Lady in Waiting

Rating:
Summary: Outstanding second book for Ms. Caskie
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed Kathryn Caskie's second book and give her high marks for making the story in Lady in Waiting quite different from her first effort, while losing none of the entertainment value I loved. Jenny Penny is delightful as she sets her sights on nothing less than the stars, with little humility and great abandon, and dreams of being a lady of the ton. Her love of fashion and shoppaholic tendencies underpins her deep belief that she truly is a lady at heart, even though her small income and lowly station as a servant in the Featherton household is a constant reminder that she is not. Ms. Caskie's wonderful portrayal of her highlights Jenny's quirkiness while retaining empathy for her situation. Jenny's dream is not at all superficial, but deeply felt. Through it all, her wonderful spirit never flags, even though her life becomes increasingly complicated with her "tingle cream" and her very real attraction to Lord Argyll. I so enjoyed seeing the interfering and much-beloved Feathertons again as they and their niece Meredith plot to ignite the budding attraction between Jenny and her Lord. Argyll and Jenny's class differences and Jenny's inner turmoil over her deceptions magnified the story's suspense element for me. Pages turned very quickly while I tried to figure out how Ms. Caskie could resolve the conflicts she imposed on the lovers and the conflicts within Jenny herself. Treat yourself to Lady in Waiting. If you are not a fan of Kathryn Caskie's already, you soon will be. She is a gifted storyteller and this book is a great read.

Rating:
Summary: A good read, but lopsided romance
Review: All in all LADY IN WAITING by Kathryn Caskie is an entertaining book, bubbling like fine champaign, humorous. But it remains a disappointing romance novel, especially after RULES OF ENGAGEMENT.

This second novel by Caskie brings back the two match-making, slighlty crazy Violet and Letitia, the unflappable Featherton sisters. You really can't help but adore them. This time, they're passing off their ladies maid Jenny Penny off as a lady in order to catch the eye of the handsome, kilt-wearing Lord Argyll (Callum).

Jenny is living a dream come true, what below stairs ladies maid wouldn't want to live the life of a lady? But Jenny is hiding another secret from Callum and the Featherton ladies as well. She's been selling a cream that has taken the Bath ton by storm, a tingle cream to, ahh stimulate. She's hoping to pay off her remarkable charges at local shops, as long as she gets it to the shop keepers before buying anything new.

LADY IN WAITING is a good story with plenty of wit. I enjoyed the byplay between the below stairs and above stairs people, and the creams significance both above stairs and, um below. But my main objection with this novel is the story focuses on Jenny. She's the new Cinderella, and just as in most Cinderella tales the prince is just there to be Prince Charming, with no real role in the events of the story.

It felt like the love part of this story was forced, because Caskie didn't give enough time to the Callum character for anyone to see but hints of his personality. How can you love someone if you don't love yourself enough to admit and accept who you are? And what relationships that begin with two huge lies about who and what you are end well? Jenny begins with artiface, and sure she comes to understand and love herself, but its a struggle, a personal struggle.

Its just disappointing to read a romance and only get to know one character. And I hated that Jenny went along with the match making in the beginning only to go to the ball--a selfish character, even when surrounded by people who love her, above and below stairs.

The plot and humor were enough to carry a Romance. I think Callum was left with a cold draft up his kilt. RULES OF ENGAGEMENT was a much more satisfying romatic tale. LADY IN WAITING is Jenny's tale. Its a great tale, but not a great romance to be sweep you away.

Rating:
Summary: Well written but...
Review: I just finished K.C.'s "Rules of Engagement" which I thoroughly enjoyed, so I rushed out and bought "Lady in Waiting". The book was very well written with a story line that hasn't been over-used, however, I couldn't finish it. The book was all from Jenny's point-of-view. I never knew what Collum was thinking or feeling unless he happened to be in the scene.
If you don't mind reading a book from only one angle, than this book would be great. I, personally, like to know what the hero is feeling towards the heroine. It adds the spice I need in a romance novel.

