Kidnap Confusion

by Judith Nelson

Miss Tolliver a woman of great practicability had little use for romantic fiddle-faddle. But when she was kidnapped, and mistaken for an actress that, her orderly world went scandalously atilt.

It wasn't the abduction that perturbed the lovely Miss Margaret. That was merely a prank by two brothers so charming that she spent the night at an inn nursing their wounds. Rather, it was the arrival of their imperious elder brother, the suave ladies' man and elegant Earl of Manfield, that sent Miss Tolliver into a tizzy. By morning, even local busybodies surmised that hey had spent all night at the inn alone - together! Whereupon the earl promptly announced that he and Miss Tolliver were betrothed. And so the prim miss became an unwilling leading lady in a romantic charade that neither amused nor interested her in the least - or, so she thought!

Genres: Regency, Historical Romance, Romance, Traditional Regency, Regency Romance, Historical Fiction

218 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1987

Reviews

[Kathy * Bookworm Nation · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

This was a pretty entertaining and charming read. A well-rounded cast of characters that were all a bit crazy, but super endearing.

The premise is funny, Gillian (20) has been sent home from school for pulling a prank. He thinks his brother Giles (34) is being unreasonable in his punishment (forcing him to do studies at home with his stuffy brother John) and thinks its because Giles is pining away for his former mistress, Vanessa. So he hatches a plan with his little brother Patrick (14ish?) and they decide they will kidnap Vanessa and bring her to Giles, making Giles happy and hopefully putting him in such a good mood he will forget Gillian's punishment. The problem is, Gillian and Patrick kidnap the wrong lady!

Margaret is traveling on her way home from London when she crosses paths with Gillian and Patrick. Lots of hilarity ensues. And it wouldn't be a regency is the smallest of rumors didn't place our characters in some sticky situations, and now Giles is forced to become engaged to Margaret.

There are also some silly aunts, a grandmother and other fun side characters sprinkled throughout. I thought the author did a great job with the witty banter and just has a fun writing style. She develops the characters well and produced a very fun regency read. I did think there were some things that could have been left out and it felt like it took too long to get to the kidnapping, etc. and I do wish there had been more focus on interactions between out H/h, but it was still a really enjoyable read.

Content: Clean, kissing. No language that I remember, very mild violence

[QNPoohBear · Rating 5 out of 5]

At twenty-eight Miss Margaret Tolliver is on the shelf and not looking for romance. She lives an independent life with her eccentric Aunt Henrietta and Henrietta's pet rooster, Lazaurus and seldom visits her stuffy, pompous brother Charles in London. Her self-imposed exile has all but alienated her from her few friends in London, so when Charles writes that he'll be away, Margaret takes the opportunity to visit her friends in London. Sadly, Charles stayed home, laid up with gout and his overbearing ways send Margaret running back to Yorkshire, along the Great North Road, where she is mistaken for an actress and held up by two young men! The young men are Gillian and Peter Manfield, younger brothers and wards of Giles, Earl of Manseford. Gillian is often in one scrape or another and has been sent down from Oxford for pulling a prank on one of the nobs. Giles has imposed a period of study for Gillian and Gillian believes that Giles is in a bad mood because his ladybird has flown the coop. In order to save himself from six days of studying with his dull brother John, Gillian concocts a plan to kidnap his brother's mistress and bring her back, which will put Giles in such a good mood he will lift the Gillian's sentence. Unfortunately Gillian's reckless behavior endangers himself and his brother and puts Miss Tolliver in a difficult position. The Earl tries to do damage control by announcing his plans to marry Margaret, without consulting the lady! The Manfields, Margaret and their eccentric relatives all head to the Earl's home to save Margaret's reputation, however, Margaret doesn't care two figs about her reputation and wants nothing to do with the scheme and has no problems telling Giles what she thinks of him and his plans! Giles has difficulty dealing with Margaret so their nearest and dearest take it upon themselves to keep Margaret at Willowdale forever with nearly disastrous, but hilarious, results. This is a true romantic comedy in the tradition of Georgette Heyer. I laughed out loud in many places and wondered how Giles would manage to win Margaret's affections. My only real complaints are that much of the dialogue and action is summarized and the beginning of the story is a bit hard to follow when the rising action is interrupted by exposition. When the action picks up again, it moves right along with snappy dialogue and hysterical eccentric characters. This is a breezy, lighthearted romantic comedy with the usual predictable ending, but well worth a read.

