Review: It was different
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 05 9, 2012
Obviously the reviews for this are all over the place, so I got curious and read it.  Here are my impressions:1.  While in a regency setting, it is not the typical formula, as the writer's note suggests. The anachronisms are irritating, but not fatal to my enjoyment of the story. This is not a regency for purists.2.  It's a novella, so the story development is going to flow like a silent movie on fast-forward.  Par for the course.3.  It's an e-book, so there will be a need for copy editing - this wasn't as nearly as bad in this regard as most I've read. (Note to amazon/e-book publishers:  There is a real NEED in this field. Some of these books have mistakes that sound like a cheap dictation to typing program was used by someone with poor enunciation.)4.  It's not going to be realistic.  It's fiction. It's regency fiction for pete's sake.  Having said that, the main character has a little more sexual knowledge/understanding of her desires from those novels she's been reading than I would expect since I have also read some novels written in the regency era.  One assumes she found her father's stash of the french porn of the era and also spent a little too much time watching the farm animals. Again, this wasn't fatal to my enjoyment of the story.5.  From the hero's scene of revelation that he is in love, one would also assume that cupid was hovering and smacked him with a quiver, so sudden was his revelation, but see #2 above.6.  There was humor.  My favorite scenes were the fleeting moments with the heroine's father.  The mother seemed to turn into a caricature of Mrs. Bennett with less impulse control, but wasn't repellent.  Humorous, less formulaic regencies are not a new thing - see Kasey Michaels and Barbara Metzger in their prime.Bottom line for me.  It did make me chuckle at times; it also made me do a few eye rolls.  It is much more of a slapstick, modern sensibility treatment of a regency on fast forward.  I didn't regret spending the $2.99 for it, realizing that it was cheaper than a fast food meal and had no calories.  I was also glad that I didn't pay more than that, as it gave about the same enjoyment as that fast food meal for about the same amount of time - moments of bliss, but why did I do that.  It was .....ok, placing me smack at that 3 star rating.