The English Witch

One of Ms Chase's earliest works but one in which you can readily see the witty dialogue and charming characters that we see developed in her later work. Well worth reading.

I read this after reading Isabella (which is the prequel, and the first book written by Chase - review to follow). THE ENGLISH WITCH is the story of Basil Trevelyan, cousin of the hero in Isabella and also the villain. Chase does something similar to Mary Balogh in her various "series", in that she redeems the villain in this book. So, be warned if you do not like this kind of plot.The plot is not largely set in Albania, despite what the blurbs and the reviews say. If you do not like exotic locales, avoid this book, even though the Albanian scenes are relatively small.This book, like the other early books by Chase, is a traditional Regency, which means no explicit sex (by and large) and the hero and the heroine behaving within the documented constraints of the Regency society. [I am beginning to different traditional Regencies from Regency historicals, by whether the hero and heroine adhere to social norms and customs or whether they act on the extremes of said customs and whether they behave and think like Regency people or 20th century people. Length alone is no longer a good judge, nor is explicit lovemaking]. If you love the Regency historicals by Chase, some of which are very very good, you will find this book and others like it more disappointing.I was delighted by this book, which is hard to find and out of print (I obtained my copy via inter-branch loan at my public library). I also deeply regret that Walker and Avon no longer publish traditional Regencies, since both companies published some of the best works by Chase and Jo Beverley (and some others no longer writing Regency romances).Now to the plot - Basil Trevelyan, the villain of ISABELLA, has redeemed himself by hard work and some service of a mysterious kind (perhaps spying) to the Crown. He has also managed to make his own fortune with the help of Isabella's aunt. Basil is in Greece when a letter from his aunt asks him to help out a young Englishwoman travelling in Albania with her father and fiance, both archaelogists and historians.Alexandra has a problem or rather several problems. She is not interested in marrying her fiance, who has been foisted on her to repay her father's debt to said fiance's father. Furthermore, her fiance is completely uninterested in her as a woman. This would be bad enough; things turn worse when his indifference to his fiancee is interpreted by love-struck Albanian males as encouragement to court Alexandra. One such young Albanian in fact carries off Alexandra, intending to make her his wife. This, not unnaturally, upsets his family for several reasons, one being that Alexandra is known as the "English Witch" for her unearthly beauty.Alexandra is rescued by Basil, who is pretending to be her secret fiance who has been out in the world making his fortune. Using this story, Alexandra persuades her father to delay her forthcoming marriage. When she returns to England, she has few doubts about her continuing problems. First, there is h

This is a wonderful book with fabulous characters. Loretta Chase heroines are wonderful, full of confidence,and intelligent. The English Witch is full of humor, wittiness and great dialog.

The sequel to ISABELLA (which was wonderful) is fabulous. The characters are clearly drawn, the dialogue witty and the prose, as always, is beautiful. I couldn't put this book down. Loretta Chase is one of the best writers in print today.