Really enjoyed this book. Great plot and engaging, believe characters. I was drawn right into the story. Would definitely recommend.

After the death of her father and brothers, young heiress Jennifer Purchas finds herself at the mercy of the uncle who has taken control of her estate. She runs away, takes a job as a governess and plans to hide and wait until she is old enough to control her own inheritance and her life. Meanwhile, George Ferris has promised her dying soldier brother to look after Jennifer. In writing to her uncle, he offers marriage. The story is centres on encounters between the two.

I don't normally read romance but I did enjoy this one alot.

Many thanks to Netgalley for this ARC all views are my own.

Did not manage to really enjoy this book, I love the trope but unfortunately the writing fell a bit flat for me to really get in to it. Great plot but not for me.

I've always loved historical romance novels and that instantly drew me into this story but unfortunately I just couldn't find a connection with “Runaway Bride”. The question remains unknown if it was the storyline, characters it writing style moreso I will say in simpler words, I was bored with the read and I wasn't even through the ¼ mark of the entire series. Unfortunately I have have decided to drop this series and take it into to consideration of possibly picking this back up in the future.

I loved this book. It reminded me so much of Georgette Heyer’s regency romances. This has a well-written plot that made me laugh and keep reading to see how things would finally turn out the way they should. This is a clean regency romance with no foul language. George and Jennifer’s “mistaken identities” were such fun. I have not read anything else by this author, but I’ll certainly be looking for more of her books.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher.

#RunawayBride #NetGalley

Runaway Bride by Jane Aiken Hodge is written in a fashion that places you in an alternate time. The writing in old style is not once broken and adds a wonderful layer to the atmosphere of the book. Along with a web of motives, backstabbing, friendship, and the desire for a better life this book is phenomenal.

I received an advance reader copy in exchange for a fair review.

George Ferris made a promise to look out for the sister of a dying friend. Jennifer Purchas, however, wants nothing to do with the man who waited too long to keep his promise. Will these two see through the personas they present to find true love?

Jennifer was a fun character to follow! After being under the thumb of an uncle, she rebels and takes off to avoid marriage with a stranger. Though some of her decisions were desperate, she did what she thought she had to do to protect herself. George's high handed manner brings consequences to him, and it brought an air of humor to the story.

The plot moved at a good pace and kept me interested from start to finish. George's grandmother was a delight and livened every scene she was in.

I would recommend this to any reader who loves Regency romances.

Jennifer Purchas has had the misfortune of her father and both brothers dying during the Napoleonic wars. Her acquistive uncle, Mr. Gurning, has seized control of her inheritance, and to make matters worse, he's planning to marry her off to Mr. George Ferris, a friend of her late brother whom she's never even met. Determined to take the reins of life into her own hands, Jennifer runs away to become a governess. But after a string of mishaps, she ends up in London under the nom de plume Miss Fairmont and under the protection of Lord Mainwaring's grandmother. Jealous of her redheaded beauty, Jennifer's rivals construct scheme after scheme to destroy her reputation, and it is only the timely intervention of the blunt and forceful Lord Mainwaring that saves her from becoming the scandal of the year.

George Ferris is an up and coming leader of the Whig party. He needs a society wife to help him advance his career, but he has made a promise to his dying friend Richard Purchas to look after his seventeen-year-old sister. When Ferris makes an offer for the girl, she has the temerity to run away rather than meet him. Meanwhile, at the death of his own father, George becomes Lord Mainwaring. Through a collection of inharmonious circumstances, when visiting some family friends, George becomes saddled with an unsuitable governess and foists her on his grandmother to save the girl's reputation. But when the dowager duchess decides to launch the girl into society, it is all George can do to keep up with Miss Fairmont's faux pas and stop her from ruining herself in front of the watching world.

This novel by Joan Aiken Hodge was originally published in 1976 and was re-released this month. The style is almost a direct copy of a Georgette Heyer romance, and Lord Mainwaring with his abominably bad temper and bullying ways fits nicely with Heyer's "Mark 1" heroes. The inclusion of many famous society characters (Lady Caroline Lamb, Lady Cowper, Mrs. Drummond-Burrell, etc.) also mirrors Heyer's work, as does the re-creation of nineteenth century dialogue (instead of using modern parlance). The plotting of the book was not quite as neat as the the inimitable Heyer (is it possible to believe that Jennifer went out in society and never realized that George Ferris and Lord Mainwaring were the same person?), but if the reader can suspend disbelief a little, this novel is a fine diversion in the style of older Regency romances.

Disclosure: I received a complimentary review copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Runaway Bride by Jane Aiken Hodge. Agora Books, 2019.

After the death of her father and brothers, young heiress Jennifer Purchas finds herself at the mercy of the uncle who has taken control of her estate. She runs away, takes a job as a governess and plans to hide and wait until she is old enough to control her own inheritance and her life. Meanwhile, George Ferris has promised her dying soldier brother to look after Jennifer. In writing to her uncle, he offers marriage. The story is centres on encounters between the two.

Runaway Bride, originally published in 1976, is far from my favourite Jane Aiken Hodge book. That most elements of the plot are familiar from many historical romances, so that the story is very predictable is not the main problem; it just carries on far too long.

Both main characters make questionable decisions, but George is too obtuse to cheer on; given the opportunity I’d be inclined to encourage Jennifer to run as fast as she might in the opposite direction.

