Vanessa

by Clarice Peters

Vanessa was more than he had bargained for

When the Viscount Peregren called Vanessa Whitmore an "antidote," he certainly hadn't meant for her to overhear him. He had simply been explaining that surely if she were a Beauty, her fiance would not have run away with his fiancee and made them both the laughingstock of the town. Of course, an argument ensued, and Vanessa was banished to the country until things "settled down."

But things did not settle down. Reginald Peregren (the Lord's younger brother) dispatched to find the errant fiances, was enlisted by Vanessa to keep her out of jail and to accompany her to France, where, she had received word, the two ex-fiances were hiding.

Mistakenly believing Reg was eloping with Vanessa, Lord Peregren followed in hot pursuit, only to find his ex-fiancee "increasing" without a husband. And with every new development, Vanessa outraged the viscount even more and unexpectedly conquered his heart in the process.

Genres: Historical Romance, Regency, Humor, Traditional Regency

224 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1989

Reviews

[Linda (NOT RECEIVING NOTIFICATIONS) · Rating 4 out of 5]

From start to finish, this light romance had:

1. 7 betrothals between 8 people; not all of them were a success
2. a scheming thief
3. an intuitive and much appreciated aunt
4. a brother playing matchmaker
5. the setting took place in two countries

Viscount Peregren and Miss Vanessa Whitmore got off on the wrong foot. While reading this part I thought of Darcy and Elizabeth Bennett for a brief moment. Instead of apologizing, Peregren just dug himself deeper. From there on out, Vanessa was a light comedy of errors.

I enjoyed Ms. Peters' unvarnished writing style. I liked watching Miss Whitmore take Peregren down a few pegs. Although the story isn't by any means a laugh a minute, there was enough wit and lighthearted banter to make it interesting. All the betrothals made it a bit of a task to untangle but if you are looking for a kisses-only Regency without buckets of agony then this is the story for you.

[Claire S · Rating 4 out of 5]

The blurb about the book is pretty spot on as far as all the events leading up to a great madcap adventure. I have to say that I would have rated the book 3 stars in the beginning, 2 stars around the middle (I got annoyed by one of the decisions the heroine made since it seemed hasty and idiotic even though she was a smart lady), and by the end it definitely felt like 4 stars as it left me smiling and content (as opposed to books that start well and go downhill with cliches and stupid decisions by intelligent characters). That said, the rest of the book is pretty entertaining as everything and everyone become tangled with lots of coincidences creating a pretty fun adventure. I appreciated that, although the H and h didn't get along at first, they learned to work together and appreciate each other fairly quickly so it wasn't an exchange of insults for the majority of the book with an abrupt happy ending. Even though I wouldn't say that the author writes at the same level as Heyer, it definitely has a hint of that style with the fairly well developed side characters and the tangled plot. I liked Peters writing style and, if it lacked some of the wit from some of my favorite Regency writes like Heyer, Joan Smith, and Barbara Metzger, it was still a lighthearted, fun book low on angst.

[Mia · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 star

This was a very enjoyable read. My first book by this Author and it definitely won't be my last.

The plot was rather farfetched and sometimes not very logical, but it was fun and made me laugh out loud several times.

[Lena · Rating 2 out of 5]

fluff, comedy of errors

[Joy-Ellen Hilder · Rating 5 out of 5]

Number 11