Stevie‘s review of A Debutante’s Guide to Rebellion (The Birch Hall Romance Series, Book 1.5) by Kathleen Kimmel
Historical Romance published by Berkley 19 Apr 16
After enjoying the first book in this new series, I’ve been looking forward to the release of the second, which promises to fill in the story of my two favourite supporting characters. This wasn’t it, however, merely a stop-gap to fill in some of the background to some plot-defining events in the first novel. Nevertheless, the concept of the characters appealed – I always enjoy romances between those whom society tries to overlook – and so I gave it a good chance to impress me on its own merits.
Eddie has spent her life listening to her mother tell her she has no redeeming features. She’s plain, has no singing voice or aptitude for dancing, and tends to speak her mind freely rather than simply agreeing with the viewpoint of whatever man chooses to make conversation with her. Consequently, Eddie’s mother is determined to marry her off quickly to an older, and presumably desperate, man: such as Lord Averdale, who has no direct heir and so obviously needs a wife.
Averdale’s current heir is his nephew Ezekiel, a young man who is prone to be tongue-tied around women, although he has – memorably – spoken to Eddie at a ball, albeit on the botanical properties of strawberries. The one other woman he does manage to talk to is his cousin, and she is keen to help him overcome his difficulties. Realising that Ezekiel is keen on Eddie, his cousin arranges for them to meet – ostensibly to discuss how best Eddie can charm Lord Averdale – and then leaves them alone in an abandoned greenhouse, where the pair of them manage to spend more time discussing how the building could be brought back into use than they do talking about the reason for their meeting. And so the romance begins…
This is one of those stories that could have benefited from either being longer so we get to know the characters better and can, therefore, cheer on their attempts to elope together, or from being more obviously connected from the start to the full-length novels in the series. I was a little confused by the appearance of the elopement plot, since the plot of the previous novel was initiated by an entirely separate elopement involving two young people who made no appearance in this story as far as I could tell. Ultimately, the linking event was revealed almost at the very end of the story as a quite minor point, and while its appearance made everything fall into place, I would have liked more of a pointer to it earlier in the story.
All in all, not the most satisfactory way to prolong my wait for the next novel in the series, but a rather charming read nonetheless.
Grade: C
Summary:
A bashful botanist and a reluctant debutante are about to discover that there may be a science to seduction after all…
London, 1815: Lady Mildred Weller (Eddie to her friends) has few prospects for marriage. If she can’t attract the available—though considerably older—Lord Averdale, she may be doomed to spinsterhood. She’s even willing to enter into that loveless union, if only to escape her mother’s stifling and increasingly desperate dominance. And she may have found the perfect person to help her achieve that goal.
Ezekiel Blackwood is a botanist as well as Lord Averdale’s nephew and heir. He is also a social disaster. Cross-pollination he understands; the fairer sex not at all. But in Lady Eddie, he discovers a kindred spirit. When she asks for his assistance in assessing Lord Averdale’s interest in her, Ezekiel is crushed. But naturally, he thinks, she could never fall in love with someone like him. Ezekiel’s matchmaking cousin is only too happy to arrange a discreet rendezvous for their conspiracy—a greenhouse. Of course in such a setting, it’s only natural that feelings might begin to bloom…
No excerpt available.
Other books in this series:
