceding years.
The H sets up a house party at Mannerling because he wants to find himself a wife. He invites 2 young ladies from his list and includes Lizzie since she's a neighbour. He doesn't intend for Lizzie to be a prospective wife candidate but merely invites her because his aunt Miss Trumble had inveigled invitations for herself and the heroine. Lizzie is supposed to be a guest who is present to help make up numbers for the house party. Lizzie also makes him invite a young lady called Sarah because his secretary Peter is in love with that woman. Unfortunately, things go haywire because Sarah thinks that the H has included her on his shortlist of potential wife candidates. This novel then becomes a bit addled with these 3 delusional and wannabe other women:
1. Crazy Sarah who spends all her time fantasizing about marrying the H, being a duchess and having fancy parties.
2. Giggly, plump but pretty bimbo Celia who cannot hold an intelligent conversation with anybody but is focused mainly on gazing adoringly at the H and batting her eyelashes.
3. Prudish, snobbish and average looking Verity, who sticks her nose up in the air because she thinks that she's the only candidate that's suitable for the position of duchess.
In the midst of these women's duke hunting schemes, there's a lecherous male guest who keeps trying and failing to seduce Lizzie. Then, there's poor Peter who is sad because crazy Sarah is ignoring him since he's a mere secretary. Things get even crazier when Lizzie tries to help Peter by telling Sarah that she has not been invited as a potential wife candidate for the duke. Sarah starts to go a bit insane after this conversation with Lizzie and the evil atmosphere at the spooky Mannerling mansion seems to add fuel to this woman's crazy delusions. Sarah starts to hatch evil plans to kill Lizzie when it becomes obvious that the H is only interested in the heroine. Celia and Verity also get together to scheme and plot against the heroine when they realize that the H is not interested in either of them. All 3 women are mad because they don't think the tiny redhead deserves to be a duchess since she's unfashionable. The drama intensifies when another young lady is to the house party; this time she's an uninvited guest whose carriage got involved in an accident right outside Mannerling. The lecherous guy Gerald decides to pursue this girl Tiffin but she falls in love with the duke's secretary Peter. This storyline is complicated when Tiffin's farmer father decides that his daughter ought to be in the running as a candidate for the role of duchess !
Everything comes to a head after crazy Sarah tries to kill Lizzie and has to be carted off back home. Her abusive father ends up falling to his death from one of Mannerling's balconies. It is kinda creepy that crazy Sarah starts to become sane again as soon as she is away from the spooky mansion. Gerald is punished for trying to assault Lizzie and for conspiring to elope with Tiffin. Finally, mean old Lady Beverley reads about Lizzie's engagement to the H and immediately jumps in her carriage to return home. She's ecstatic because her youngest daughter has finally managed to do what the other 5 failed to do. I was a bit disappointed when I read the epilogue and realized that the H and Lizzie decided to leave Lady Beverley to live at Mannerling. I hated that woman and she didn't deserve to become the grand mistress of that house again. The good news, however, was that Lizzie herself realized that the house itself was evil and wanted nothing to do with it:
TEN YEARS HAD passed since the wedding of Lizzie Beverley to the Duke of Severnshire. Lady Beverley and Mary Judd were resident at Mannerling. The duke had given them permission to live there for as long as Lady Beverley lived. Lizzie was now the proud mother of four children, three boys and one girl. The girl, Isabella, was nine years old and had her mother’s elfin looks and green eyes. Lizzie, the duke and their children were just completing their first visit to Mannerling since their wedding, both Lizzie and the duke having previously refused to return there, and saying that if Lady Beverley wanted to see them, then she should travel to the duke’s palace.
