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julianav's review
1.0
I feel like the author missed this one. The premise of this book is silly to be honest, the heroine, the unbelievably beautiful blonde and violet-eyed Penelope sketches three gentlemen in the park. Lo and behold one of these men, a French spy is so incensed by her sketching his likeness he tries to attack her. Fortunately, his handler, and our future romantic hero is there to intervene in his lavender coated masculine glory. The heroine, who until that point has proven to be about as smart as a door handle is naturally unimpressed.
Just wait, there is more! Our hero despite the heroine's insistence decided to become her bodyguard to protect her from the deranged French spy and subsequently kills him - he was a Frenchman, so our patriotic characters just don't care. The hero's association with spy work is openly known and all other friends of the hero and heroine freely pitch in with ideas. This is all freely interspersed with colloquialisms one sees on Monthy Python, so much so, that I wanted to shout out to the hero, "Tallyho old chap!" Naturally, this leads to the hero having to propose to our heroine where they supposed to discover their mutual love and attraction throughout the course of the book. Add to that another French spy, because a regency romance has to have a dastardly antagonist and you begin to sympathize with the first villain.
In short, this contrived, boring piece of writing utilizing lots of modern Americanisms is not worth a reader's time. The author tries for authenticity by using common color names of those times, such as jonquil and robin egg blue. Did her editor not mention that the latter color name was only use in the latter half of the century? I'm no stickler for absolute historical accuracy in a romance book, especially for something so minor, but this just shows that the author was just looking to cash in on the Regency romance genre without really understanding it.
Just wait, there is more! Our hero despite the heroine's insistence decided to become her bodyguard to protect her from the deranged French spy and subsequently kills him - he was a Frenchman, so our patriotic characters just don't care. The hero's association with spy work is openly known and all other friends of the hero and heroine freely pitch in with ideas. This is all freely interspersed with colloquialisms one sees on Monthy Python, so much so, that I wanted to shout out to the hero, "Tallyho old chap!" Naturally, this leads to the hero having to propose to our heroine where they supposed to discover their mutual love and attraction throughout the course of the book. Add to that another French spy, because a regency romance has to have a dastardly antagonist and you begin to sympathize with the first villain.
In short, this contrived, boring piece of writing utilizing lots of modern Americanisms is not worth a reader's time. The author tries for authenticity by using common color names of those times, such as jonquil and robin egg blue. Did her editor not mention that the latter color name was only use in the latter half of the century? I'm no stickler for absolute historical accuracy in a romance book, especially for something so minor, but this just shows that the author was just looking to cash in on the Regency romance genre without really understanding it.
saradavcamp's review
I really enjoyed this book! The heroine, Penelope, is smart, though young. She's capable and interesting and not the typical desperate for marriage woman of the era. Her accidental suitor, Beau, is brilliant and deadly. It was fun to see him fall for Penelope when that was the last thing on his mind. He'd been a confirmed bachelor for a long time, but Penelope wins him over in surprising ways. The story was great, the characters were wonderful. Just a great story overall.
bexmeow14's review
4.0
Nice build to love - no one falling instantly in love here - except towards the end when everything felt kind of abrupt. Otherwise, a good, clean romance.
dcgw's review
4.0
Enjoyable
I thoroughly enjoyed Penelope. As the book says, she is an Original. She is honest, humble, caring, enthusiastic, and endued with many unexpected talents. Really enjoyed the whole set up. It's just one thing after another. The ending was in question for a while, but it all worked out fine in the end. A feel good read, with plenty of adventure thrown in.
I thoroughly enjoyed Penelope. As the book says, she is an Original. She is honest, humble, caring, enthusiastic, and endued with many unexpected talents. Really enjoyed the whole set up. It's just one thing after another. The ending was in question for a while, but it all worked out fine in the end. A feel good read, with plenty of adventure thrown in.
totonia's review
4.0
An unconventlinal Lovestory combined with Espionage. Set in Austens time but also clearly something new. With a Hero and Heroine who get to know each other under extraordinary circumstances and finally discover their love for one another.
I realy enjoyed reading it. Since I am a great fan of Jane Austen's novels I half expected this to be something like hers. In a way it was but the style of Vandagriff was very different. I highly appreciated that Vandagriff takes note of the historical situation her novel is set in.
The only thing which bothered me a tiny bit was that the story was a bit short .. I would have liked it to last a bit longer.
All in all I can definitly recommend "Her Fateful Debut" to all who like a historical romance with a little extra.
I realy enjoyed reading it. Since I am a great fan of Jane Austen's novels I half expected this to be something like hers. In a way it was but the style of Vandagriff was very different. I highly appreciated that Vandagriff takes note of the historical situation her novel is set in.
The only thing which bothered me a tiny bit was that the story was a bit short .. I would have liked it to last a bit longer.
All in all I can definitly recommend "Her Fateful Debut" to all who like a historical romance with a little extra.
wealhtheow's review
3.0
Penelope Swinton has just begun a London Season when she accidentally catches the attention of a French double agent. Lord Winston "Beau" Saunders has to shadow her to protect her against the spy's attempts on her life, and in so doing falls in love.
wingsandfables's review
3.0
*3.5 stars*
This was a cute story but nothing spectacular. I wanted to pick this up as I have read one other book by this author before and was interested in what she could do with a different time period (the one I read before took place in WWII). While I prefer the previous book I've read from before, this one is a sweet story if you are a fan of Regency-period romances.
The premise and setting for the book were quite interesting. Something unique about the book was the use of so many French words. I hadn't read a book yet that utilized foreign words in that way and it's made me curious if it was a commonplace thing in that age-old world.
The characters were okay. There was nothing remarkable about them which I think inhibited my enjoyment of the book. While not necessarily the "normal" characters for this time period, they're normal for this type of historical fiction, particularly with the main female character being unique, going-against-the-grain, yet beautiful as so many Regency heroines are. The male main character was a bit more unique such as his choice of unusual clothing and persuading people to see him as a "dandy" as his form of disguise. Overall, I just wish that the characters' personalities and thoughts had been explored more.
The plot ran okay as well. There is a bit of a twist to the story involving espionage but it is not explored in much depth. I wouldn't say anything unpredictable happened but it is still a sweet, clean read for lovers of historical fiction.
*I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review*
This was a cute story but nothing spectacular. I wanted to pick this up as I have read one other book by this author before and was interested in what she could do with a different time period (the one I read before took place in WWII). While I prefer the previous book I've read from before, this one is a sweet story if you are a fan of Regency-period romances.
The premise and setting for the book were quite interesting. Something unique about the book was the use of so many French words. I hadn't read a book yet that utilized foreign words in that way and it's made me curious if it was a commonplace thing in that age-old world.
The characters were okay. There was nothing remarkable about them which I think inhibited my enjoyment of the book. While not necessarily the "normal" characters for this time period, they're normal for this type of historical fiction, particularly with the main female character being unique, going-against-the-grain, yet beautiful as so many Regency heroines are. The male main character was a bit more unique such as his choice of unusual clothing and persuading people to see him as a "dandy" as his form of disguise. Overall, I just wish that the characters' personalities and thoughts had been explored more.
The plot ran okay as well. There is a bit of a twist to the story involving espionage but it is not explored in much depth. I wouldn't say anything unpredictable happened but it is still a sweet, clean read for lovers of historical fiction.
*I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review*
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