An Honourable Thief: AND Miss Jesmond's Heir (Regency Lords and Ladies Collection) [Paperback]

This review was written for Volume 12 in the Mills and Boon "Regency Lords and Ladies" series, each of which contains two historical romance novels. The two books it contains have also been published separately, and this review also appears on the page for one of the stand-alone editions of "An Honourable Thief" by Anne Gracie. If you're on that page please ignore references to "Miss Jesmond's Heir."

Both "An Honourable Thief" and "Miss Jesmond's Heir" have a common theme, that of central and supporting characters whose true identity may be rather different than at first appears to be the case. In both novels the rightful place of the characters concerned may be higher than they realise themselves. In one of these novels - I won't say which to avoid spoiling the story - one character finds that she actually is the person who she thought she was impersonating.

"An Honorable Thief" by Anne Gracie tells the story of Kathleen (Kit) Smith. The tale begins in the Dutch East Indies as Kit is caring for her dying father, who has been mortally wounded in a duel. He has spent the last twenty years in exile under various names after leaving England in disgrace, and extracts a deathbed promise from Kit that she will seek revenge on those who he claims ruined him. He sends Kit to Miss Rose Singleton in London, who he says is her aunt, orders Kit to use the name Catherine Singleton, and says that Rose will look after Kit and will help bring her out in polite society.

As her father had only the most oblique acquaintance with the truth, whose propensity for annoying people or losing money has often forced them to leave yet another country in a hurry, and Kit Smith has consequently been forced to adopt many false names in the past, she realises that this is likely to be a farrago of lies. However, Rose Singleton turns out to be a pleasant and apparently respectable lady, who does take Kit in, so she doesn't ask any impertinent questions.

Kit's arrival in London coincides with a spate of thefts from members of the ton by a mysterious Chinese cat-burglar. The Hon. Hugo Devenish, son of the late Lord Norwood and uncle of the present holder of the title, tries to catch the burglar, but keeps being foiled by bad luck.

Meanwhile Hugo also resolves to investigate the mysterious girl whom his nephew Lord Norwood wants to marry in order to repair the family finances. The popular rumour that this girl, Catherine Singleton, is the heiress to a diamond mine in the penal colony of New South Wales cannot possibly be correct ...

Rather implausible but highly entertaining.

The second novel in this volume, "Miss Jesmond's heir" by Paula Marshall, is the sequel to her novel "The Wolfe's Mate" which was included in Volume 11 of this series and has also been published separately. The hero of this story is Jess Fitzroy, who was the friend and close associate of Ben Wolfe, the hero of the previous book.

Strictly speaking this is a Georgian Romance rather than a Regency one, as it is set after the Prince Regent had succeeded to the throne as George IV.

At the start of the story, Jess, who is independently wealthy through his business dealings with Ben Wolfe, inherits from his great-aunt, Miss Jesmond, the country house at Netherton where he had lived as a child. Arriving at the property, he finds two children and a young man engaged in a game of cricket.

The children are the twin son and daughter of Mrs Caro Pomfret, the young widow who owns the neighbouring Pomfret Hall: and a closer look reveals that the person looking after them is not a young man at all but their aunt Georgina. Following the deaths of both their husbands, Georgina Herron (nee Pomfret) has returned to her family home at Pomfret Hall to live with her sister-in-law.

Jess finds both the pretty widows of Pomfret Hall attractive. Caro would be a sensible choice for a wife but it is Georgina, despite the independent ways she was taught by her late husband, a freethinking Oxford Don, who comes to dominate his thoughts ...

Meanwhile the local banker seems to be up to no good, and for some strange reason the British government has sent agents to keep tabs on Jess Fitzroy. Is his great-aunt the only person to whom he is the rightful heir ? Or is it one of the widows of Pomfret Hall who is not what she appears ?

Some good period details such as the descriptions of one or two real historical characters, such as Henry Addington, (Lord Sidmouth) and Lord Palmerston. The inclusion of these two figures was a clever counterpoint because both are most often remembered today for their respective terms as Prime Minister half a century apart: in Addington's case two decades before this book, in Palmerstons case three decades after it. Addington had a brief and undistinguished stint as PM at the beginning of the 19th century, between Pitt the Younger's two terms of office, prompting the poem

"Pitt is to Addington
as London is to Paddington"

but this book correctly presents him as Home Secretary, a position he held with rather more effect from 1812 to 1822, by which time he had become Viscount Sidmouth.

Lord Palmerston is best known as the arch exponent of "gunboat diplomacy," particularly as a Liberal interventionist Foreign Secretary, and ultimately Prime minister in his vigorous old age in the mid-19th century. However, for twenty years at the outset of his extremely long political career he was a Tory minister as Secretary at War under Percival, Liverpool, Canning, and briefly Wellington. Palmerston held that position at the time of George IV's accession and is correctly described as such in this book.

Both novels are froth and nonsense in the regency tradition, but both are quite entertaining. Not a patch on Georgette Heyer, let alone Jane Austen, but an amusing way to while away a couple of hours.