M. C. Beaton; Marion Chesney. The Homecoming (Kindle Locations 2445-2450). Ivy Books. Kindle Edition.
This novel was the best in the series because it was packed full of drama and intrigue. The chemistry between these MC's was also stronger than in the previous 5 installments. I was also happy to see that Lizzie, the so called runt of the Beverley family, ended up getting the richest and most prestigious husband - a duke ! Miss Trumble also got her happy ending because she was able to spend her senior years travelling through Europe with her best friend/boyfriend Barry. At the end of the epilogue, Lizzie notices that her daughter Isabella is developing a strange and familiar fixation with Mannerling so the MC's take their kids and depart, after deciding to never again visit that spooky old mansion:
This is Lizzie:
This is the hero Gervase:
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 8, 2009
[close:] Hoping for a Regency in the ilk of the inimitable Georgette Heyer, I turned to Marion Chesney (AKA MC Beaton). Sigh. A disappointment -- Chesney seems to churn out her vast legion of novels with a germ of an idea that is wasted due to creaky plotting and little refinement of language or narrative style.
This one begins with Lizzie Beverley, the youngest daughter in a family of well-born but now impoverished girls, being rebuffed rudely by the autocratic Duke of Severnshire. He discovers her tramping the halls of her former home, Mannerling, which he now is renting. She is in the company of her governess, Miss Trumble, who just happens to be the Duke's maiden aunt, a redoubtable and elegant woman of a certain age who refuses to waste her life when she could be involved in education of the Beverly daughters. These sisters are a bunch of lovely and bright young things who,despite their parentage (a shallow, grasping mother and a deceased wastrel of a father) seem to be full of vim and strong character.
Of course the proud Duke, Gervase, becomes embroiled with Lizzie when she and her governess come to stay at Mannerling along with several well-dowried young women and their parents. The Duke feels that it is time to choose a bride, and Lizzie, who scoffs at the idea of the "marriage mart," thinks that it will be highly entertaining to observe his selection of a mate.In fact, none of the peripheral characters comes to life except Miss Trumble, and the addition of the house's malevolent spirits seems like nothing more than an awkward plot device, which falls flat. [close:]
This one begins with Lizzie Beverley, the youngest daughter in a family of well-born but now impoverished girls, being rebuffed rudely by the autocratic Duke of Severnshire. He discovers her tramping the halls of her former home, Mannerling, which he now is renting. She is in the company of her governess, Miss Trumble, who just happens to be the Duke's maiden aunt, a redoubtable and elegant woman of a certain age who refuses to waste her life when she could be involved in education of the Beverly daughters. These sisters are a bunch of lovely and bright young things who,despite their parentage (a shallow, grasping mother and a deceased wastrel of a father) seem to be full of vim and strong character.
Of course the proud Duke, Gervase, becomes embroiled with Lizzie when she and her governess come to stay at Mannerling along with several well-dowried young women and their parents. The Duke feels that it is time to choose a bride, and Lizzie, who scoffs at the idea of the "marriage mart," thinks that it will be highly entertaining to observe his selection of a mate.In fact, none of the peripheral characters comes to life except Miss Trumble, and the addition of the house's malevolent spirits seems like nothing more than an awkward plot device, which falls flat. [close:]
February 7, 2014
Little Lizzie is now 19 and content with her life without Mannerling. The house has a strage pull though and she tresspasses once more to say goodbye to the house and is caught and soundly scolded by the Duke of Severnshire. The Duke comes to call when he discovers that the incomparable Miss Trumble is actually his aunt! Lizzie and the Duke cross verbal swords because Lizzie feels the Duke is too old and stuffy. She prefers the company of his young secretary, Peter Bond and the two quickly become good friends, sharing their dreams of love. Peter wishes to marry the daughter of a country squire from back home but as a servant, he isn't allowed to marry and the Duke doesn't even believe in love. A house party at Mannerling brings Lizzie, Miss Trumble, the Duke, Peter, Peter's beloved and some other young ladies together and the pull of the house is too great for some of the guests to resist. Meanwhile, Lizzie no longer feels the house and becomes friendlier with the Duke, but still pointing out all his faults. Her mother is determined to make a match between Lizzie and the Duke but Lizzie is determined to marry for true love.
The plot moves forward quickly and finishes predictably with a rather shocking scene witnessed by Miss Trumble. The last chapter is an epilogue 10 years later which resolves nothing and only adds more to the gothic plot. The book would have been better without it. I usually enjoy love stories based on Pride and Prejudice but like Lizzie, I thought the Duke was too old and snobby to be interesting. This series lacked the humor and charm which make Chesney's other books so enjoyable. I'm not a fan of gothic romances or supernatural stories in general and this series would have been better without it.
The plot moves forward quickly and finishes predictably with a rather shocking scene witnessed by Miss Trumble. The last chapter is an epilogue 10 years later which resolves nothing and only adds more to the gothic plot. The book would have been better without it. I usually enjoy love stories based on Pride and Prejudice but like Lizzie, I thought the Duke was too old and snobby to be interesting. This series lacked the humor and charm which make Chesney's other books so enjoyable. I'm not a fan of gothic romances or supernatural stories in general and this series would have been better without it.
August 6, 2024
The final book in a sudsy, semi-paranormal, Regency series
***Trigger warning: attempted rape***
This is the sixth and final book in the Daughters of Mannerling series. Because there is a continuing storyline that builds on itself across this series, it is not recommended to read any of these books as a standalone, and it is important to read them in order.
The mysterious Miss Trumble was finally revealed, at the end of Book 5, to be the paternal aunt of Gervais, the Duke of Severnshire, who has very recently purchased the grand Mannerling mansion and its surrounding estate. Because of this amazing coincidence, given that Miss Trumble lives with the Beverley family in the same neighborhood as Mannerling, it was inevitable that Gervais would run into his aunt. And, not knowing she is living incognito, he reveals her true identity to the Beverleys when he calls her by her real name. When this happens, we finally learn (after wondering about it for five, long books) why Miss Trumble has always had plenty of money to buy very fine clothing and has the education, diction, and manners of an aristocratic lady. It’s because she actually is an aristocrat of independent means.
We also discover at the very beginning of this book that the entire reason that Miss Trumble has dedicated nearly a decade of her life serving as governess to the Beverley family is because she was bored and disenchanted with her former life at the top of the social heap. She essentially began her governess gig as a lark, and in the process became committed to it because she realized that she greatly enjoys teaching and also got emotionally attached to the Beverley girls. She informs Gervais, when he insists that she give up her degrading charade and return to her own life, that she has promised to stay with the Beverley family until the sixth and last Beverley daughter, Lizzie, is married. And, meanwhile, she is adamant that that he keep her secret. He and the Beverleys must continue to call her by her nom de guerre, Miss Trumble.
Meanwhile, the 34-year-old Duke has decided it is time for him to do his duty to his name by getting married and producing an heir. In service of that goal, he has his trusted personal assistant arrange a house party and invite three or four candidates for his hand, along with their parents, to a house party at Mannerling. He also invites Miss Trumble, Lizzie and her mother.
Miss Trumble hesitates to accept the invitation on behalf of Lizzie. She worries that it would not be safe for Lizzie to stay at Mannerling because of the malevolent, supernatural influence it has had on all the Beverley sisters in the past. When she broaches the subject to Lizzie, her young charge is adamant that she is completely recovered from her previous obsession with bringing Mannerling back into the family. Her deceased father, an addicted gambler, lost Mannerling in a card game some years ago, and the main focus of all of the previous five books revolves around each of the Beverley sisters in turn engaging in outlandish machinations in order to wrangle a proposal from the current owner of Mannerling, which estate ends up with a new owner each and every book.
Ultimately, Miss Trumble accepts the Duke’s invitation on behalf of only herself and Lizzie, purposely not informing Lady Beverley about the invitation. Anytime Lady Beverley is a guest at Mannerling, she bores everyone with her endless prattling about the glory days when the Beverleys owned the estate. As a result, in happy ignorance of this crucial omission, Lady Beverley decides to take herself off to Bath for a few weeks in order to pamper her health.
