A true regency tale!

Lady Serena Spenborough is downright livid! Her eccentric father has passed away, leaving behind not only Serena but her barely out of the school room mother-in-law Fanny. Her father also saw fit to leave her wealthy inheritance in trust until she decides to marry, but that’s the not even the worst of it. Not only is she reduced to pin money until marriage, but the approval and money is the hands of the Marquis of Rotherham; the same man she jilted.

To escape dealing with their loss and neighbors, Fanny and Serena decide to move to Bath. Once there Serena reconnects with an old love, leading to a secret engagement that ignites a tangle of marriage proposals and actions that will take more than one heated conversation to unravel.

This story was completely unexpected. My dirty little secret is that this is my first Georgette Heyer book. Let’s just say I am actively going to be getting my hands wrapped around the rest. Lady Serena and Rotherham are extremely strong characters. Both give little for traditional rules of society, as Rotherham just doesn’t care and Serena was treated more like a companion by her father rather than a daughter. These two live to infuriate each other, constantly trading barbs, with Rotherham deliberately attempting to activate Serena’s temper. Yet, when Serena is faced with the possibility that another female is going to jilt Rotherham she jumps into action to change the woman’s mind. Her fierce loyalty toward him shows her feelings are more than friendship.

Bath Tangle brought me back to my Jane Austen reading days. The dialogue is just as tangled as the story, with euphemisms galore and choice words that are rarely encountered in the Regency novels of today. At times you want to throw this book across a room or yell at the characters for being so obtuse and oblivious to the goings-on. The only character in this entire book that seems the least enlightened to everything is Rotherham, and he’s the only one who really makes sense of his actions by the end of the story.

The antics and actions that take place keep the story rolling. I found myself desperate to know if the crazy situations were ever going to cease, and if Rotherham and Serena would finally find themselves together. Readers have it right when they say Bath Tangle is filled with humorous suspense. So if you’re a fan of Jane Austen this book is one you can’t miss.

~ Landra