AMARANTH MOON

Author: Janet Woods ISBN: 0727862480 9/2005 HISTORICAL Publisher: Severn House
Time Period: Regency 1800

Geneva Tibbetson's association with the Earl of Ashby goes back to her childhood, when he gave her a pendant with a blue stone, and told her that if she looked through it and the landscape turned the colour of amaranth then anything she wished would come true. However, as the impoverished niece of the Reverend James Batterby, she spends most of her time looking after her eight much-loved male cousins, and she hasn't seen the earl, whose uninhabited house the boys spend much of their time playing in, for years. Having been dissatisfied with his life for some time, Sorle Ashby returns to the country to find a wife, and catches the boys and Geneva in the house. Mistaking Geneva for a felon, her injures her, but things take a turn for the better, when, charmed by Geneva's beauty and forthright nature, the earl offers her employment as his social secretary. Soon, however, the pendant he gifted her so many years ago lands her in serious trouble, and Geneva must struggle with the judgement of local society before than can come to terms with their feelings.

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

There's just something about the stories written by British and Australian authors that draws me in. Their sometimes unfamiliar terminologies (to most of us Yanks, anyway) and unique style of prose seem to add so much more depth to the visual images of the characters. They don't just live their stories onscreen in my head; unlike many of the American Regency era romances I've read, their characters seem to speak in perfect British accents. If a writer can convey that sense of language as well as time and place in their romances, then I end up pretty much hooked.

AMARANTH MOON is a romance with an English cast of many, and while there's nothing surprising or new about the plot—a sort of Cinderella story about an impoverished, orphaned girl living with her guardian and unkind stepmother, who suffers abuse at a relative's hand but is eventually rescued by a handsome earl to live happily-ever-after—it's the little nuggets of dialogue, the randy, rowdy household of boys and the evolving love story between Geneva and Ashby that make this an enjoyable read. There's humor, drama, and a wonderfully endearing bond between Gen and the nephews who champion her, which, to be honest, sometimes overshadows the romance between Gen and Ashby. Ms. Woods also stays true to the moral codes and social strictures of the period; the characters' sense of propriety and what's acceptable, isn't just ignored by the characters and their inappropriate behavior explained away by the author, which is a definite plus to those readers looking for a more realistic and true to the period romance.

Seen as a whole, if you like your regencies to look and sound like you're in the Regency era when you read, then AMARANTH MOON is one book you just might enjoy and get hooked on, the same as I did.

Nancy Davis