Rating:
Summary: Caskie's unique wit sparkles...
Review: I think Romantic Times BOOKclub reviewer Kathe Robin said it best - "Caskie's unique wit sparkles in this tale of lady's maid Jenny Penny and her homemade facial cream...."(AND) "Caskie's clever plotting shines in this Cinderella-esque tale of lady's maid turned lady with the help of three fairy godmothers. The backdrop of Bath and the idea of a lady entrepreneur are brilliant."
This is Kathryn Caskie's follow up to her wildly popular debut "Rules of Engagement," the 2002 Golden Heart Winner in Long Historical. The new book is a continuation of the matchmaking Featherton ladies series.
One of my favorite aspects of the book was the setting in Bath - so well written and described it made you really feel what it must have been like to be there during the Regency period. The novel was written from the point of view of the heroine which put the reader in Jenny Penny's shoes - making the heroine's struggle to rise beyond her station all the more powerful.
If you like light-hearted, witty, Regency-set Historical romances that sizzle, Lady In Waiting is for you. A winner in every way.

Rating:
Summary: A thoroughly implausible Cinderella tale
Review: I was really looking forward to Caskie's second book, because I thought her first one, Rules of Engagement, an excellent first novel. The wait, however, ended in disappointment.

Jenny is thoroughly conceived as a character--unfortunately, she's shallow and materialistic. Even after her attitude about what's important supposedly changes, she's still, at the end of the book, a woman who absolutely MUST shop, who must buy whatever her heart latches on to. Callum is a threadbare character, limited to a Scottish burr, a kilt, and a pitiful excuse for refusing to marry her. A very lopsided romance, character-wise. What's more, Callum initially seems drawn only by lust and comes across as less-than-respectable. Jenny is simply so self-absorbed that she uses and manipulates those who care about her without seeing the poetic justice when others (the "villains") do the same to her.

Caskie completely ignores the social rules of the day, making the story and the outcome even more far-fetched.

The Featherton sisters are still eccentric, but not as charming as in the first novel--nor as vital to the plot, a plot that is quite contrived. The other secondary characters were bits of cardboard and irritating fluff that could have been easily switched around without a discernable twitch in the plot.

This is definitely one I'm glad I picked up at the library instead of buying. The preview of her next book, however, looks wonderful. One can only hope.

Rating:
Summary: Fresh and Engaging
Review: Lady in Waiting is one of the most original romances I've read in a long, long time. Jenny Penny isn't your typical romance heroine (she's addicted to shopping and lets her wish to be a lady nearly take over her life), but she felt REAL. I loved her. I couldn't wait to see what she got herself into next. Kudos to Kathryn Caskie for writing something so wonderfully original.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent, humorous read
Review: One of my co-workers read this book and stated "You know it's a good book when you read it in one night." Indeed, she was correct!

I greatly enjoyed "Lady in Waiting." There were humorous bits and interesting character relationships that you normally do not find in the standard Regency romance novels.

The only complaint I have is that there were some things that our Miss Jenny Penny did that would have been scandalous during this period in history, but they were not treated thusly in the book.

Nonetheless, "Lady in Waiting" was an excellent read and one I truly recommend. I am looking forward to reading "Rules of Engagement" and "A Lady's Guide to Rakes" coming in September 2005.

Rating:
Summary: No Endearing Heroine Here
Review: Setting - Bath, England 1817 --- Working as a lady's maid for the Featherton sisters, Jenny Penny, the illegitimate daughter of an English baron had no idea that a `face cream' she'd concocted for her ladies would be used and gaining untold popularity as a `tingle' cream used in the lower extremities. This same cream was very much sought by the highborn ladies and gentlemen of the ton. Never did she ever realize that while modeling a gown for her employers she'd be mistaken for, and caught up into a scheme of impersonating a highborn lady. Jenny's life had certainly taking an odd turn, though after attracting the attention and admiration of the Scottish Viscount, Lord Callum Argyll, she was more than willing to continue the masquerade.

Naturally, playing the part of a lady required dressing like one and luckily the sale of her homemade facial cream, now the infamous "tingle" cream, was the means to an end in affording her passion of paying for her shopping sprees in Bath's most exclusive shops. With the ladies Featherton encouraging her romance with Lord Argyll, it seemed like a dream come true but, it would be only a matter of time before someone slipped and the truth be known - that Jenny Penny was only a `lady in waiting'!


*** While there were some humorous moments... I have to say, I did not like the characterization of the heroine at all. Told in her voice, the reader is exposed to only Jenny's views and motivations, which to me were so very shallow. She was admittedly a shop-aholic, who spent far more than she could ever have earned as a maid, had she not chanced upon her face cream a.k.a. an erotic enhancer. If her employers had been aware of her overdue accounts, she'd have probably been sacked! As a heroine she just was too materialistic, and it was just so hard to warm up to her at all. Additionally, I found very little depth to Callum as well and he came across as rather flat and lifeless, although in the end he finally did redeem himself.

The author does get points for research though and coming up with good historic detail. Unfortunately, the twin Featherton sisters, who were such a total hoot in RULES OF ENGAGEMENT, just didn't draw the laughs I expected and I felt just a tad cheated because of that. --- Marilyn, for www.romancedesigns.com ---


Rating:
Summary: The funniest romance I have read in a long time! B
Review: This is the funniest book I've read all year. I know its only January, but this book really made me laugh and also shed a tear or two. The reason is Jenny Penny. She is so refreshing and not the stereotype maid or governess you see in all the other regency books. I never knew what she was going to do next and that was part of the fun and what made me start and finish the book in one day.

If you are looking for the same old regency book, buy another book. This is one is not the usual and if that is what you like you won't like this one. This story is just fun, fun, fun.

Because Jenny Penny was born to a housekeeper and a peer she always felt that she deserved something better in life. She spends all of her money on dresses and trinkets that make her feel like the lady she is inside. All of her spending gets her into trouble and pretty soon she owes a lot of guineas (money) to the shopkeepers all over town. Her friend talks her into secretly selling her tingle cream. Pretty soon lords and ladies are dying to gets pots of the aphrodisiac cream. Rumors begin that the tingle cream is made by the great Lady Eros.

About the same time at her employers house (the Featherton sisters) Jenny meets a handsome Scottish lord named Callum Campbell while she is dressed up in a fine gown as a game. When the Featherton sisters see that Jenny and the lord are attracted to each other they introduce Jenny as Lady Genevieve. Jenny goes along with game especially when the lord invites her to a ball. For one night she can be the lady she always wanted to be. One thing leads to another though and Jenny gets pulled deeper and deeper and into the charade, though since she is falling in love with the lord, she wants to admit everything to him. Callum though was hurt deeply by lied when he was young and can't abide lies. Jenny wants so much to tell him but she is also afraid that he will stop loving her because she is really a maid and that she had been lying to him.

There are some fun, but odd characters in this book, but my favorite is the old lady Featherton sisters from the author's first book. They always make me laugh, but this time I cried too because there was a big surprise for one of the Featherton sisters that I did not see coming.

This book is really wonderful. It is different, I won't deny that, but I loved every minute of reading it.


Rating:
Summary: Cinderella move over
Review: This was just the kind of romance novel I love. Wonderful characters. Characters that seems real because they are not perfect-something most novels like this lack. If you love a Cinderella story - with a real-life shopaholic maid striving to rise above her station (and let's face it-who would want to face drudgery all her life?)then this is the book for you. That she isn't like a Disney character willing to wait for Prince Charming to do all the work - is what rankles some readers. Not me. I like a feisty heroine willing to try to take charge of her destiny despite the iron-clad rigitity of social classes in Regency era England.
Some say farfetched- I say bravo and thank you Kathryn Caskie for creating a heroine with more spunk than the typical delicate virgin who seems to be inhabiting the pages of too many historicals these days.
And the hero? A certain scene made me want to visit Bath and take the water cure...