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Bella
Bella by Barbara Neil released on Feb 21, 1992 is available now for purchase.
- GenresRomance
218 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published March 1, 1992
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
February 18, 2025
3.5*
Anthony Ashton ran off to Canada when his wife, Bella, informed him she was eloping with another man. Two years later, he has returned to England with two young cousins, Guy and Celeste, in tow. Tony is intent on divorce so that he can marry the beautiful, sweet, dull-as-ditchwater Celeste. Meanwhile, Bella still loves Tony and wants to win him back. Believing it will serve her purpose (stopping the divorce), she agrees to launch his two cousins in London society.
The premise for this comedy of manners is different from your typical regency, and I enjoyed the read, even if the outcome was entirely predictable. As we learn what led to their initial separation, I also found there was more depth than usual for such light, 'old-school' fare.
I really liked Bella. Beneath her sharp, sophisticated veneer, she is generous, kind and unexpectedly vulnerable. Tony, on the other hand, left me lukewarm. While I understood his behavior/rancor towards Bella, his raptures over Celeste as the ideal of womanhood tended to grate on my nerves, as did his arrogance in taking for granted that Celeste would agree to become his wife after the divorce. Of the secondary storylines, the friendship between Bella's grandfather and Celeste's Native American chaperone was probably the most interesting, though I should mention that the depiction of the latter is (unsurprisingly) dated.
Anthony Ashton ran off to Canada when his wife, Bella, informed him she was eloping with another man. Two years later, he has returned to England with two young cousins, Guy and Celeste, in tow. Tony is intent on divorce so that he can marry the beautiful, sweet, dull-as-ditchwater Celeste. Meanwhile, Bella still loves Tony and wants to win him back. Believing it will serve her purpose (stopping the divorce), she agrees to launch his two cousins in London society.
The premise for this comedy of manners is different from your typical regency, and I enjoyed the read, even if the outcome was entirely predictable. As we learn what led to their initial separation, I also found there was more depth than usual for such light, 'old-school' fare.
I really liked Bella. Beneath her sharp, sophisticated veneer, she is generous, kind and unexpectedly vulnerable. Tony, on the other hand, left me lukewarm. While I understood his behavior/rancor towards Bella, his raptures over Celeste as the ideal of womanhood tended to grate on my nerves, as did his arrogance in taking for granted that Celeste would agree to become his wife after the divorce. Of the secondary storylines, the friendship between Bella's grandfather and Celeste's Native American chaperone was probably the most interesting, though I should mention that the depiction of the latter is (unsurprisingly) dated.
Displaying 1 of 1 review