Gypsy at Almack's

In my opinion, this is the best Regency romance ever not written by Georgette Heyer (or Jane Austen). I really wish "Chloe Cheshire" would write more -- or books of any kind, for that matter.

How I laughed and agonized at the adventures of the heroine Lucy and her dear friends, Cassy and Grace. It was inspiring to have the leading lady be in her 4th season and a little less perfect then most Regency misses. She actually likes to eat hearty and it shows. There wasn't a lot of emphasis on her weight - just made her more endearing and real. All the characters acted like I think they would in real life. Lord Rune was so torn by the emotions he felt for Lucy. He just wanted to help her out - not fall in love with her! How did it happen?? The story flowed very evenly from beginning to end. I enjoyed the fact there was a little turmoil towards the end. This was interesting and delightful reading; a keeper!

This is a perfect little gem of a Regency romance, a model of how very, very good this genre can be. Although I was led to believe---by several fellow writers who recommended it---that it was hilarious, it is not so much hilarious as tongue-in-cheek funny. Very funny. The author has an accomplished sense of humor. Lucy Saint-Clair, after 4 Seasons, has not taken. No suitors save an elderly baron one step away from sticking his spoon in the wall. Her Godmother Tabitha Theale, desperate, seeks help from her dissolute brother, Ernest, Lord Rune, to bring Lucy into fashion. Lucy is overweight, opinionated, devoid of most of the social graces, and equipped with fearsome, forbidding, thick, dark eyebrows. She is pitifully unaware of how to play the game at Almack's marriage mart. Ernest, jaded, older, tired of life, is jolted back to that life by the unexpected originality of this woman. Nothing he had ever thought he wanted, but, when the realization does hit that she is the only woman on God's sweet earth for him, he goes after her with a vengeance. (Takes him too long, but Regency heroes---think Mr. Darcy---are obtuse in the extreme.) This novel is peopled with wonderful secondary characters with wonderful names. Laurence Feather; Diligence, his housemaid and other; Cassy and Grace, the Theale sisters; Mina and Letty, who make too brief an appearance, Lucy's twin sisters; Tabitha, a determined mother and matchmaker; Sybil Rant, the unaccommodating modiste, who knows everything about everybody; Bibble, Puffwort, Pudder, and a slew of other well-meaning (and put-upon) servants. A delight for those who value well written prose and unusually lovely turns of phrase. It is a perfect little book. In romance novel parlance, a keeper. According to what I've heard, Chloe Cheshire aka Laura Amy Schlitz, is no longer writing Regencies. Now, that IS a shame!

Brilliantly witty period piece; cure for Austen withdrawal. This is a brilliantly witty period piece; once you've read and re-read Jane Austen, this gives you something to read! There's an improbable heroine (stout, temperamental) and an equally unlikely hero. Cheshire's characters are fully fleshed out, and the humor is character-driven. The witty dialog and observations are also a treat. A joy!

This is a brilliantly witty period piece; once you've read and re-read Jane Austen, this gives you something to read! There's an improbable heroine (stout, temperamental) and an equally unlikely hero. Cheshire's characters are fully fleshed out, and the humor is character-driven. The witty dialog and observations are also a treat. A joy