The Clandestine Betrothal

The Honorable Hugh Eversley, age 27, is also known as Beau. A handsome, wealthy, and very fashionable man, he has a younger sister, Georgiana, Georgy, who has just left her young ladies' Seminary. Georgy’s school friend, Susan Fyfield, has always enjoyed hearing stories from Georgy about Beau Eversley. After leaving school, Susan returns to live with her aunt and older cousin, Cynthia. As her aunt is a widow, money is somewhat scarce so Susan finds herself living on the edge of the nicer world where Georgy lives. Cynthia has just become betrothed. Susan is told that she is an heiress but knows nothing more about it. She never knew her parents and was brought to her aunt’s as a young child. She is convinced that she was born a bastard which makes her feel ashamed.

Susan is to attend Georgy’s coming out ball and is eager to see Beau again. As Susan is a shy person and has not had invitations to dance, Beau gallantly steps in and asks her to dance. In addition, he escorts her in for supper. Never having had anything alcoholic to drink, Susan becomes tipsy after quaffing a glass of champagne and Beau discreetly gets her aunt who takes her home. But Susan tells her aunt that she is engaged to Beau! The next morning, Susan searches out Beau and confesses her error. He agrees to go along with her but the story now continues to grow and makes for a lot of problems which also makes for a lot of fun.

Follow Susan and Beau as they search for the mystery of Susan’s past. The characters are perfectly woven into the story making for a terrific Regency romance novel which was first written in the 1960s.

Copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Enjoyable Quick and Easy Read.
An impetuous girl and a man with a compassionate heart. Susan has a habit of not thinking before she speaks which lands her in a scrape which Hugh Eversley gallantly attempts to cover up. However this leads to a revelation that rocks Susan’s world. I enjoyed this old fashioned story and the growth in Susan’s maturity. Recommended story.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Susan went to school with Beau Eversley's younger sister, and heard so much of him that one day she escaped from school to visit a neighbouring estate at a time when she knew he would be there, just to have a look at him. But this introduction would have led nowhere had they not met again at a ball, on which occasion he took her in to supper. Too much champagne made her blurt out a fanciful dream as a fact to her aunt - that she was engaged to Beau Eversley! Of course, she had to warn him, but somehow he was willing to continue the fake engagement for a while before breaking it off. However, this betrothal led to other, wholly unexpected complications...

Though Susan is clearly in love all along, the Beau takes a while to work out how he feels, and the relationship develops slowly. The complication that comes to light is brought out beautifully, and neatly ends up bringing the two together, though initially it seems to Susan to be the end of everything. The resolution of the complication was foreshadowed enough that it was somewhat predictable, but that didn't stop it being enjoyable. My main complaint about the book was the abrupt way in which it ended (no doubt to make ready for a sequel), though the discussion of the Beau's way of life showed him rather too clearly to engage in rakish behaviour than I quite liked.

Content: clean, clear statements that the hero had mistresses (one at a time), but nothing on stage, or even during the time covered by the story.
Language: clean, little or no(?) bad language or blasphemy
Writing: good, few errors and highly readable
Characters: felt realistic, Susan in particular developed nicely
Storyline: interesting, but with a semi-cliffhanger

Note that I received a free copy of the book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I was not required to write a positive review and this is my considered opinion of the book.

The Clandestine Betrothal has everything you are looking for in a Regency Romance. Strong protagonist - check. Cheeky, but handsome man - Check. Balls and Masquerade parties - Check. I really enjoyed being pulled into the world created by Ley - the clothes, the language, the manners! I felt like both the protagonist, Susan Fyfield, and her love interest Beau Eversley, were well-drawn and interesting. And I loved that Horace Walpole was a reference in the novel and that his family played are role in the mystery of Miss Fyfield's lineage Ley sets up for the reader. For those that don't know, Walpole is considered to have written the first true Gothic novel The Castle of Onranto.

If Regency Romance is a genre you enjoy you will NOT be disappointed by The Clandestine Proposal. She expertly invokes the style of Jane Austen while drawing a modern flare to the characterizations. I appreciated the love story that remained innocent rather than tawdry, which is a huge flaw in those writing Regency Romance today. This book was written in 1960 and it maintains a true British stiff upper-lip and 1700s English ambeiance.

I give this novel a solid 🍷🍷🍷🍷 as I truly enjoyed it. My fifth glass is reserved because the reveal of the orphaned parentage was a bit obvious (although I think it was supposed to be a shocker,) but that's really the only "flaw" I found in the book. The dialogue and interactions are authentic and true.

This was an entertaining read. Susan was an engaging and spirited character and infatuated with Beau, the oldest brother of her friend Georgy. Beau had a reputation of a rake but had a caring heart for those he loved. There is a mystery concerning Susan’s parents that takes up most of the second half of the book. It had a slow start but then moved along at a good pace. The ending was just a little too abrupt for me but nevertheless I will look into reading the next book in the series. I received a copy and voluntarily reviewed it. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This book was originally published in the 1960's and the writing compares more to Jane Austen era prose than the typical Regency books of today. 

Susan Fyfield is seventeen years old and typical of teenagers has developed a crush on her friends older brother. Mistakenly informing her aunt that she is engaged she is pleased when her "fiance" Beau Eversley agrees to go along with the fake engagement. 

This is a clean sweet romance typical of a bygone era. An enjoyable light-hearted read. 

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. For more reviews please visit my blog:
http://www.wonderfullyweird88.com/