Earl to the Rescue

October 1, 2018
This revised edition of Regency powerhouse Ashford’s first novel, originally published nearly 40 years ago, is a carefully arranged, bustling confection of Regency-era social politics. Gwendeline Gregory, left destitute by the deaths of her profligate absentee parents at the start of her first social season, is rescued by Alex St. Audley, fifth Earl of Merryn, a bachelor so popular he is nicknamed “the Unattainable.” He spirits her to his novelist mother’s London home. Gwendeline becomes increasingly dubious of his claims that her support comes from her late father’s friends and not Merryn alone, while villainous Mr. Blane threatens her with devastating information about her family. Gwendeline and Alex’s inevitable engagement lacks emotional resonance, the result of clearing obstacles rather than blossoming love. Ashford’s completist fans will find enough of her characteristic style here to make the book worth reading, but the characters’ motivations are frustratingly immature and shallow, and Ashford’s more recent work is simply better. Agent: Jennifer Weltz, Jean V. Naggar Literary.

October 1, 2018
Beggars can't be choosers. At least, this is what Gwendeline Gregory tells herself when Alex St. Audley, Earl of Merryn, comes to her rescue. With no close family or friends to turn to for help and an erratic education that rules out any possibility of a potential job as a governess, Gwendeline doesn't know what she is going to do when her parents die and leave her in debt and homeless. So when Alex suddenly turns up with a tale about a mysterious band of benefactors who had been friends with her late father and now want to help her out financially, who is Gwendeline to turn him down? The consistently smart and always entertaining Ashford (Brave New Earl, 2018) has cleverly reworked her very first novel, Gwendeline (1980), turning it into an irresistibly sweet literary confection perfect for readers who miss those marvelous traditional Regencies by the likes of Marion Chesney and Barbara Metzger.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)