Penelope ( A Madcap Regency Romance ) (The Fairweather Sisters Book 1)

Duke/hero: "Stay away from me, country girl. I am the architect, not the fool. I plan and people follow. Do you understand?" He says this a few scenes before he's spying through keyholes and "wriggling his buttocks" (author's words) for the edification of a literally drooling maid and a few transfixed male servants.The Duke: "You are exactly like a mosquito...an annoying little bug, and I wish I could bring my hands together and splat! Squish you like an insect."Don't we all wish for that? In this story the hero (using the term loosely) is a boring boor with exactly zero interesting qualities. The "heroine" is an idiot. She gets drunk and acts like a two-year-old over dinner "grinning foolishly" (this is from her own perspective) and saying stupid things. I would have cringed in embarrassment, but I really wasn't that involved in these bad caricatures of "madcap" characters.The writing itself is sub-par. There is way too much dialogue that's lacking in character tags or description. There is no sense of the time, not to mention the anachronistic terms like diddly-squat. Then there's the huge background information dump that the heroine "blubbers" (author's word) to the potrait of her dead mother. This goes on for pages. Then we have lines like this: "The duke turned puce in his rage." There's more puce prose like this throughout this agonizingly long book. Okay, I admit I did a lot of skipping, especially after the transvestite is cordially welcomed into the very conservative duke's household. (Not kidding.)Among other "endearments" the duke calls the heroine a"halfwit" (meaning it). By the time I finished this book I felt he was giving her too much credit. Unless you're a fan of shows where people laugh uproariously when other people get hurt and guffaw when characters make fools of themselves with dopey grins, I'd recommend you not spend money or time on this book.

Why, why, why do some johnny-come-lately authors call their books Regencies and then botch the period details? Here are a few of the fails that drove me nuts before I gave up half way through:- Diddly squat (late 20th century)- "Don't get your wings in a twist" (said by the main character to her dead mother; so-clever twist on knickers-in-a-twist, knickers early 20th century, phrase used US 1964, UK 1970s)- Barking iron, (inappropriately available in parlor) hunting rifle (barking iron was slang for pistol, not rifle)- Dressmaker, dressed as female, actually a male lord whose "bonnet jiggles for a man" (hanging offense!, but I didn't stick with it long enough to see how that plays out)- Colorful dresses, e.g., emerald green, coquelicot, for main character (debs were limited to white and light pastels)- Mutton, referencing goat (only in Asia and the Caribbean, not UK; and bringing a pet goat to a duke's residence is so far over the top I just cringed)- Bloomers (frequently repeated; bloomers were invented in 1849, did author miscall "drawers"?)- Canoodling (mid 19th century term)- Cute button nose (cute in Regency was short for acute, meaning shrewd; first literary reference to button nose appears to be Tono Bungay, 1909)- Pantheon, a carriage (phaeton, surely; doesn't seem suitable anyway for the proposed shopping trip by three people plus packages and probably a maid or footman)If I could pick up all these misnomers while reading, why couldn't the author find them while writing? Not to mention the overly cutesy story—mutton dressed as lamb, you might say (1811 or earlier, definitely Regency).

Thank goodness I got this book for free. I have no idea how anyone could give this book a good review. The heroine was a complete idiot, the hero a total jack!#$, the plot non-existent. The book was in a word moronic. Don't waste your time!

I couldn't believe how bad this was. I gave up about 20% of the way through the book. When I see the word "madcap" used to describe a book, I am expecting some quirky characters and some amusing events to happen, but apparently the author thought that madcap just means throwing as much silliness at the reader as possible. I was suspicious right from the beginning when we first meet Penelope as she is introduced to the duchess. What human being with even an iota of intelligence comes in out the rain soaking wet and refuses the completely sensible suggestion that she change her clothes and instead sits down in the drawing room to leave puddles on the floor and watermarks on the furniture? If that was not bad enough, she is trailing a pet GOAT! Who brings an animal of any kind uninvited to another person's home? She suffers from verbal diarrhea to a pathetic extent such that by the time the duke declares that she should be sent away I could only heartily concur. I gave up completely on this book when the goat suddenly learns how to open doors and runs around the house in the middle of the night and magically figures out which room is the duke's. Once again opening a door, it then proceeds to start eating the duke's underclothing. Gads!I don't need everything about a book to be entirely sensible and I do enjoy a good screwball comedy, but I don't have any patience for complete imbecility. And Penelope was such an imbecile that I could not be bothered to care about what happened to her. I have no idea how so many people were so enthusiastic about this book.

Tries to be funny and makes it some of the time. Mostly so implausible I had to put it down. Heroine who doesn't get you on her side, character who isn't a flawed heroine, she s just an idiot. Then there's the poor writing. The author has studied the genre and you can see her aping various authors, and missing.... like the Regency youth trying to look like Corinthians and just looking absurd. Don't waste your time on this one.

