Cecily: A Book Review

Regency Romance at it's Best

I picked up Cecily based on the author. I know the author well, and have for many years, and count them among my most valuable writing mentors. I’ll buy books with the author’s name - in any iteration - every time.

Now that I’ve established my bias, let me tell you about this book, and why I think you may like it as well. Growing up I read a little bit of everything. Which included whatever my parents were reading, when I ran out of my own books in the house and couldn’t get to the library. Through my mother, I was introduced to Georgette Heyer, and loved her books as a teen. Regency romance is a very narrow niche indeed, but outsized popularity to the timeline it should be set in. As a result of that enduring popularity, many modern authors have attempted to capture the delight and humor and romance of the original Heyer. Very, very few succeed. Most modern authors simply apply the trappings to modern romances.

Cecily is a true regency, with the familiar structure and strictures. It is also a joy to read, with moments where I laughed out loud. It brings the depth of history, with the war in Europe not only acknowledged, but impacting the plot, as it should - it would, at the time, have been a part of life, something most modern authors completely ignore or simply use as set dressing. It has action, adventure, and intrigue. It is such fun to read.

I highly recommend it, even to those who don’t ordinarily read Regency romances. This is a good story, with wonderful characters that will stay with you when you reluctantly close the book and leave them behind. I really hope Dav…er, Alida, revisits some of them in a future tale.

If you read this, and Georgina, and are casting about for more like them, I also recommend Joy Cometh with the Mourning, by Dave Freer. I think you’ll like it!