Guest Review: The Golden Season by Connie Brockway

Wealthy orphan Lady Lydia Eastlake reigns over Regency England as the ton’s most celebrated beauty. But Lydia must face losing the only life she has ever known when her fortune suddenly disappears—unless she can find a wealthy enough husband. Enter Captain Ned Lockton, a dashing war hero from a noble family whose coolheaded charm and dangerous smile send Lydia’s pulse racing. Her problems are solved. . . or are they? Little does Lydia know that the enigmatic captain’s family estate is secretly on the selling block—and he’s on the hunt for a rich bride who will rescue the Locktons from poverty. When the truth is revealed, Lydia and Ned will discover where true love lies. But will the price of passion be more than either is willing to pay?

As is often the case, the plot of this delightful Regency romance involves the search for a wealthy bride or groom, a not-unusual manner of saving one’s title and lands from the auction block. But this plot involves two of the “beautiful people” who each are searching for a mate who can save their way of life by an infusion of wealth. Lydia and Ned’s paths eventually cross and they become enamored with one another, believing that the other has the needed fortune. They are delighted that in addition to the money they have also discovered love. It is a terrible disappointment when they realize that they are both bankrupt and separated by their need for money—Lydia to save her flamboyant way of life, and Ned to fulfill his sense of obligation to his family and to be true to his promise to them to marry an heiress.

Connie Brockway has written a novel that is filled with the word pictures which accurately describe the world of post-war Regency England, one that is bearing the brunt of the costly Napoleonic War, the environmental challenges caused by the Little Ice Age (thus producing what is mentioned as “the year without a summer”), the subsequent devaluing of investments and property, and the extravagant lifestyle adopted by the Society known as the ton. She has taken a story line and plot that has become all too common and given it some twists and turns that have made it interesting and readable. The characters are also unique in that they both have known the insecurity of a transient life style and are drawn together by their mutual hunger for a true sense of “home.” It is a story that is filled with colorful characters that range from the irascible duchess and the demure, compulsive companion who are Lydia’s closest friends, the foolish and immature nephews who have driven the Lockton family into poverty with their gambling, the overbearing and censorious matrons who have imprisoned the ton in a web of minutiae and rules, and Lydia’s friend who can no longer tolerate a life without love.

Brockway keeps the story’s tensions sustained throughout but I did feel that the resolution to the conflict was a bit abrupt and after waiting for the happy ending throughout all the pages of the story, I sort of felt like someone had just said, “OK, we’re done now!” Maybe it’s just me, but I like a happy ending and I like one that hangs around for a few pages. Otherwise, this is a lovely story told with expertise and panache, and it was a great read.

You can read more from Judith at Dr J’s Book Place

This book is available from Onyx. You can buy it here or here in e-format.