Review: Rivals of Fortune / The Impetuous Heiress by Jane Ashford

Print Length: 480 pages

Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca (May 3, 2016)

From Goodreads.com: Two classic Regency romances from beloved bestselling author Jane Ashford

When London society debarks to their country estates, the courtships are no less heated...

RIVALS OF FORTUNE - Joanna Rowntree thought she would die of a broken heart when her one true love married another-until not one but two fascinating newcomers appear on neighboring estates. As the roughhewn Jonathan Erland and the polished Sir Rollin Denby engage in a heated competition for her hand, Joanna realizes her heart is alive and well-but to whom will she give it?

THE IMPETUOUS HEIRESS - When spoiled Lady Alicia Alston, privileged daughter of a duke, is accidentally tossed into a ravine after a wild gallop with Ian MacClain, Earl of Cairnyllan, she expects a proposal as soon as is convenient. The stubborn Scot has other ideas. It takes a headlong journey to prevent an elopement to give Alicia and Ian a chance to clear up misunderstandings and figure out what they find so damnably passion-inducing about one another...

                                                  *******************

My Rating: 2 stars out of 5

To start with, I did not realize when I requested to read these novels that they are considered "vintage regencies" having first been published back in the early 1980's. Its easy when reading these stories to see how far the genre has progressed as these novels were not what I was expecting at all. 

The characters are under-developed (to the point of annoying), the plots are transparent, and I was most annoyed with the way the writing jumped. For instance, one paragraph in Rivals of Fortune goes like this "Frederick, whatever are you doing here?" cried the girl. Unfortunately there were numerous instances of the author switching back and forth between calling the main character by their given names, and then reverting back to calling them "the girl" or in some cases "the other". It made parts of this story hard to follow when trying to determine who was speaking what. 

Overall, these are clean romances, and those who enjoy an older style regency will certainly enjoy these two tales, they just were not for me. 

DISCLAIMER: I received a complimentary copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review. This has not affected my review in any way. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are 100% my own. 

********************

 Rivals of Fortune / The Impetuous Heiress is available from Amazon.com