The Heiress of Hyde Park: 5

I picked this book up at a thrift shop. I really, really enjoyed this story. Never read anything by this author...but I was not disappointed. This was a fast read for me. Although it did not have descriptive sex scenes it is still a quite romantic. Wonderful characters...great plot.. My favorite kind of story- heroine hides pregnancy and meets up with hero 6 years later. The hero in this story is so lovable. I wish this author had some more recent books to select from. However, I do plan to read all the books from this series.

I really wish I could give this book 5 stars, but I'm hung up on one little detail (which I'll get to later). First the good stuff: this book is SO WELL WRITTEN! It was simply a joy to read. The pages just flew by, and there was (almost) never any dialogue that stood out as impossibly wordy. The characters don't do stupid things, and they don't have stupid fights. It's all very real. I do wish she hadn't crammed three romances into one book (esp. when I think the other two couples really could have filled their own books!), but they're her stories, and if she wants to rush through them, well that's her business. I did get hung up on the idea that the hero (who is a nobleman) could just adopt his illegitimate son and make him his heir. Primogeniture--and period English law--doesn't work that way. The only possilbe way they'd be allowed to do this is to petition the crown to name the "adopted" son the heir, and even then the chances would be slim. There would have to be no legitimate heir (no other sons, and no male heirs in any junior branch of the family), and the King would have to think it was a good idea (when if he didn't aprove it, the money and land would revert to the crown). I know most modern readers will be happy with the ending, but it's not an historically "true" (or possible) ending, and it bothered me. In spite of this, I highly recommend this book, and I'll be ordering her first, and eagerly awaiting the next one!

I can always count on Ms. Navin for a good romance story! And I am not even finished with her newest one,The Heiress of Hyde Park. I like it very much already. Her books are well written, interesting enough, with alot of tension and confllict between her hero and heroine that keeps you reading and reading and NOT getting much else done! I am a voracious book reader( historical regency being my favorite) so much that I read almost a book a day! It captured my interest right from the beginning! It's a good story. Pick it up and enjoy! It will leave you feeling satisfied indeed. Gotta finnish reading now...

Lord Roman Aylesgarth and illegitimate Tristan Nash fell in love, but family commitments forced him to marry for wealth. Tristan felt like a chip off the old matriarchal block and is left heartbroken, financially broke, and pregnant. Her cousin takes in Tristan, obtains work for her at a London millinery shop and helps her raise her son Andrew. Seven years later, the widowed Roman sees Tristan and tries to start over, but she refuses insisting she loved her late husband. Not long afterward, Lady May Hayworth visits the shop to inform Tristan that she is her aunt, sister to her wastrel father. May, as she has successfully done with THE PRINCESS OF PARK LANE, launches her niece in high society. Although he knows he has plenty to overcome for failing her several years ago, Roman pursues Tristan, who is concerned with how he will react to having a son once he figures out that Andrew is his seed and that she never married or slept with anyone else. The second Mayfair Bride tale is a charming Regency romance that readers will enjoy once they get over their initial ire at Roman for failing to marry for love (alas, idealists when it comes to romantic novels). Similar in many ways to Michaela (star of book one), readers will want the best for Tristan and her son. Forgiving fans will root for Roman to rectify his blunder though he blows it again with Andrew (patience). Although a secondary player, in many ways Aunt May steals the show as she did previously; for fans will want to know the love story between her and her beloved. Harriet Klausner

Trista Nash, the illegitimate daughter of the governess had loved young master Roman Aylesgarth from the moment she saw him, although it would be some time before he grew up and returned the sentiment. Eventually though, he too noticed and fell in love with her and life was promising with the future Trista had always dreamed of. Unfortunately, when duty called and Roman was ordered, for the sake of the family to wed an heiress, he turned away from Trista, offering her instead the post of his mistress. Grief-stricken with his insensitive treatment, Trista ran away to build a new life for herself and the unborn child she never told him about. Years later, Lady May Hayworth, sister to a roque who happened to be Trista's biological father discovered her existence and tracked her down to gift her with an inheritance that would change her life. At the same time, Lord Roman Aylesgarth, now a widower, would re-enter her life and determinedly pursue the young woman who truly had been the love in his life that he'd never forgotten. He said his feelings were as strong as ever yet he was unaware of the son she'd borne. Could she ever take the chance of loving him again with the chance that he'd end up hating her for depriving him of his child? In his mind, would this beautiful woman be able to forgive him for the choice he'd made so many years before when he'd tossed love away for duty? In something of a Cinderella theme, this author continues with the second installment of her Mayfair Brides series. The widowed Lady May Hayworth, reading her late brothers journals discovers that the rogue has left behind several illegitimate children and takes it upon herself to search out and find as many as she can. Lady May is not only the fairy godmother handing out inheritances, but has her own complicated love life as well. The main theme features a central romance with two very wounded and flawed characters walking on eggshells trying to recapture the passionate love of their youth. In addition to the usual romance, the author has given us a very touching story of a father trying to get close to a child who sees only the man who is taking away his mothers affections. Packed with a very robust cast of secondary characters the readers will enjoy this second installment in this charming and emotional regency romance series. --- Marilyn Rondeau, Official Reviewer for www.historicalromancewriters.com ---