Didn't enjoy this book at all. I try to give authors the benefit of the doubt when it comes to characters making ridiculous mistakes but this one went a little far for me. I wasn't able to get through it unfortunately. I appreciate the effort but it was a miss for me.

Much thanks to NetGalley and Sapere books for providing me a digital ARC!

This was a throughly enjoyable novel with many of the elements that I loved about the first Alice Chetwynd Ley book I read, "Tenant of Chesdene Manor". For example, plenty of witty dialogue and characters that are actually capable of working out misunderstandings through communication! Even the fairly obvious plot twists didn't hamper my enjoyment. My only complaint, was at the beginning there was repeated reference made of Julian having 'plenty of ineligible females in his life'. Thankfully that point was dropped for the most part within the first few chapters.

If you're in the mood for something light and humorous, with just a dash of adventure look no further.

Henrietta Melville is in the unenviable position for a regency lady of being unmarried and living in her brother’s house, with a sister-in-law who dislikes her. She’s not dependent, since she has her own fortune, but surely she needs a husband and her own household? Her friends have just the candidate in mind, the Hon. Julian Aldwyn, an eligible chap who is looking for a wife who will produce an heir, to please his father. An unfortunate love affair in his youth has left Aldwyn disillusioned with romance; he wants ‘a conformable wife’. To his chagrin, Henrietta turns out to be not at all grateful for his advances. She is a sensible woman but also romantic and not about to marry in order to be someone’s housekeeper. The two part on bad terms and Henrietta goes to stay with a friend in Bath.

In Bath, a new wardrobe and a determination to have some fun while still young turn her into an attractive and flirtatious young woman, rather than the dowdy, sober one she appeared before. When Aldwyn visits Bath he is miffed to find her surrounded by admirers and thinks he must have been mistaken in her character. The reader longs to bang their heads together until they realise how well suited they are but if the path of true love ran smooth, there would be no story.

I’d not previously heard of this author and her regency romances but, on the strength of this one, I’m glad they’ve been reprinted. This is a light comedy of manners, historically accurate as far as I can tell and good fun. I found it refreshing that she doesn’t have her characters use regency slang all the time, a trait which irritates me in Georgette Heyer. Jane Austen’s characters all speak in plain English, after all.

I enjoyed reading this book. It had a good story and kept me reading. The characters were interesting, some were sly, devious and nasty. Others were kind, caring and lovely. There was a good mix. I enjoyed the description and historical facts. You hoped there would be a happy ending and I was disappointed. Recommend this book to be read.

A traditional, and old fashioned Regency. I mean old fashioned in the best sense, well researched, true to period and historical mores, an no anachronisms to throw you out of the story.

The heroine in Henrietta, in her mid twenties, she has dwindled into spinsterhood, despite being a notable heiress, due to supporting her widowed father to bring up and marry off her younger sisters. She is now living on sufferance at her family estate, as her brother and his wife have assumed stewardship of the estate and she is very much surplus to requirements. Her father became very miserly in his grief , and she is in the habit of dressing in old, dowdy clothing. Her childhood friend Almeria is visiting her father’s estate and brings her brother, Julian Aldwyn to meet Henrietta, with the express purpose of seeing if she will meet Julian’s desire for a conformable wife.

Julian and Henrietta start spending time together, and Julian eventually asks Henrietta to marry him, as he feels she will be suitably honoured and content with a loveless marriage to save her from spinsterhood. Henrietta is surprised, but realises she definitely does not want a loveless marriage, and refuses him, in order to go to bath to spend time with her other school friend Louisa, who has been widowed and recently come to live in Bath.

With the benefit of a new wardrobe and hairstyle, Henrietta transforms into a very attractive woman, and enjoys herself in Bath society, gathering a few admirers along the way. Staid Mr Burke, dashing and mysterious Irishman Mr Colby, and the young and foolish Mr Fortescue. She is not emotionally attached to any of them, but is enjoying the opportunity to flirt and enjoy herself.

Henrietta enjoys being reunited with Louisa, but doesn’t understand why her friend Louisa is so secretive about her past with her husband, and why is she meeting a strange man in private? Amelia and her husband eventually also arrive in Bath, soon followed by Julian, who is finding it very hard to stop thinking about Henrietta. Will he be jealous of her admirers, will Louisa confess her secrets and give in to her feelings for the Loyal and handsome Captain Barclay, and will Henrietta decide on the charming Mr Colby or the handsome Julian Aldwyn.

All the elements of an enjoyable regency are here, fashionable clothes, and entertainments, intrigue and secrets, an abduction, a dastardly villain and many infatuations and romantic entanglements.

Very enjoyable.

I voluntarily reviewed an advance reader copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

A 26, Henrietta might be considered to be on the shelf. Never having had a 'season', she lives with her brother and his wife. But that wife is making Henrietta increasingly unwelcome in their home, and she has decided to visit old friends in Bath and spread her wings a little. She has already turned down one marriage of convenience, considering love to be necessary, even with the benefit of escaping her sister-in-law - then Julian offers for her, and she finds that a preference on her side alone is not enough. Julian suffered a humiliating disappointment in love years earlier, and is determined never to love again. But when Henrietta turns him down, he decides to pursue her to Bath anyway. There, she blooms and flirts, while he watches and glowers - but stays. Will he decide to take a chance on love, or will it be too late?

I've enjoyed everything I've read by the author, some more than others, but this one I would have to rank up with Heyer's Regencies - but without the bad language. With lots of fun (I loved the flannel petticoat!), some tenderness and bits of mystery, this was a great, clean read, with interesting characters, enjoyable dialogue, a great storyline, and a satisfying ending - what more could one want? Highly recommended.

