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The Widow's Gambit
Destitute Livia Neville adds several years to her age, invents a deceased husband, and becomes the respectable Widow Royce. She has no regrets about her lies . . . until she meets dashingly handsome Nicholas Warwick. And, all at once, Livia finds herself snared in a web of her own weaving. An enchanting tale of love and deception by the author of The Counterfeit Heart. Original Regency Romance.
256 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published May 1, 1988
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
March 8, 2015
Good first book brought down somewhat by the ending
Yes, the denouement was perfectly ridiculous, but I didn't object to the complex plotting or the multitude of love interests (save one which I'll speak of later). In fact I thought the idea that in blended families, multiple women and men might simultaneously feel the desire to be settled made perfect sense and made the story feel more realistic than the usual one-by-one engagements in most Regency romances.
Many of the characters were interesting, though I wish the authors had made Claudia more than a sweet cypher, of the sort too many historical romances contain, especially since I'd had high hopes for her at the beginning when it was clear she had a great deal of sense and practicality. Unfortunately the relationship between the two sisters, which had begun as a parity with both being intelligent partners in the London scheme devolved into each not communicating well with the other. Add their youngest sister who was also convinced she was doing the best thing for the family and a blackmail plot, and the book slowly turned into a tangle of best intentions gone awry.
That part was actually not so bad as the authors did their best to provide believable reasons for them all to end up in the same inn...but then the writers brought in not one but two more new characters, neither of whom was actually necessary to wrapping up the plot and whose presence only served to sink the whole confection by overloading the froth. Perhaps everyone meeting up at the inn and the father appearing unexpectedly to help solve things were intended to be tributes to some of Georgette Heyer's plot devices (The Grand Sophy and Devil's Cub respectively), but they didn't serve this book very well at all.
Finally, Claudia deserved better than ending up with a substitute suitor who appeared at the eleventh hour and seemed quite the authors' afterthought - it would have been much better to have strengthened that plot thread and introduce it much earlier as it was not very believable, just served to make Claudia even less a real person and diminished her importance to the story.
All in all, it's a good first effort by authors who only improve in their succeeding books.
Yes, the denouement was perfectly ridiculous, but I didn't object to the complex plotting or the multitude of love interests (save one which I'll speak of later). In fact I thought the idea that in blended families, multiple women and men might simultaneously feel the desire to be settled made perfect sense and made the story feel more realistic than the usual one-by-one engagements in most Regency romances.
Many of the characters were interesting, though I wish the authors had made Claudia more than a sweet cypher, of the sort too many historical romances contain, especially since I'd had high hopes for her at the beginning when it was clear she had a great deal of sense and practicality. Unfortunately the relationship between the two sisters, which had begun as a parity with both being intelligent partners in the London scheme devolved into each not communicating well with the other. Add their youngest sister who was also convinced she was doing the best thing for the family and a blackmail plot, and the book slowly turned into a tangle of best intentions gone awry.
That part was actually not so bad as the authors did their best to provide believable reasons for them all to end up in the same inn...but then the writers brought in not one but two more new characters, neither of whom was actually necessary to wrapping up the plot and whose presence only served to sink the whole confection by overloading the froth. Perhaps everyone meeting up at the inn and the father appearing unexpectedly to help solve things were intended to be tributes to some of Georgette Heyer's plot devices (The Grand Sophy and Devil's Cub respectively), but they didn't serve this book very well at all.
Finally, Claudia deserved better than ending up with a substitute suitor who appeared at the eleventh hour and seemed quite the authors' afterthought - it would have been much better to have strengthened that plot thread and introduce it much earlier as it was not very believable, just served to make Claudia even less a real person and diminished her importance to the story.
All in all, it's a good first effort by authors who only improve in their succeeding books.
July 28, 2015
Top class
Thoroughly entertaining Regency romp. My only caveat was that Warwick and Claudia's other suitors were a bit underdone. However, The women and the younger men are classics in the best sense. I particularly liked the relationship between F and S, which had more nuances that those of the principal women. I think the author's intention was to keep us guessing who would partner up with whom, but it meant we had no clues as to who felt what, even though the tropes signalled the outcomes. So rather than building tensions, we got a deus ex machina at the denouement. Which was a true and very funny farce.
Thoroughly entertaining Regency romp. My only caveat was that Warwick and Claudia's other suitors were a bit underdone. However, The women and the younger men are classics in the best sense. I particularly liked the relationship between F and S, which had more nuances that those of the principal women. I think the author's intention was to keep us guessing who would partner up with whom, but it meant we had no clues as to who felt what, even though the tropes signalled the outcomes. So rather than building tensions, we got a deus ex machina at the denouement. Which was a true and very funny farce.
September 25, 2009
Regency
July 14, 2010
hilarious book when oldest sister pretends to be widow to give her younger sisters chance of a season - confusion and comedy ensues...
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews