Reviews for The Golden Season

The average rating for The Golden Season based on 2 reviews is 4.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2010-09-24 00:00:00 Dustin Symes Three and a half stars. In theory this has everything: interesting characters, interesting set-up, a great sense of feeling for the period… but too much of the time, it doesn't quite gel. The setting is the London season of the classic Regency romance, and it's beautifully drawn. It feels like home to be reading a Regency with a sense of time and place again, one in which people are actually aware of the constraints of their society. Our heroine, Lydia, is one of the most aware. A celebrity of her time, she was brought up to be charming and delightful, and she walks a very careful line between being "an original" and crossing into unforgivable scandal. Lydia at first seems like she's going to be an unpleasant character, a spendthrift who only care about her position in society. She's actually far more complex: not just caring and generous, as all seemingly selfish, spendthrift heroines turn out to be, but inwardly quite insecure from never having known unconditional love. She's the star who doesn't dare give up being the star. Ned is not quite a match for her. He's noble, honourable, all the good things… and a little bland when they're together. Their witty conversation never felt all that witty to me. Though there's a masquerade ball scene that raised my temperature a few notches... and when that man writes a love letter, Lord have mercy! Utterly swoonworthy and almost makes this a keeper. Overall, there was a lot to really like here. Intelligent characters; intelligent writing. Misunderstandings averted by people actually paying attention to each other. Some illuminating plotlines with secondary characters (and unlike many other readers, I did not get the feeling of sequel-bait, though I certainly wouldn't mind.) It's a book I was glad I'd read. Just not a book I loved.

Review # 2 was written on 2010-03-21 00:00:00 Bryan Lopes I love this book! Ms. Brockway has written a first-class tale of love, honesty, and honor triumphing in that most artificial of all places, the Regency ton. Lady Lydia Eastlake must wed for money. So must former Navy captain, Ned Lockton. Each appears the other's ideal--until they fall in love and discover the other is penniless. Honor pulls them toward other partners. Love pulls them together. You'll wonder how they will reconcile their differences in this page-turner, even though a happy ending is guaranteed in a romance. When I read a romance, I have to like both hero and heroine. The heroine is usually no problem, and I like Lydia. But, all too often, the "hero" is a villain in disguise and I hate him. Not so with Ned. Ned Lockton is that rarity in romance, a nice guy. Now, "nice" does not necessarily mean "wimp". Ned is a former Navy captain who was invalided out after a distinguished career, and now has the thankless job of rescuing his feckless family from penury. He's also young, gorgeous, and blond. (I like my heroes blond.) I adore him. If you like a story that keeps you reading and guessing right up to the end, try THE GOLDEN SEASON. You won't go wrong.