While well-enough written, the narrative and dialogue are stilted and plodding; perhaps Hodge has done too good a job at replicating Regency dialogue style. The first Jane Aiken Hodge book I ever read was written in a similar fashion so was almost my last. To remind myself why I enjoyed reading Jane Aiken Hodge’s books years ago, I reread Shadow of a Lady (1993) and Bride of Dreams (1996) and confirmed for myself that she did not always write like this.

Disclosure: I received a review copy of Runaway Bride free via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This novel is an old fashioned Regency romp, very much in the style of Carola Dunn, or Joan Smith. It is very well written, with all the accurate vocabulary and idiom of Georgette Heyer, as well as seamless in terms of the historical detail.

The plot is much more contrived and far fetched than one would expect with a lot of misunderstandings and dramatic set pieces happening, plots against the heroine Jennifer Purchase, and duels, abductions, and mistaken motives and identity all abound, however, we don’t read this sort of book for the realism, so it is all a merry romp, which I throughly enjoyed.

The only thing that didn’t ring true for me was that Mainwaring was not recognised as Mr George Ferris very quickly. For him to have ascended to the title of Duke because of the death of two in his family to not be the subject of gossip in the ton is frankly unbelievable.

Jennifer is 17 and an heiress, her father and brothers have died fighting in the Napoleonic wars. George Ferris has resigned his commission and come back to firstly become a politician, and eventually, when he gets round to it) fulfil his deathbed promise to her brothers to look after Jennifer by marrying her, despite the fact they have never met.

Jennifer’s unpleasant uncle tries to hold her to this betrothal, which she decides against, and she escapes, firstly to become a governess (Miss Fairbanks) to George’s wards, and then when her uncle steals her away from Laverstoke Park, she escapes to London. George has now become Lord Mainwaring, he rescues her from a political mob and takes her to be companion to his formidable grandmother.

His cousin Lady Beresford, her daughter Pamela, Lady laverstoke, the duchess’ maid, and the villainous Lord Mandeville all plot against Jennifer, either for jealousy or revenge. There are a multitude of subplots concerning her Uncle Mr Gurning, his ward Edmund, and her cousin Elizabeth, it is all a little confusing, but enjoyable nonetheless.

I really liked this, it was in the great Heyer tradition, if a little more lighthearted, and Jennifer was a spirited, interesting and brave heroine. Lord Mainwaring was a bit stuffy and cross, and they suited each other well. I find the huge age gaps in these books a little problematic 17 to 35, but that was normal at the time, and is a fault of my own modern sensibilities.

All in all well worth a read.

I received an Arc of this book which I reviewed voluntarily.

Also posted on goodreads

This will certainly appeal to readers who enjoy light romances. While I didn’t care for the book, I can think of many patrons who will become fans of Jane Aiken Hodge.

If you are in the mood for over-the-top drama and a plot built on far-fetched coincidences, Runaway Bride is the just the book for you! The author's writing style was interesting and easy to read, despite this being a somewhat longer book. I can easily imagine this being turned into a melodrama, where the audience gets to boo and hiss at the villains and cheer for the hero/heroine.

Thank you to NetGalley and Agroa books for providing a digital review copy.

Loved this story, it has been my favorite of her works. The characters are darling and so fun to read about. The story line is exciting and fast paced.

Lovely read of its genre with likeable hero and heroine in George and Jenny.
Nice for a cold winters night.

This book would appeal to the fans of the older style English writing. There was a little too much of 1800's speech in this. The writer knew what she was doing and this would appeal to someone who wanted to immerse themselves in the speech of the time. The story was a fun one and really had me continuing reading when the feeling and language of the story turned me off a bit. It was too mater of fact and less emotion driven. It was very English. The Heroine in the story was great and I so enjoyed her journey. The romance was so flat I was pretty sad at how the author handled it. These two saw each other a handful of times and had three conversations with each other, but everyone else in the book talked too much! Oh my gosh the long winded speeches and drug out stories. The book doesn't even have a kiss......I was pretty disappointed. But again the writing of the end scene was well written and at this point in the story I saw it coming. I'm not sure I will read this author again unless I want a story exactly like this again but that is unlikely.

An old-fashioned Regency romance (originally published in 1976 and now available as an ebook).

George Ferris feels honor-bound to marry the sister of his friends who died at Waterloo. The fact that she is an heiress doesn't hurt either. But for various reasons, he waits a year before he proposes, by letter. Jennifer Purchas, enraged at the disrespect, rejects his suit and flees her overbearing uncle. She ends up as a governess, under an assumed name. When her charges' older brother attempts to assault her, she flees again. The children's guardian leaves her in the care of his grandmother in London. With the formidable duchess as a sponsor, Jennifer finds herself in the thick of the London Season, beset by jealousy, backbiting, rakes, and other hazards. And the man she wants--the duchess's grandson, is betrothed to another.

A fun romp.

I loved Jennifer. She refused to be bullied into marrying a stranger, so she ran. George is an honorable man, duty bound. Their story is lots of fun. Tons of secondary characters to keep track of!!!

The author wrote a good story, but it was hard to get past some of the situations that don't make much sense.

Runaway Bride by Jane Aiken Hodge is a wonderfully written peak back in time. I love the heroine’s strength and resilience. There are lots of twists and turns in the story that keep it interesting. The characters are delightfully unique while still fitting the necessary stereotypes. Highly recommended!!

A fun read. The re-issue of Jane Aiken Hodge titles will bring pleasure to many who have read her previously and the enticing and attractive jackets will entice new readers. Cosy romance, perfect for long winter days. Great
for fans of Stephanie Laurens & Mary Balogh . Thank you to Agora and Netgalley for providing me with this free ARC.