Note that I received a complimentary copy of the book from NetGalley. I was not required to write a positive review and this is my considered opinion of the book.

Well researched historical romance.

How lovely to read a Regency romance that stays true to period. So many books in this genre today seem to be modern romances in period costume and I find myself jarred when reading them by historical inaccuracies, modern speech and freedoms that were just not available to the fairer sex. And don’t get me started on the sheer number of eligible Dukes that seem to be available on the marriage mart!

Henrietta first forewent her Season and introduction to Society when her mother died. She was then engaged in raising and marrying off her sisters and before long seven years have past, she is on the shelf and living with a sister-in-law who resents her. Small wonder then that Julian Aldwyn thinks she will jump at the chance to be his wife and have a home of her own, even if there is no emotional attachment between them. However, much to his chagrin, she turns him down, telling him she wants love and passion in any marriage she makes. Hetty waltzes off for an extended visit to Bath, whereupon she proceeds to update her wardrobe and indulge in the fun denied her in her youth.

This book may not have any sex scenes but it does have delightful descriptions, polite manners, gamesters, cads, villains and even an abduction!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Absolutely loved this book drew me right in kept me happily turning the pages totally involved.Historical fiction romance at its best.#netgalley #saperebooks

A charming Regency romance of love required--and hardily acquired!

I haven't read any of Alice Chetwynd Ley's books for years, so when the opportunity came to revisit one her works I took it. I'm glad I did.
It's 1814 and the Honorable Julian Aldwyn decided it's about time to marry. He is persuaded by his sister to consider Miss Henrietta Melville, a spinster of twenty-six, with a nicely timed sense of humor, an intelligent outlook, and an heiress.
Henrietta has been chatelaine of her father's house. After his death her brother has inherited her childhood home. It is becoming more apparent that it is no longer the place for her. No home needs more than one mistress. Her brother's wife is determined to be mistress and the servants find it hard to drop old habits of consulting Henrietta. An unfortunate dilemma.
On the pretext of being in the neighborhood Julian decides to become acquainted with his sister's friend. An untimely proposal of a marriage of convenience stirs Henrietta to refuse him showing Julian that she's neither comfortable nor conformable.
Looking to set up her own establishment Henrietta repairs to Bath joining her widowed friend Louisa Fordyce at her residence in Pulteney Street, one of Bath's more exclusive neighborhoods.
Although Henrietta doesn't take Bath by storm she is relieved to know she is admired, by not one, but three seemingly attentive gentlemen.
Into this situation comes Julian along with knowledge of unpleasantness relating to one admirer. Quite a jolt for all concerned.
Personally, I'm quite taken with the occupant next door to the ladies, Captain Robert Barclay of the Royal Navy, who only has eyes for Louisa.
A sweet read, if a little other worldly in the conversation style, with the heroine and the secondary characters cast in the role of Heyer type personas. All is proper in Henrietta and Julian's relationship, with that suppressed hint of attraction bubbling underneath. A pleasant HEA with a splash of drama!

A Sapere ARC via NetGalley

I loved this book! It's enjoyable and entertaining.
I loved the well researched historical background, the well written characters, and the engaging plot.
A very good historical romance, I will look for other books by this author.
Highly recommended!
Many thanks to Sapere Books and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

Somehow or other I missed Alice Chetwynd Ley's books when I was younger, and A Conformable Wife is the first of hers I've read. It will not, however, be the last, for I found it charming.

It is very much in the style of one of my favourite authors, Georgette Heyer, including the familiar formula of eligible young woman meets eligible bachelor, sparks fly, there are obstacles to overcome before they, and we, reach the inevitable happy ending, and so on. Like Heyer, I'm sure that Alice Chetwynd Ley's books will explore the many possibilities offered by this pattern in very entertaining fashion, and amongst her books I will expect to find mistaken identities, dastardly villains, abductions (usually foiled), misunderstandings between lovers, young men going to the bad through gambling... all the vicissitudes which Georgian society can throw up, and all leavened with humour and warmth.

In A Conformable Wife, the Hon. Julian Aldwyn has decided that it's time he was married, and seeks a suitable wife, one able to manage a large household, and of respectable origins, obviously. His sister suggests her girlhood friend Henrietta Melville, who has kept house for her family until his death; despite being wealthy in her own right she now lives in her family home as a dependent relative of her brother and his resentful wife - it's not easy when the servants all defer to the former, instead of the present, mistress. Aldwyn, who in modern terms is positively phobic in his avoidance of love, having been once-bitten, proposes a marriage of convenience, since this will provide the rather dowdy Henrietta with her own establishment, and besides, they seem to get along quite well together. Henrietta retorts, in essence, that she's never had any fun in her life and doesn't see why she shouldn't have some now, and anyway, she'll marry - if ever, which at twenty-six, she doubts - for love, thank you.

Thus the stage is set for all the required elements, and the action moves to Bath, which is rather livelier than the family home. Henrietta embarks on a makeover, so that Julian fails to recognise her when he eventually turns up, and he's duly horrified by the number of conquests she has made. Need I say more?

Chetwynd Ley, like Heyer, is careful about her period detail, although - here, at least - she doesn't wield cant with such bravura. Perhaps she prefers not to compete? At any rate, readers shouldn't find themselves jolted out of the Regency by the annoying anachronisms which are all-too-common nowadays. Bath is well-portrayed and researched, but not in distracting detail - the author feels no need to show off her scholarship. Altogether, A Conformable Wife turned out to be an excellent place to begin my acquaintance with this author, and I look forward to many more of her books. My thanks to Sapere Books and NetGalley for my review copy.