[Sruthi · Rating 3 out of 5]

It started so well , I was on the verge of self reproach for not picking up this book earlier . Then it went down and down . It literally became a lunatic club , where everyone played jokers (including especially the H ) except for a pet rooster baptized Lazarus.

[Kagama-the Literaturevixen · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book tries a little too hard to be funny effectively burying its potential in non-stop jokes and attempt at being witty.

[Claire S · Rating 4 out of 5]

The back of the book is pretty good about the premise of the book although some of the description about the Earl and Margaret seem a bit off.

"Miss Tolliver, a woman of great practicality, had little use for romantic fiddle-faddle. But when she was kidnapped, and mistaken for an actress at that, her orderly world went scandalously atilt.
It wasn't the abduction that perturbed the lovely Miss Margaret. That was merely a prank by two brothers so charming that she spent the night at an inn nursing their wounds. Rather it was the arrival of their imperious elder brother, the suave ladies' man and elegant Earl of Manfield, that sent Miss Tolliver into a tizzy. By morning, even local busybodies surmised that they spent all night at the inn alone - together! Whereupon the earl promptly announced that he and Miss Tolliver were betrothed. And so the prim miss became an unwilling leading lady in a romantic charade that neither amused nor interested her in the least - or, so she thought!"

Margaret was by far the best character in the book and one of my favorite Regency heroines. I get very tired of women being described as sensible and/or against marriage, but the very first time they look into the hero's eyes or his coat brushes their arm, they become idiots and are ready to get married. Throughout the story, Margaret continues to be practical and continues in her conviction that she doesn't want to get married (especially if it means to an unwilling husband). That said, she's a completely loving and lovable person. The majority of the story happens after the betrothal, when Margaret and her family go to stay in the Earl's estate (to ward off rumors) and his family also joins them. Mayhem ensues. The secondary characters are also great fun and I adored Peter. The Earl is haughty in the beginning but you see his growing admiration for Margaret and how he starts to loosen up. He's a responsible guy and takes good care of his three brothers. I also appreciated how the H and h developed a friendship and an appreciation for each other over time and because of their actions and their character, not because of looks. Definitely no insta-love here. I really wanted to give this book 5 stars but the beginning was really slow with some unnecessary repetition and the ending dragged a bit and was not that special. That said, I highly recommend the book and the author. This is the second book I've read by Nelson (The Merry Chase being the first) as she writes very strong and unconventional heroines and has a good grasp of the Regency period.

[Linda C · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the funniest Regency romances I have read in a long time. Gillian, 20 year old 3rd son has been sent down from Oxford for another prank and to avoid his punishment from his elder brother, Giles, has determined that he will give him a present. Said present is the Earl's ex-mistress, whom Gillian thinks is the cause of Giles bad mood. He gets his 12 year old brother, Peter involved in kidnapping Vanessa. Needless to say they get the wrong coach and everything goes wrong. The problems escalate when the Earl tracks the brothers to an inn and one comment after another starts rumors and end up getting the Lady Margaret compromised. What fun before everything is straightened out.

[GG · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an engaging story. Both Margaret and the Earl have a lot of relatives, and they get in the way quite often. I would have liked a little more interaction between the Earl and Margaret, but with the assistance of the Dowager Duchess, the Earl's brothers, and, less I forget, Lazarus, they got their HEA. Laz made the story quite unusual. The writing was very Heyerish. It was a fast read and clean. Highly recommended.

[Angie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hilarious, as usual with Judith Nelson. Somewhat predictable plot, but very enjoyable nevertheless. J

[Mia · Rating 2 out of 5]

My first read by this author. I liked the writing style. But nothing much happened other than the description in the blurb until page 70, where h&H meet at last. Too slow for me. And it tries too hard to be funny. Not much happened in the second half of the book either. Disappointing

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Light. Fluffy. Silly. Fun.