Deborah Goes to Dover: Being the 5th Vol. of the Traveling Matchmaker

There seems to be comparions made between Marion Chesney's writing and Georgette Heyer's. I am not sure that I can always agree on that because as much as I have enjoyed SOME of Heyer's novels, Chesney is easier to read and digest if this book is any indication. It can take me days or weeks to read a Heyer novel whereas once I started reading Deborah Goes to Dover, I could not put the book down. I finished this book in less than 24 hours. That's when I knew it was a keeper. That feeling of enchantment you get as you devour the words and absorb the story being told, and the excitement you feel when you're only half way through the book knowing that you've discovered another great author is an indescribeable euphoria that only another bibliophile can understand. Therefore, just because you do not like Heyer does not mean you will not like Chesney.The author must have had her tongue-in-cheek the entire time she was weaving this story. I grinned through each clever chapter and character. And the telling of the love matches are endearing.This Traveling Matchmaker series is about the adventures of Miss Pym and her ever loyal footman Benjamin. But we're not talking cookie cutter stories here. You'd think Miss Pym would be young and beautiful but she is a former housekeeper with a bent nose and in her forties. Yet you root for her all the same even while Miss Pym, with the help of her unusual footman somehow manages to end up matching Deborah with the man she was meant to be with.Miss Chesney is a gifted story teller because she does not need to take up an entire chapter when one well written paragraph will do.(As much as I love to read Regencies, I find too many Regency Authors very boring because of this very fact. I detest having to wade through pages and pages of historical facts or what the people back then were wearing when a nice short paragraph will do. Instead, I want action, adventure and some heated looks, dialogue, and kissing exchanged and more. Which I happily got in this novel)Miss Chesney ends the story leaving you wanting more, to leave the house immediately to buy the rest of the series so you can find out if Miss Pym ends up with the man she is ultimately meant for but just hasn't realized yet.Bravo Miss Chesney, your talented story telling has just gained another devoted fan.

The scrapes which Miss Pym and Deborah get into are quite funny, and I even found myself chuckling quietly to myself on occasion. I loved the two stories going on at once during the book, the first being Deborah's romance, and the second, Miss Pym's love of her late employer's brother.