At Mannerling, bizarre chaos runs rampant in the house party from hell in the form of jealous female rivals competing to snag the Duke, an iniquitous would-be seducer, and the evil mansion itself directly launching attacks as well as possessing various houseguests with a murderously desperate need to own it. In the midst of this sudsy insanity, an “enemies to lovers” relationship between Lizzie and Gervais slowly progresses.
In virtually every one of the 100-plus historical novels Chesney wrote that have been marketed as “romances,” the FMC is 17-19 years of age, and the MMC is 30-35 years of age. Almost never is the age difference between the lovers less than 13 years, and more often it trends upward toward 15-16 years. In Book 5 of this series, Chesney went to an extreme with that trope, offering a 20-year age difference between the 19-year-old FMC and the 39-year-old MMC. In this book, Lizzie is 15 years younger than the Duke.
The tone of Chesney’s historical romances ranges from comedy, to light melodrama, to very dark melodrama. In this particular series, the tone is light melodrama interspersed with some pretty violent deaths for which, fortunately, Chesney provides spare descriptions. I am personally not a fan of really dark melodrama, and I particularly dislike it when Chesney incorporates an attempted rape scene, as she does all too frequently, including in this book. It is important, though, in female-centric fiction like romance, if an author chooses to write an attempted rape scene, because this is such an egregious an act of villainy, that she also makes sure that the perpetrator receives the instant karma of a well-deserved beating. It should be provided, preferably, by the FMC herself, or at the very least by the MMC. In this story, frustratingly, though Gervais does abort the attack, he doesn’t do any more than land a single punch to the villain’s nose. Worse, he doesn’t instantly kick the swine out of his house. There is absolutely no rational reason for that poorly motivated decision. It is clearly only for authorial plotting convenience, because Chesney soon after recycles this criminal in a redundant, Snidely Whiplash persecution of yet another hapless virgin.
Chesney rarely writes anything paranormal, and when she does, as is the case for this series, it is badly done. In my perception, this entire series seems to be a rather sad attempt at an homage to Stephen King's 1977 novel, The Shining. The haunted Mannerling manor exists as a Regency England equivalent of the evil Overlook Hotel, in that it, too, psychically possesses various people who either own the place or visit it, driving them to attempt, or successfully achieve, murder or suicide. The problem is, where King’s horror novel is filled with terrifying, well-motivated, supernatural suspense, this series is overloaded with an un-scary mishmash of woo-woo nonsense.
I will admit, though, that I didn’t entirely dislike the romantic protagonists in any of these six books, including this one. The FMCs are well-educated, due to Miss Trumble, and quite intelligent, and the MMCs appreciate their forthright honesty, even as they are irritated by it, as it frequently serves to humorously deflate their self-consequence. Unfortunately, which all too often tends to be the case with Chesney in all her romances, not just this one, she violates the Prime Directive of romance fiction: “Thou shall keep the MMC and FMC onstage together!” Ideally, they won’t be away from each other any more than 50% of the book, but Chesney habitually keeps her romantic protagonists apart as much as 75% of a given book. And this series as a whole, including this book, tends to go in that direction.
The one character I liked the most in this series—which is, of course, what Chesney intended—is Miss Trumble. She’s the most honorable, active and interesting character in the entire series. However, having recently very much enjoyed reading The Travelling Matchmaker series by Chesney, which has a fabulous, 45-year-old former housekeeper, Miss Hannah Pym, who appears in every book, links up the whole series, and achieves her own terrific HEA at the very end of the series, for me personally, Miss Trumble is not even in the same universe as Miss Pym in terms of being an active, sympathetic, well-meaning, busybody type character. In fact, for that very reason, I’m probably judging this series more harshly than I might have otherwise, because it is so vastly inferior to TTM.
The strongest plus that Chesney has going for her, for those of us who are simultaneously bored and disgusted with the rampant, graphic sex scenes in historical romance novels—which would be outrageously overblown even in a contemporary novel, where indoor plumbing and condoms are readily available—she never includes much more than a few passionate kisses. What passes for a sex scene in a Chesney novel is the audience being informed more than shown that the marriage of the FMC and MMC is being very romantically and passionately consummated shortly after their wedding in the HEA. And these statements never last more than a couple of sentences.
