Mrs. Julien Presents

Confession: I blasted through all four books in the Season Series some weeks ago and while they left an impression, they did not leave a great deal of detail. No disrespect to Theresa Romain intended, I would recommend them as pleasant escapism, but everyday life has been quite busy of late and reading these books was taking a hit of reality evasion followed by a black out.

Season for Temptation (James/Julia)

James has come to spend Christmas with his fiancee’s family. Neither he, nor Louisa, are exactly on fire for each other, but they find one another pleasant and could do worse. Fortunately and unfortunately, Louisa has a younger sister, Julia, who takes one look at James, and he her, and finds a true match.

Season for Surrender (Alex/Louisa)

Louisa is not sorry that her engagement fell through, but she is tired of the conciliatory looks and remarks. She is persuaded to attend Alexander, Lord Xavier’s scandalous holiday house party. She wants the opportunity for a bit of adventure before descending into spinsterhood. Bonding over a mutual love of books and libraries Louisa and Xavier make their way towards a partnership. She needs to overcome her shyness, he needs to overcome some bad habits.

Wonderful Period Detail: When he invites Louisa to call him by his first name, Alex realises that at no point in his life has anyone ever really done so.

Season for Scandal (Jane/Edmund)

Alex, Lord Xavier has a handful of a cousin, Jane, who has a habit of gambling to make ends meet. When a game goes awry and crippling financial obligations result, she is extricated by Edmund Ware, Baron Kirkpatrick. They make a marriage of convenience which goes well, goes very wrong, and comes right in the end.

Season for Desire (Giles/Audrina)

The hero is an American. GADZOOKS! Giles and his father are in England on the trail of a family treasure. A chance meeting with Lady Audrina Bradleigh and a meteorological occurrence lead to a partnership in the search. Not surprisingly, this leads to another partnership as well.

The Season Series was notable for its excellent juxtaposition of historical detail, well counter-balanced expressions of physical affection, and interesting characters. Often these books have either history or romance on their side, so it was nice to read novels with both. The second book, Season for Surrender, was my favourite, but I would recommend all of them. They have a fine sense of fun and successfully become serious when they needed to; the people felt real and the historical elements realistic, and that is not as common as one might think in the genre. As long as the emotional lives of the characters ring true, historical waffling can be overlooked to some extent, but it is still a pleasure when the two are successfully dovetailed.

Links to my other reviews can be found on my complete reading list of books sorted by author or Author Commentary & The Tallies Shameful.