Isabella and the English Witch

Not really, but it is truly a delightful book. It was clearly written with 19th century novels like Austen's as models and has a true authenticity missing in most 20th century attempts to capture the period. The English Witch is also witty and charming, but Isabella I re-read frequently.

In "Isabella", we meet our heroine (Isabella, of course) who is a plain girl of six-and-twenty with no hopes of every marrying. When she travels to London to chaperone her young cousins, it is ISABELLA who is sought after my London's beaux. In particular, she receives the attentions of two cousins, who could not be more different from one another. One is Basil Trevelyan, a wily & wicked fortune hunter. The other is Lord Hartleigh, staid and proper, who is looking for a mama for his young ward.But who will Isabella end up with? And whose intentions are honourable? "Isabella" is an exceptional book with lots of surprises and plenty of laughs. In fact, it was one of the funniest books I have read in a long time. Both of Isabella's suitors were fascinating (in their own ways). This book (5 stars) made me an instant fan of Loretta Chase."The English Witch," the second book in this compliation, features Isabella's rejected suitor from the first novel. He meets his match in Alexandra, a girl he must rescue from amorous suitors. I can't really go into great detail without giving anything away, but this book was also a delight. I'd give it 4 stars. Overall, this a wonderful 2-in-1 novel that I would recommend to any Regency reader.

Dont get me wrong, I'm a big fan of Loretta Chase's writing but only half of this combination delivers.Isabella, to my knowledge, is Chase's first book. Unfortunately it shows; the plot is badly realised, the main characters tissue paper and the contrivances of their romance grow tedious well before they are over (she is whimpy, he is stuffy and the only reason they dont manage to get together for 168 pages is because they're both stupid too). As a regency romance this would be the worst bog standard - there would be nothing Loretta Chasenish about it! - without 3 secondary characters who do their best to hijack story. Chase bravely wrestles to keep the Villain, his (and the hero's) Aunt and the heroine's Mother from running the show here but they are so strong that she has to consent to give them their own book...Thus behold the English Witch! AND HERE WE READERS GET LUCKY INDEED! It is funny and sexy and fresh as a - well, a new born Loretta Chase Romance. If this is her second novel - boy, does the lady learn fast! The hero (the ex-villain) has a heroine to match, and as the proverbial sparks fly the sly sense of humor in the writer's voice is there. As is the no-nonsense sensuality that manages simultaneusly hit the funnybone and the slightly lower regions... although much more chaste than Chase's later work, it even has an unbuttoning scene all of its own to challenge Jess and Dain (Lord of Scoundrels) that leaves reader hoping that the book would indeed be a later work: less chaste and twice as long. It is - as the blurb says- a jewel. Not yet cut perfect but full of lively fire. And who could have though that the quintessential character of the tall dark villanous hero is at his best when served shorter, blonder and wickedly chatty. Isabella is mildly relevant as a back story and, for those interested, a look into the difficulties of writing as the writer in vain struggles to breathe life in to the principals while the secondary elements effortlessly jump off the pages.But it is the English Witch that is worth the price of both!