Damsel In Distress?

Damsel in Distress? Is set in the 1800's and features Harriet and Phillip as the main characters. We meet them in the opening scene where Harriet is being chased and attacked by a group of men on horseback. Phillip is walking home and stumbles across the attack, ultimately saving Harriet's life. Phillip takes Harriet back to the family home to get her help. It transpires that she has lost her memory during the attack and, having no idea who she is or where she comes from.

There is an obvious strong attraction between them and during her recuperation we see that grow. However, given the era it isn't the done thing to have a single lady stay an eligible bachelors house, so the tongues are soon wagging both locally, and in the press, which also puts her in danger because the attackers are still searching for Harriet, or more that they believe she has something they desperately want.

The story is quite different to what I have read in the past, and when I saw it was set in the 19th century, and was about time travel I wasn't sure if it would be too far fetched, or dated, to appeal to me. However, I have been pleasantly surprised. Whilst the story is set in the backdrop of the 1800's, it isn't dated or stale. I liked imagining the house, and how the characters would have dressed and acted in those days. Whilst it was over a century later I felt a bit Downton Abbeyesque at times in thinking how they would have spoken and carried themselves. It took me a while to see how the time travel element was going to feature and it was done in a way that to me didn't seem too over the top.

I enjoyed seeing the relationship between Harriet and Phillip grow, and this formed the majority of the book. It was more of a love story if anything, particularly in the first half. I was willing them to make things happen. I can tell you that there are a couple of bedroom scenes during the story that had me cheering!

As the story progresses we get to know more about why Harriet was being chased, and what I liked is that the content of the package wasn't revealed too soon, which for me helped keep some mystery in the plot.

The book is well written and flowed really easily. I liked that chapters weren't too long but at the same time the pace was steady. It meant that I could pick it up if I had a few minutes to spare without worrying about having to put it down mid chapter. I liked the way the characters were bought to life, and the attraction was portrayed. The steamier parts were also descriptive enough to get the gist of what was taking place, but not so much that you couldn't recommend it to someone I.e. my Mum!!

A much more enjoyable book than I had anticipated it would be before starting it. I am really pleased that I had the chance to read it. I didn't realise that this was book two, and I will be happily looking out for book one too. I am not sure if further books are planned, but if so I wouldn't shy away from reading it.

Thank you to Carina for providing a copy in return for an honest review.

I have been a massive fan of regency romances since my introduction to Mills & Boon books many years ago. Since then I haven’t really picked any up, but since reading Damsel In Distress? I’m once again raring to pick them up again along with all the Jane Austen’s, Bronte’s and so forth. Damsel In Distress? however, brings something rather different to the table; time-travel. Somehow, the main female character has travelled back in time from the present day to England in the regency era. Whether there was also some country-to-country travel too I couldn’t quite work out though I do suspect so. I loved the idea of time-travel though – it opens up so many possibilities and answers the fantasies of many historical romance fans! How the time-travel element is explained though was a little…unbelievable, though so I kind of skipped over that. I had no trouble imagining the scenes of horse chases, balls and carriage rides thanks to lashings of Pride and Prejudice marathons in my youth and the wonderfully descriptive text of the author.

I found the characters of Harriet and Philip to be fun, exciting, likeable and well-matched. It was definitely a romance story with some mystery and action thrown in for good measure. After Harriet is knocked unconscious, she doesn’t remember anything apart from her name so the majority of the story concerns her trying to find out who she is, why she is being chased and (of course) falling in love with Philip. Philip, a Baron and rather rakish character, is quick to fall for the mysterious and amnesiac beautiful woman he rescues in Hyde Park. Of course, scandal is ripe in this age and rumours are soon flying about the ton (fashionable society)! There were a few intimate scenes between Philip and Harriet but these, although steamy, were descriptive enough to get the gist but didn’t overly go into detail. As for the other characters in the story, they all have their own individualistic characteristics which separate one from another; from the butler to the Duchess and the maid to Philip’s sister, each person has their own way about them and you can tell how much the author has really put into this story.

The story flowed at a good pace with relatively short chapters – please don’t be put off when you see 38 chapters listed! The book when put down was easy to pick back up again if you needed to or could only read for a short time. Personally my attention was caught in the first couple of pages and I read the book in a single evening. I haven’t yet read book one of the Time-Travel to Regency England series but as it appears the stories can be read individually it will be easy to go back to the start. This book does contain the major characters from book 1, though as minor characters in this story. Overall it was a very enjoyable read and I will definitely be keeping an eye out for more in this series and by this author in the future.

Thank you to Carina UK for giving me the opportunity to review this fantastic book.