We all have our list of must-read and auto-buy authors, and mine just grew! Amanda Panhorst is a Regency author whose early books I've read and enjoyed, and after devouring her latest release, I indulged in binge-reading her recent series and she has now joined the ranks of my favorites.
Don't miss her character-driven books full of individuality, subtle humor (as well as some laugh out loud moments), and depth as the characters go through development and growth.
As always- happy reading!
My rating: 5 stars / It was amazing
Synopsis
Evangeline has come to Fernsby Hall to host a house party, not to fall in love with an old friend...
Beautiful, vivacious, and extremely wealthy, the widowed countess, Evangeline Payne, may take every opportunity to entertain herself that she wishes. Her favorite pastime? Refusing ever offer of marriage that comes her way. Especially from her favorite scoundrel, Basil Morley, whose antics as her would-be suitor have kept her in stitches for years. His promises of someday wooing, winning and wifing her are utter nonsense. It is all fun and games between them, both knowing his main objective is her vast fortune.
She also knows Basil, ruined by foreign travels, only cares about amusing himself through absurd pranks, outrageous wagers, and the usual pursuits of a rake. To allow him into one’s heart would be beyond foolish. But as loneliness creeps into her life, Basil’s constant friendship is seen in a new light, and at a house party in Hertfordshire, clues to the real man hiding behind Basil’s roguish facade are too curious not to investigate, forcing her to realize that perhaps he is not the cordial rake he makes himself out to be.
My rating: 5 stars / It was amazing
Synopsis
He wants her gone.
She wants to leave.
The problem? She can't remember where she came from.
Hugh
Longville keeps his distance from everyone. Especially anyone who may
recognize him and remember what he did ten years before. So when he
comes to the rescue of a strange woman deep in the forest that's been
his home for so long, he wants her back where she came from as soon as
possible. But there's a hitch.
Waking up after a bump on the head
is unpleasant, but especially terrifying when you wake up in a strange
place with no recollection of how you got there. Thus, Diana Stilwell
finds herself at Eastbend Lodge, deep in New Forest with only a
foreboding man and his servants for company.
Stranded by rains,
Diana and Hugh are forced to find a middle ground for their tumultuous
natures. But the more Diana sees of this strange and formidable man, the
more she sees passed his façade of surliness and into the kind and
hurting heart he carries. Can she convince him that forgiveness and love
are possible?
Synopsis
They made a vow based on the impossible.
But what will they do now that the impossible has happened?
Though
they were exact opposites, Gussie Stilwell and Harry Fletcher often
played together growing up in Rutland, England. To pass the time one hot
summer day, they vowed to marry each other should Harry ever inherit
his distant cousin’s baronetcy, sealing their pact with blood.
When
he made the Pact, Harry knew he would never inherit Camrose from his
cousin. He was third in line behind two robust men, including his
brother, after all. But when a series of unthinkable events saddle him
with the baronetcy, Harry must return from soldiering in Bombay to take
up the mantle. With Gussie’s letters keeping him company on the voyage,
he wrestles with the question whether to honor the childhood pact with
his best friend, if she was willing, that is…
Gussie is not made
for marriage. A fact she has known for years, declaring to anyone who
asked that she will never participate in the institution. She made the
Pact with Harry safe in the conviction that he would never inherit. They
would simply remain best friends, even if Harry stayed in India as a
soldier for the rest of his days. But when Harry arrives in England as
Sir Harry, a baronet who now must marry, Gussie must decide which vow to
keep.
My rating: 5 stars / It was amazing
Synopsis
Rosy Barrett is a woman of simple tastes, asking nothing more than
for leave to ride from dawn until dusk and tend to the horses in her
father’s stables at Broadstone Manor. With the foaling season well
underway, she is wholly focused on obtaining the beginnings of her own
future breeding operation, separate from her father’s. Wholly focused,
that is, until Giles Harrington, the boy she loved as a child, appears
out of nowhere into her life again.
Seven years after his
father’s financial ruin, Giles Harrington, Lord Montbury, does not like
to waste time or money, having little to spare of either resource. While
traveling home from a failed investment opportunity, Giles is led by
chance to Rutland to his old acquaintances, the Barretts of Broadstone.
Here, he finds Rosy, a girl he hardly remembers, a grown woman now, and
all sunshine and smiles as she runs wild in her father’s stables. The
more time he spends in her company, the more Giles is affected by her,
beginning to believe that life, with the right people surrounding you,
can offer the joy and happiness he doesn’t think he deserves.
My rating: 5 stars / It was amazing
Synopsis
If she wanted to save him, there was no room to hesitate…
Resigned and dreading an arranged marriage that’s as ill-suited as it is unwanted, Lord Walraven accepts the invitation of a ramshackle acquaintance to journey to a house party in the far north of England as a last hurrah before accepting his fate. But in this helter-skelter party, schemes to ensnare Lord Walraven and his wealth are afoot.
Anna Welbourne has been her brother’s drudge for years now. When she is sent by herself to prepare their ancestral home and its unsuspecting servants for his grand party, she is furious enough to try anything to rid herself of her brother’s cruel guardianship. But among his guests is a man to whom she owes a debt, and she must pay him back. So when, after a raucous game of cards, Anna sees the handsome Lord Walraven being swept off to Gretna Green by a conniving woman, she not only sees a chance to escape her brother, but a way to pay the debt.
The Langham Line series Book Two
My rating: 5 stars / It was amazing
Synopsis
He is in desperate need of a wife. She is accepting someone else. Will one summer be enough to change her mind?
James Hammond is in a bind. To fulfill the dictates of his late cousin’s will, he must provide a London season for his new ward, Belinda. An easy thing to do with his fashionable, London-loving wife, if only she hadn’t died right before his cousin. Now, with his new ward to care for, a rascal of a son to keep in check, and a mountain of debt left by his wife, James must find a bride, and fast. But after his third rejection in as many months, James is beginning to lose hope.
Letty Langham does not fall in love. She experienced the emotion once before and it went about as badly as a case of unrequited love can go. Now she has vowed never to give those emotions any rein again. But not wanting to be alone forever, she sees the wisdom in accepting the proposal of the impeccable Lord Bransbury come autumn, after she spends the summer with her cousins near Bath. But after an act of charity goes horribly askew, Letty finds herself in the frequent company of Mr. James Hammond, whose handsome face and easygoing manners are making her rethink keeping her feelings bound.
The Langham Line series novella
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(at time of blog post)
My rating: 4 stars / I really liked it
Synopsis
Lady Anthea’s relationship with Lord Desford has never been easy, but always entertaining. After ending a short, disastrous engagement, the two spend the next decade in a verbal sparring match. Their goal? Jab each other as much as possible while London looks on, accepting them as an eccentric, amusing pair. It's a position that suits them both. So, when word goes round that Desford is looking for a bride, Anthea is certain their relationship won’t change, and focuses her energies on how to dampen her beautiful niece’s infatuation with Desford’s cousin, the handsome Richard Tiverton.
Finally yielding to the pressures of his family, Lord Desford agrees to find a wife and flatly refuses to help either Richard or Anthea in the situation revolving around Molly Wakefield, Anthea’s niece. With his considerable fortune, and title to go with it, it will be easy to find a suitable woman to fill the position. He knows full well that love will not play a part in his marriage. How could it when the woman he’s really wanted all these years won’t have anything to do with love?
Are you a fan of sweet Regency romance? Have you read Amanda's books?
Title: Good Gifts 
