The Plumed Bonnet (Signet Regency Romance)

Loved this book. Read it in one night!! I had to pass it along to my daughters. This is an especially good Mary Balogh

The Duke of Bridgewater is bored and cynical. An apparently cold, reserved, very upright and dignified gentleman, he always behaves correctly. When he comes across Stephanie Gray wearing a very gaudy bonnet in some distress by the roadside he offers to take her up in his carriage. In fact she is a well brought up vicar's daughter who has been robbed of her money and is in dire need of rescue. After a very profound misunderstanding the Duke is eventually obliged to offer her marriage and Stephanie in mistaken admiration and gratitude tries to turn herself into the perfect future Duchess. Whilst he desperately craves her warm spontaneity and passion for himself, she tries to suppress her own personality thinking he disapproves of her behaviour. The story tells how this misapprehension is gradually unravelled as they learn to know each other better during the first difficult weeks of their marriage. Its a lovely story, lots of character development, plenty of sensual content, very well done and in context - so their first night of marriage is perfectly and realistically described as an awkward encounter, no simultaneous fireworks here but it gets better! By the end both of them have lost their inhibitions with each other and can be themselves. Its a lovely and moving ending. A very satifying read and highly recommended. Quite a few characters from previous books appear - the Marquess of Carew (Lord Carew's Bride), Francis Kneller and Cora (The Famous Heroine) and Lord and Lady Thornhill (Dark Angel).

I have to say I am biased; I like this series by Mary Balogh so much that they are all keepers (starting with THE FAMOUS HEROINE and ending with THE CHRISTMAS BRIDE, which is also part of another series). What makes THE PLUMED BONNET special to me among the wonderful books in this series is the amount of realism that Balogh brings to this particular book. Normally, Regency writers often have heroines tramping around the countryside with little recognition of some real dangers that could exist. This book shows some of the dangers that could befall a woman travelling alone, and makes us understand some of those "peculiar" social conventions such as having your maid or a man servant travel with you. The story begins with a bored Duke of Bridgwater (who has appeared in several other books in the series as a friend or acquaintance of the other heroes) deciding to leave London. On the way he takes up a young woman whom he believes to be a woman of easy virtue. He jumps to this conclusion based on her attire (incidentally, the cover art shows her in the wrong color dress, and the duke not dressed for the country). As it happens, appearances are deceiving, but the duke has been well-entertained by the young woman's efforts to spin him a story about her expectations (she has just inherited a fortune, she is a former governess, but she must marry within a specified time period, and so forth). It turns out that the young woman was speaking the truth, and the Duke realizes that he has compromised her, and then offers to marry her to protect her name and reputation, and his own honor. The story then moves to London, where the heroine - Stephanie Gray - is being trained to be a duchess by the Dowager Duchess (the very same Duchess who was chaperoning Cora in the THE FAMOUS HEROINE). She is also painfully aware of how much she owes the duke - not just her reputation, but more. The duke wants much more than formality from his fiancee, but he cannot seem to communicate that to her - or she misinterprets his words, his expressions, and his actions.After the marriage, the Duke confesses the truth to his wife - that he thought her a lady of easy virtue, and that he intended to make her his mistress. Stephanie realizes that she has built up the duke to be a paragon. Although the confession is painful, it is necessary for them to rebuild a new life together. And here, Balogh displays her genius by showing us a new side of the Duke (as if we had not been surprised by being allowed inside the duke's mind in the first place).If you like Mary Balogh and the like (Carla Kelly, and others who take time to build up characters slowly), you will love THE PLUMED BONNET. This is not a story filled with dash and intrigue; the tension comes from the story itself, and the changes in the hero and the heroine as they struggle to adjust to expectations of each other and what society expects of them. No spies, no major villains - just a story of how an unlikely couple m

This was my first Mary balogh book and i loved it. It was a refreshing change from the same old cynical hero, and perfect, sickly sweet heroine and perfect romance...... it was closer to reality because it was not so perfect and the way it was written,.....u could relate to the characters and understand their feelings. I especially liked the scene where she first meets her in-laws-to-be and she doesn't suddenly become witty and chraming but reacts like a normal person would..... she was not perfect and neither was the hero....thats what made the book so enjoyable!