My first book by this author, it requires a bit of editing (nothing major) & is a sparkling & funny, but clean read. I have no idea whether the setting & writing is historically correct or not as these things don’t bother me too much. I really enjoyed this book although it was a bit unrealistic (the Duke letting the highwayman go?), predictable (of course the Duke falls for the country bumpkin) & comical (being chased from a soirée by a pet “cat”).Miss Penelope Fairweather is sponsored by Duke Charles Radclyff to attend a London season as his dowager mother was friends with her mother & had made her a promise. Penelope has to make a good match, but she knows little of the ways of the ton so the dowager hires Madam Bellafonte to dress her & teach her the basics (how to curtsy, walk, dance, converse...) The Duke is not happy with having Penelope staying with them: she’s clumsy, leads his sister astray, & is desperate to win herself a husband, willingly compromising herself with him, if need be. He is determined to have her sent back to Finnshire, but with a hateful stepmother & 5 younger sisters, Penelope knows she cannot go back home.Despite his gruffness towards her, Penelope slowly falls for the Duke, who doesn’t believe in love & is engaged to the mean & spiteful Lady Lydia. The Duke, likewise, is shocked to realise that he is developing feelings for Penelope, & all the more determined to get rid of her. She should be happy when, after being caught in a compromising place with the Duke, he announces that they’re engaged, but she’s not. How is the Duke going to win her hand, when she disappears?It was nice to have Lady Anne (his sister) trying to win the heart & hand of the man she loves, Lord Poyning. She’s known him for 2 yrs & this is her 3rd Season. Does she get her man, or does her brother have other plans?

If you can overlook the anachronisms, Americanisms, historical and social inaccuracies, you may just enjoy this book, because it was funny.I understand the 1 and 2 star ratings as I realise this may grate on some readers. Personally I was able to categorise this book as a semi-farce so, uncharacteristically I was able to brush all this under the carpet.I therefore found myself forgiving all, as I did chuckle out loud in places. It is a story that would have worked better in a more modern setting.

It was okay, but the writing style and the way the characters behaved did not match the period it was set in. I could not finish it. It was not very bad but because I am fan of period stories and read so many of them, it was hard to read this story. The tone was simply not right. This story would have done really well in a more modern setting. It is a shame the author went for the period setting instead. Some readers might like it, but others will hate it. If you can ignore the inaccuracies and the silly behaviour of the characters, the story is fine. Whether you like this story or not really depends on your taste.

So much of what Penelope says and does is totally preposterous. Anyone expecting an historically accurate book will be tearing their hair out. But I absolutely loved it. It's not often I laugh out loud when I read a book but I did with this one. Which was rather embarrassing as I was on a train at the time.I only downloaded this as it was free. I'm really glad that I did as I thoroughly enjoy this author's sense of humour. I will be downloading more of her work.

Although this book has some mildly funny bits in ,it lost me when not only was the heroine having conversations with her goat she then started talking to her dead mother. As for the hero words fail me, for someone who was supposed to be a Duke and very stodgy and sensible, I could certainly have shot him. Don't think I will be reading anymore books by this author.

If I want true Regency romance I will read Jane Austen or Georgette Heyer. But if you would like to sip vintage champagne, cool and delicious, whilst enjoying truly bubbly fun...and a little bit of sadness, then embrace Penelope, Lady Bathsheba, the Dowager and practically ALL the characters in this frothy story that, at times, had me convulsed with laughter.A cracking good read...just don't be too critical.

What a complete load of rubbish, to be fair I often read undemanding pretty poor fiction when I'm in the mood but this is so bad I can't finish it. The writing is poor the characters ridiculous and the language used inappropriate.

Really enjoyed the story. Loved the characters and laughed alot! I wouldn't say it was written well but actually, it was so enjoyable, I didn't care! One thing....I do wish people used ENGLISH words for things when setting stories in England. Faucet is tap, eggplant is aubergine and we don't have sasafras in this country so wouldn't make a tea from it...(Yes I know tea is from India and China but you know what I mean!)

Penelope needs a husband & talks to her pet goat. A duke & family take her in & prepare her for the marriage msrket. An elopement ensues aided & abetted by a highwayman - a laugh out loud heartwarming romance very difficult to put down. 😀

At first I thought this was nonsense. I was still reading a few chapters in though...It is nonsense, littered with improbability and silliness but it's different, a bit mad and if you want to spend a few hours relaxing and reading some fun, then this is the ticket!

No wonder it was free! I tried to read through two chapters to give it a chance, but it was just rubbish. Attempting to be humorous, no sense of period detail, just a load of nonsense. Avoid.

This book had me laughing so hard I couldn't see through my tears. The situations she created were so well written you could imagine yourself there. The writing is more in the style of a modern romance but this did not distract from my enjoyment. It is an easy read that can be finished in a night and is brilliant for relaxing with a glass of wine after a hard day at work. I will defiantly be looking out for other books by this author and getting them. I strongly recommend it to anyone who likes situation comedy as well as romance.

You know when a book is so good and warm and fuzzy and you just want to read again and again and want it to never end?Yeah this was one of those! Gah! Love it!Penelope is surprisingly loveable and not annoying, and Charles (the duke) is frustrating yet not fallible. It is not a serious book but does not have annoying holes that so many cheerful books do.I've just bought the next one and I'm so excited!

Really enjoyed this book. It had everything a good read. and it was funny. I fully recommend this book. Thanks

I laughed, I cried, I cringed. I loved every word of this brilliant story and stayed up until nearly 4 am to finish it.I can't wait to read the other Fairweather Sisters books.