I was able to access every book in this six-book series in audiobook format through Hoopla. The entire series is narrated by Charlotte Anne Dore, who is one of my least favorite narrators. Her diction is so slow and precise as to feel irritatingly unnatural. She also has a limited acting range in her performance of both female and male characters and, overall, her voice has an unpleasant, harsh, grating quality.
I rate this book as follows:
Heroine: 3 stars
Hero: 3 stars
Subcharacters: 3 stars
Romance Plot: 3 stars
Haunted Mansion Plot: 2 stars
Writing: 3 stars
Audiobook Narration: 3 stars
Overall: 3 stars
***Trigger warning: attempted rape***
This is the sixth and final book in the Daughters of Mannerling series. Because there is a continuing storyline that builds on itself across this series, it is not recommended to read any of these books as a standalone, and it is important to read them in order.
The mysterious Miss Trumble was finally revealed, at the end of Book 5, to be the paternal aunt of Gervais, the Duke of Severnshire, who has very recently purchased the grand Mannerling mansion and its surrounding estate. Because of this amazing coincidence, given that Miss Trumble lives with the Beverley family in the same neighborhood as Mannerling, it was inevitable that Gervais would run into his aunt. And, not knowing she is living incognito, he reveals her true identity to the Beverleys when he calls her by her real name. When this happens, we finally learn (after wondering about it for five, long books) why Miss Trumble has always had plenty of money to buy very fine clothing and has the education, diction, and manners of an aristocratic lady. It’s because she actually is an aristocrat of independent means.
We also discover at the very beginning of this book that the entire reason that Miss Trumble has dedicated nearly a decade of her life serving as governess to the Beverley family is because she was bored and disenchanted with her former life at the top of the social heap. She essentially began her governess gig as a lark, and in the process became committed to it because she realized that she greatly enjoys teaching and also got emotionally attached to the Beverley girls. She informs Gervais, when he insists that she give up her degrading charade and return to her own life, that she has promised to stay with the Beverley family until the sixth and last Beverley daughter, Lizzie, is married. And, meanwhile, she is adamant that that he keep her secret. He and the Beverleys must continue to call her by her nom de guerre, Miss Trumble.
Meanwhile, the 34-year-old Duke has decided it is time for him to do his duty to his name by getting married and producing an heir. In service of that goal, he has his trusted personal assistant arrange a house party and invite three or four candidates for his hand, along with their parents, to a house party at Mannerling. He also invites Miss Trumble, Lizzie and her mother.
Miss Trumble hesitates to accept the invitation on behalf of Lizzie. She worries that it would not be safe for Lizzie to stay at Mannerling because of the malevolent, supernatural influence it has had on all the Beverley sisters in the past. When she broaches the subject to Lizzie, her young charge is adamant that she is completely recovered from her previous obsession with bringing Mannerling back into the family. Her deceased father, an addicted gambler, lost Mannerling in a card game some years ago, and the main focus of all of the previous five books revolves around each of the Beverley sisters in turn engaging in outlandish machinations in order to wrangle a proposal from the current owner of Mannerling, which estate ends up with a new owner each and every book.
Ultimately, Miss Trumble accepts the Duke’s invitation on behalf of only herself and Lizzie, purposely not informing Lady Beverley about the invitation. Anytime Lady Beverley is a guest at Mannerling, she bores everyone with her endless prattling about the glory days when the Beverleys owned the estate. As a result, in happy ignorance of this crucial omission, Lady Beverley decides to take herself off to Bath for a few weeks in order to pamper her health.
At Mannerling, bizarre chaos runs rampant in the house party from hell in the form of jealous female rivals competing to snag the Duke, an iniquitous would-be seducer, and the evil mansion itself directly launching attacks as well as possessing various houseguests with a murderously desperate need to own it. In the midst of this sudsy insanity, an “enemies to lovers” relationship between Lizzie and Gervais slowly progresses.
