My Darling Valentine

The five stars is for the first story in this anthology, "Miss Delafield Disposes" by Kathleen Beck, the only story that I found readable. This book is worth getting simply for the first story alone! If you are a fan of the beautifully written, yet farcical and tongue-in-cheek Regency story, then you simply must read this very beatifully written, and very tongue-in-cheeck story by Ms. Beck. And the fact that it was so short added, rather than detracted from the story, as it was just the perfect length for this kind of story. Lady Rettinger had decided to enlist her neighbor's help (the much-saught-after-in-the-marriage-market Lord Burton Dance) in saving her deceased god-daughter's daughter (the mother's deceased, not the daughter) from a fate worse than death - marriage for love. But, unfortunately, they may both be too late as Gowland Delafield is cursed with the Bellefleur nose. A must read! I enjoyed this story very much, was sorry that it was so short, was even sorrier that it had to end at all, and I recommend it very, very highly. Enjoy!

Although I think it is difficult to write a good short love story for an anthology, because the lack of length in a novella makes it difficult to develop plot and characters adequately, this anthology is an exception. "Miss Delafield Disposes" is not a novella to be taken as a straight-forward romance, but rather to be enjoyed with much laughter! The heroine is being bamboozled by a slick artist, and the hero rushes in to save the day, even though at first he isn't really sure what is going on. There is a lot of "tongue-in-cheek" description and dialogue,and the author has a wicked sense of humor. Her descriptions are priceless. One example is when she describes the elderly Lady R--"dressed in rusty brown, she looked for all the world like a potted shrub in dire need of watering!" The second novella, by Carola Dunn, also was very satisfying. "The Frost Fair" tells not only of the fun people had when the Thames froze over, but also of the peril when the ice started to melt. It is a delightfully sweet tale of love in the upper working class, and it will be re-read many times by me. The third story, "Cupid's Arrow," was ok, but my least favorite. The author used the "love at first sight" ploy to explain the romance, and I don't care for it as much as I do when an author shows why the couple grows to care for each other(as in the "Frost Fair," where they learn about each other while having fun at a fair). I found the third story to be kind of boring, and probably wouldn't re-read it, while the first and second stories make the book worth buying. If the third story had been better, it would have been a 5 star book. As it is, it is still a good read.