My Review

Tyrell and Fiona are a perfect match. Realizing how lonely his life would be without her or the mishaps that seem to follow her, Tyrell finds more than just laughter in his childhood friend. ( )

A romantic comedy

Enjoyable, funny, wonderful, all good words to describe this novel. I enjoyed it a lot. I think Kathleen Baldwin will become one of my favorite authors. ( )

I thought this was a fair read, but nothing spectacular. Chapter one was funny to me and it gave me great hope that this was going to be a keeper. However, as the story dragged on, I felt that the quality of the book was going down. Fiona and Tyrell make great characters, but I felt that the story was lacking something (still not quite sure what that "something" is). Aunt Honore isn't very much of an aunt in my opinion. The step-son (who is also Fiona's cousin) is great as the scheming villian of the story, but overall? I just couldn't give this story more than three stars. ( )

Originally posted on Tales to Tide You Over

Lady Fiasco hails back to the early days of the Regency romance with all the fancy dialogue, over the top situations, and vibrant characters. I’ve recently had the pleasure of reading a couple of Georgette Heyer’s novels, and Kathleen Baldwin does a great job conveying that same feel. Like Heyer’s, this is also a sweet romance.

The story begins with a decorated soldier’s return from war. Tyrell, Lord Wesmont, has seen the darker side of life, is suffering from battle fatigue, and really just wants to retire into obscurity. Instead, his mother has arranged a ball to re-introduce him to the neighborhood and help him find a bride. She demands he behaves like the gentleman he is. Forced to dance, Tyrell chooses the one young lady everyone else avoids and one he remembers from before the war as a friend.

Fiona Hawthorn is considered a disaster largely because she’s been raised by a father who did little to restrain her wild tendencies. Around her, trouble happens, and to the minds of every member of their small community, the only explanation is that she’s bad luck. In reality, it’s a combination of her own clumsiness and her beauty, which tends to make klutzes of any nearby gentleman. The situation has grown so bad, even Fiona believes she’s cursed.

Despite Tyrell’s attempts to convince her it’s nonsense, when his underlying feelings for her provoke him to share a kiss with her, even he accuses her of being trouble and thinks she’s attempting to trap him into a marriage he doesn’t want.

Already, you have hints of the serious in a wounded warrior hardened by war and with no interest in the main pastime of the young and old of society in this era: finding a spouse. Add to that a profound ridiculousness in the way disaster seems to follow in Fiona’s wake, and there’s a great number of entertaining moments.

Enter Lady Alameda, Fiona’s outrageous aunt who decides to take a hand in Fiona’s upbringing. Swept from her home, Fiona is thrust into the complexities of high society, complexities which include Marcus, Lady Alameda’s previous favorite who is far from pleased to discover he’s no longer the first in Lady Alameda’s eyes, especially when, as her step-son, he had always assumed he’d be her heir. This aspect to the story didn’t work as well for me with Marcus as the incompetent villain, but even he had his moments, and his actions led to a lovely bit of revenge I quite enjoyed.

Tyrell, of course, chases after her, honor bound to apologize for his unfounded accusations, only to discover her circumstances even worse than he could have imagined. Lady Alameda is all he’s been led to believe and worse, while his heart is not as hardened as he’d thought.

I’ve told more of the story than I usually do, but believe me when I say this is only the tip of the iceberg. Lady Fiasco offers a fun romp with wonderful dialogue and a few serious moments looking into the impact of war on soldiers. I liked both Tyrell and Fiona a lot, and found most of the secondary characters enjoyable, especially the scandalous ones. Fiona’s aunt, the Lady Alameda, is just wonderful. This is well worth the read.

Note: This is a re-release of an early title published by Zebra ( )

Simple but enticing ... ( )