In virtually every one of the 100-plus historical novels Chesney wrote that have been marketed as “romances,” the FMC is 17-19 years of age, and the MMC is 30-35 years of age. Almost never is the age difference between the lovers less than 13 years, and more often it trends upward toward 15-16 years. In Book 5 of this series, Chesney went to an extreme with that trope, offering a 20-year age difference between the 19-year-old FMC and the 39-year-old MMC. In this book, Lizzie is 15 years younger than the Duke.
The tone of Chesney’s historical romances ranges from comedy, to light melodrama, to very dark melodrama. In this particular series, the tone is light melodrama interspersed with some pretty violent deaths for which, fortunately, Chesney provides spare descriptions. I am personally not a fan of really dark melodrama, and I particularly dislike it when Chesney incorporates an attempted rape scene, as she does all too frequently, including in this book. It is important, though, in female-centric fiction like romance, if an author chooses to write an attempted rape scene, because this is such an egregious an act of villainy, that she also makes sure that the perpetrator receives the instant karma of a well-deserved beating. It should be provided, preferably, by the FMC herself, or at the very least by the MMC. In this story, frustratingly, though Gervais does abort the attack, he doesn’t do any more than land a single punch to the villain’s nose. Worse, he doesn’t instantly kick the swine out of his house. There is absolutely no rational reason for that poorly motivated decision. It is clearly only for authorial plotting convenience, because Chesney soon after recycles this criminal in a redundant, Snidely Whiplash persecution of yet another hapless virgin.
Chesney rarely writes anything paranormal, and when she does, as is the case for this series, it is badly done. In my perception, this entire series seems to be a rather sad attempt at an homage to Stephen King's 1977 novel, The Shining. The haunted Mannerling manor exists as a Regency England equivalent of the evil Overlook Hotel, in that it, too, psychically possesses various people who either own the place or visit it, driving them to attempt, or successfully achieve, murder or suicide. The problem is, where King’s horror novel is filled with terrifying, well-motivated, supernatural suspense, this series is overloaded with an un-scary mishmash of woo-woo nonsense.
I will admit, though, that I didn’t entirely dislike the romantic protagonists in any of these six books, including this one. The FMCs are well-educated, due to Miss Trumble, and quite intelligent, and the MMCs appreciate their forthright honesty, even as they are irritated by it, as it frequently serves to humorously deflate their self-consequence. Unfortunately, which all too often tends to be the case with Chesney in all her romances, not just this one, she violates the Prime Directive of romance fiction: “Thou shall keep the MMC and FMC onstage together!” Ideally, they won’t be away from each other any more than 50% of the book, but Chesney habitually keeps her romantic protagonists apart as much as 75% of a given book. And this series as a whole, including this book, tends to go in that direction.
The one character I liked the most in this series—which is, of course, what Chesney intended—is Miss Trumble. She’s the most honorable, active and interesting character in the entire series. However, having recently very much enjoyed reading The Travelling Matchmaker series by Chesney, which has a fabulous, 45-year-old former housekeeper, Miss Hannah Pym, who appears in every book, links up the whole series, and achieves her own terrific HEA at the very end of the series, for me personally, Miss Trumble is not even in the same universe as Miss Pym in terms of being an active, sympathetic, well-meaning, busybody type character. In fact, for that very reason, I’m probably judging this series more harshly than I might have otherwise, because it is so vastly inferior to TTM.
The strongest plus that Chesney has going for her, for those of us who are simultaneously bored and disgusted with the rampant, graphic sex scenes in historical romance novels—which would be outrageously overblown even in a contemporary novel, where indoor plumbing and condoms are readily available—she never includes much more than a few passionate kisses. What passes for a sex scene in a Chesney novel is the audience being informed more than shown that the marriage of the FMC and MMC is being very romantically and passionately consummated shortly after their wedding in the HEA. And these statements never last more than a couple of sentences.