To date there are thirty volumes, each containing two novels, in the "Regency Lords and Ladies Collection" series. One minor niggle is that the front cover does not display either the series number (it's on the side) or the story titles, many of which have been published separately. So you if you are an avid collector of regency romances and don't want to buy a story you already have, you may need to be a little careful with this series. However, this should not present any serious difficulty.

The thirty books in the series contain the following stories:

1) "The Larkswood Legacy" by Nicola Cornick, and "The Neglectful Guardian" by Anne Ashley

2) "My Lady's Prisoner" by Elizabeth Cree, and "Miss Harcourt's Dilemma" by Anne Ashley

3) "Lady Clairval's Marriage" by Paula Marshall, and "The Passionate Friends" by Megan Alexander

4) "A Scandalous Lady" by Francesca Shaw, and "The Gentleman's demand" by Megan Alexander

5) "A Poor Relation" by Joanna Maitland, and "The Silver Squire" by Mary Brendan

6) "Mistress or Marriage?" by Elizabeth Rolls, and "A Roguish Gentleman" by Mary Brendan

7) "Rosalyn and the Scoundrel" by Anne Herries, and "Lady Knightley's Secret" by Anne Ashley.

8) "The Veiled Bride" by Elizabeth Bailey, and "Lady Jane's Physician" by Anne Ashley.

9) "Perdita" by Sylvia Andrew, and "Raven's Honour" by Claire Thornton

10) "Miranda's Masquerade" by Meg Alexander, and "Gifford's Lady" by Claire Thornton

11) "Mistress of Madderlea" by Mary Nichols, and "The Wolfe's mate" by Paula Marshall

12) "An Honourable Thief" by Anne Gracie, and "Miss Jesmond's Heir" by Paula Marshall

13) "Jewel of the Night" by Helen Dickson, and "A Penniless Prospect" by Joanna Maintland

14) "The Wedding Gamble" by Julia Justiss, and "Marrying the Major" by
Joanna Maintland

15) "Ten Guineas on Love" by Claire Thornton, and "The Rake" by Georgina Devon

16) "Honour's Bride" by Gayle Wilson, and "The Rebel" by Georgina Devon.

17) "One night with a rake" by Louise Allen, and "The Dutiful Rake" bt Elizabeth Rolls

18) "A matter of honour" by Anne Herries, and "The Chivalrous Rake" by Elizabeth Rolls

19) "Tavern Wench" by Francesca Shaw, and "The Incomparable Countess" by Mary Nichols

20) "Prudence" by Elizabeth Bailey, and "Lady Lavinia's Match" by Mary Nichols

21) "The Rebellious Bride" by Francesca Shaw, and "The Duke's Mistress" by Ann Elizabeth Cree

22) "Carnival of love" by Helen Dickson, and "The Viscount's Bride" by Ann Elizabeth Cree

23) "One Night of Scandal" and "The Rake's Mistress" both by Nicola Cornick

24) "The reluctant Marchioness" by Anne Ashley, and "Nell" by Elizabeth Bailey

25) "Kitty" by Elizabeth Bailey, and "Major Chancellor's Mission" by Paula Marshall

26) "Lord Hadleigh's Rebellion" by Paula Marshall, and "The Sweet Cheat" by Megan Alexander

27) "Lady Sarah's Son" by Gayle Wilson, and "Wedding Night Revenge" by Mary Brendan

28) This volume, "Rake's Reward" by Joanna Maitland, and "The Unknown Wife" by Mary Brendan

29) "Miss Verey's Proposal" by Nicola Cornick, and "The Rebellious Debutante" by Megan Alexander

30) And finally, "Dear Deceiver" by Mary Nichols, and "The Matchmaker's Marriage" by Megan Alexander.

I hate when Amazon don't have summeries so from the back cover:

"When Miss Kit Singleton's arrival in London coincided with a spate of robberies from members of the ton, Hugo Devenish couldn't explain why he suspected the innocent-looking beauty. But when the clues added up, Hugo knew his instincts had been right all along. Kit had to cease this dangerous game immediately!
Only for Kit it wasn't a game; she'd made a sacred promise to avenge her papa's honour. Surely Hugo could understand that she mustn't break her word even to please the man with whom she was falling in love..."

I normally don't go for Mills&Boon, but I liked the author and to be honest I really enjoyed this book. It didn't insult its reader by over simplifying everything and it had a flow to the story, a good feel good romance.

2 regency Historical novels

An Honourable Thief - Anne Gracie
When Miss Kit Singleton's arrival in London coincided with a spate of robberies, Hugo Devenish suspected the innocent-looking beauty. But Kit had made a vow to avenge her papa's honour. She couldn't break her word, even to please the man with whom she was falling in love...

Miss Jesmond's heir - Paula Marshall
Inspecting the grounds of the property he had inherited, Jess Fiztroy found a youth and two children playing cricket. When the "youth" turned out be be widowed Mrs Georgina Herron, Jess wouldn't even consider Georgie as a suitable parti, until he discovered the truth behind her facade...