Reviewed by Charlotte. See her blog @ Charlotte
The Book’s Premise:
Did you love the wit
and elevated dialogue of Pride and Prejudice, yet always wish you got to see
Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy have it off? Set in England in the early 1800's, with
hoydens, lords and rakes, this is the witty and sexy regency romance you have been
waiting for...
London-hating
dreamer, Lydia Norwood, has failed spectacularly as a débutante. Now an
encoretante whose family has lost a fortune, Lydia discovers that the beau
monde is hard on a nouveau riche social climber, particularly one who is no longer
riche and only wants to climb trees. Lydia must stave off the effrontery of
rogue lords and conniving competitors long enough to make a good match, or else
incur society's scorn by earning her own money. Falling for the unattainable
Lord Aldley is a distraction she cannot afford. But they share such an
enchanted history, how can her heart resist?
The tragically
virtuous Earl of Aldley is tired of ambitious families hurling debutantes at
his head, but cannot hide in France forever. He returns to London to seek out
the mysterious tree-climbing girl who once saved him from a scheming chit, and
finds more than he bargained for. Abductions, seductions, trickery and injury
all endanger Lydia, but Lord Aldley's heart is imperiled beyond rescue. He has
only just found her; will he lose her forever to his enemy, his best friend, or
his own dangerous mistake?
My Review:
First off the premise and
title reveal almost all the major plot points including one or two plot
spoilers. Though why Jane Austen’s wit and elevated dialogue in Pride and
Prejudice gets a mention I know not after reading Three Abductions and An Earl.
Apart from the revealing premise
the story started well with a little intrigue, and it progressed at a steady pace
with amusing asides and character introductions. Though it slowed a great deal
and required a good many chapters until the scenes were set for envy, conflict,
and disreputable intrigue. Even so, the way Earl Aldley and Lydia Norwood hedged
around each other with words and secret thoughts was mildly amusing to begin
with. All the while the sub-characters Tilly and Rutherford (for this reader at
any rate), more than edged ahead of the hero and heroine and they did thank God
carry the plot forward after the first abduction took place. Here Rutherford took
the lead role as the wounded hero and Lydia had every reason to be grateful to
him.
Things then turned silly when
Lydia revealed bluestocking dreams of going into trade, which became an ancillary
thread amidst a lengthy period of comings and goings and spiteful rumours and
female rivalry escalated. Funnier still Aldley who at the start is a well
travelled aristocrat turned into a lovesick whimpering puppy panting and
wagging his tail every time he gets close to Lydia, and then abduction two
happens and the end result is a carriage accident.
Poor bedridden Lydia is
then confused while the earl resides in limbo land not knowing if he can have a
place in her life, and to the sidelines Rutherford and Tilly making out in the
sick room brought me to tears because believe me the second half of the book is
as funny as the premise promises even though it takes a long time to plough the
farce and reap the sinful harvest of lustful hopes and dreams.
Reviewer aside:
At 20 plus Kindle pages
per chapter it’s a long slow read with 58 chapters in all. While the first half
of the book has a good literary edge with formal permutations relevant to on dit [they say] and pen rép [error]
—
the second half falls away to a more relaxed style and strangely less formality
all told.