I was able to access every book in this six-book series in audiobook format through Hoopla. The entire series is narrated by Charlotte Anne Dore, who is one of my least favorite narrators. Her diction is so slow and precise as to feel irritatingly unnatural. She also has a limited acting range in her performance of both female and male characters and, overall, her voice has an unpleasant, harsh, grating quality.
I rate this book as follows:
Heroine: 3 stars
Hero: 3 stars
Subcharacters: 3 stars
Romance Plot: 3 stars
Haunted Mansion Plot: 2 stars
Writing: 3 stars
Audiobook Narration: 3 stars
Overall: 3 stars
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 16, 2022
you are so rigidly armoured in arrogance and self-consequence that you are nigh inhuman
No, it wasn't a P&P variation. Yes, there was a hero with a lot of aristocratic pride and a heroine with prejudice after the first meeting, but the similarities ended here.
It was a nice ending to the series. I would have preferred fewer Gothic parts and more humour (rewritten, it could have been a great example of the genre). But still, I have had an enjoyable time (as for this series).
July 7, 2020
Marion Chesney's Regency romances are always silly, but always fun. In this book, Lizzie, the youngest daughter of the late Sir Beverley, has been entrusted by her ambitious and vulgar mother to try and marry the new owner of their lost estate of Mannerling and return it to the family.
Of course as with every comedy of manners, all sorts of misunderatandings occur until love and Miss Lizzie finally win the day. The perfect book for when you don't want to think too hard.
Of course as with every comedy of manners, all sorts of misunderatandings occur until love and Miss Lizzie finally win the day. The perfect book for when you don't want to think too hard.
November 30, 2019
The sixth and final story in the Daughters of Mannerling series, it is finally Lizzie's turn to find love. Things are thrown for a loop when her governess, Miss Trumble, comes face to face with the new owner of Mannerling, an Earl who just happens to be her nephew. Miss Tumble is actually a fine lady, but she had promised Lizzie that she would stay until she was married, even if her nephew has other plans.
Such a fun story, and I think that Lizzie was my favorite of the sisters, because I got to know her more in each book, since she played a role in each of her sisters' stories. Cute, clean romance.
Such a fun story, and I think that Lizzie was my favorite of the sisters, because I got to know her more in each book, since she played a role in each of her sisters' stories. Cute, clean romance.
March 23, 2018
This was all over the place and all scenes seems too contrived so people will be pushed forward to their end game. Too bad, I was super excited to know what will happen in the end of this series.
January 29, 2021
Last book of an, oddly for M. C Beaton who I love, AWFUL series. Glad it's over.
May 4, 2019
A series of six books, with six sisters.
All were wealthy and living in Huge place with amazing gardens and expensive style.
Doomed to poverty and sold their house ( The Mannerling).
All six sisters along with their parents started to scheme who will marry the next owner of the house to return its ownership to them.
This book is the last and about the youngest sister.
By far, after reading all books, the most loveable book is number four ( The Folly).
What I liked about this series is the errie atmosphere about this house and how people turn crazy for it. Slightly mentioning of ghosts and weired accidents in the series . But in this book, supernatural is strong element to add extra excitement.
And wondering why the last daughter with her husband didn't burn this house to ashes.
Lizzy, the youngest daughter of the famous Beverly, met with the haughty Duke who owned Mannerling and started to hate him and hate hi arrogance.
Events develop in weak way and love is not that much of strong scheme.
In general light books with many insane characters and twisted events.
All were wealthy and living in Huge place with amazing gardens and expensive style.
Doomed to poverty and sold their house ( The Mannerling).
All six sisters along with their parents started to scheme who will marry the next owner of the house to return its ownership to them.
This book is the last and about the youngest sister.
By far, after reading all books, the most loveable book is number four ( The Folly).
What I liked about this series is the errie atmosphere about this house and how people turn crazy for it. Slightly mentioning of ghosts and weired accidents in the series . But in this book, supernatural is strong element to add extra excitement.
And wondering why the last daughter with her husband didn't burn this house to ashes.
Lizzy, the youngest daughter of the famous Beverly, met with the haughty Duke who owned Mannerling and started to hate him and hate hi arrogance.
Events develop in weak way and love is not that much of strong scheme.
In general light books with many insane characters and twisted events.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 18, 2023
Despite this book being less than 200 pages, Beaton throws everything and the kitchen sink at it. There was A LOT going on.
I did like the house which was It was surprisingly gothic for what started out as a light-hearted book.
I did like the house which was It was surprisingly gothic for what started out as a light-hearted book.
November 1, 2023
My first spooky romance series. Mannerling is home to the rich Beverly family. Until Mr Beverly became bankrupt. Gambling? You bet.
The creepiness of Mannerling increases with each book, including swaying chandeliers, people falling over staircases to their deaths, and the house driving everyone to become obsessive about Mannerling until they become mad. And dead. The bodies have piled up, but with this last book of the series, the Beverlys are finally back at Mannerling.
The creepiness of Mannerling increases with each book, including swaying chandeliers, people falling over staircases to their deaths, and the house driving everyone to become obsessive about Mannerling until they become mad. And dead. The bodies have piled up, but with this last book of the series, the Beverlys are finally back at Mannerling.
January 8, 2021
This was my favourite of the series and a wonderful last instalment. I feel as if Lizzie had the best character development of the sisters by getting to appear in all six books. I loved her story and her match. The house is still terrifying though.
Favourite Quote: “If a ghost confronted my master, thought Peter, he would probably just order it off the premises!”
Favourite Quote: “If a ghost confronted my master, thought Peter, he would probably just order it off the premises!”
January 17, 2023
The couple had no chemistry. The story seemed off somehow. He seemed old and stuffy. She seemed immature and tactless. They criticized each other constantly and then bam they're in love. Most of the characters were unpleasant or eccentric or just bat shit crazy. The ending disjointed. I started at the last book of the series first but I won't bother reading any others.
March 25, 2025
Highly enjoyable, and a great end to the series. However, the ending was rather sudden and the epilogue unneeded when the author could have written more about her two main characters! :(
Despite this, the plot was amusing and fun, (as were all the other books in the series), and their length and style made for easy, lighthearted reading and good pick-me-ups.
Despite this, the plot was amusing and fun, (as were all the other books in the series), and their length and style made for easy, lighthearted reading and good pick-me-ups.
July 24, 2019
Mannerling Menaces to the Finale and Beyond
The last of the Beverley girls confronts the haunting menace of Mannerling and triumphs through love, concluding the series. Again, snobbery, greed and madness are ever present until the disturbing conclusion.
The last of the Beverley girls confronts the haunting menace of Mannerling and triumphs through love, concluding the series. Again, snobbery, greed and madness are ever present until the disturbing conclusion.
September 26, 2020
Though the audiobook narrator still grated on my nerves as much as she did in the rest of the books, this was a fun and satisfying conclusion to the series. I think this was my favorite of the Daughters of Mannerling.
October 3, 2024
All the previous books in the series were just a precursor to this one. This one, I would love to watch on screen. Finally, a heroine after my own heart and a hero suited for redemption. And a bevy of conspirers and social climbers to make for a very entertaining chain of events.
May 10, 2017
Not bad.
July 4, 2017
She marries the duke. lol
September 21, 2017
This last Mannerling book seems more of a ghost story then the others. I like the development of the backstory for Miss Trimble. A great end to the series.
July 31, 2018
3.5 out of 5 stars
August 15, 2018
Clean romance from a bygone time--doesn't quite follow the conventions of the time.
August 31, 2018
Another fun Regency romp....always enjoy Marion Chesney's novels.
April 10, 2019
I love the subplots in this one. Plus, I'm a sucker for a story of two people who hate each other falling in love ;)
June 12, 2019
Great fun! Not exactly literature, but definitely entertaining!
October 17, 2019
Such a silly fun very entertaining read. However ridiculous was my favourite of the series and a lovely way to end the series
March 30, 2020
More of the same, evil house, death and madness, all tied up neatly by the end of the series.
June 11, 2020
Audio. A fun end to the series.
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