The Townsbridges Series: A Regency Romance Anthology

I loved this epic family romance series! This collection of Regency romances is absolutely superb! Every story is a winner, and while they each are standalone romances, they are beautifully interconnected so they read as one amazing family saga. The first book gives us Margaret and George's romance, while the next five jump ahead a few decades to chart the love lives of each of their five children. Once Upon a Townsbridge Story starts off with a "famous last words" set up as Margaret declares she will never marry George. His patient pursuit of her anyway gives him time to show her his true character rather than the rumors she'd heard. The delightful writing style infuses each scene with humor and wit, bringing out the personalities of each character while developing a strong, insightful look at the societal expectations and standards of the day. When Love Leads to Scandal tells the story of Charles and Bethany. Bethany accepts Robert's proposal right before she meets his best friend, Charles, and the attraction between Charles and Bethany is complicated by Robert's asking Charles to escort Bethany in his stead because he's too preoccupied by his business interests. This is a gentle story, where each one is trying to do the right thing, despite the sacrifices. The way it's resolved not only gives us a wonderful HEA but also brilliantly sets up a future story. Lady Abigail's Perfect Match is the second Townsbridge son, James. She's had a crush on him for a few years, which has the unfortunate result of making her tongue-tied in his presence. After an awkward encounter puts them in a compromising position, a forced marriage leads to a greater understanding between them. Happiness is delayed by a traumatic event however, and I absolutely adored James as he helped Abigail through the difficult weeks of recovery. Falling for Mr. Townsbridge matches the youngest son, William, with the family's new French cook, Eloise. She's not entirely what she seems, and while William is exactly who he appears to be, he still has a few obstacles to overcome in his pursuit of her. Theirs is a delightful game of chase, right up to "caught you" scene where they finally get everything right. A Duke for Miss Townsbridge, Matthew, stuns all of society by proposing to Sarah the instant he meets her. Her immediate refusal doesn't sway him from his decision in the slightest, even while his continued pursuit of her forces him to examine his history and past trauma. Sarah is wonderfully patient with him, and I really loved how tender and sweet this story turned out to be. Their triumphant HEA was best of the bunch. An Unexpected Temptation is what Athena presents to Robert when she insists on tracking him down to apologize for her part in his scandal from six years earlier. Robert is stunned by the now grown Athena, and even more stunned by his attraction to her. Theirs is a bit of a whirlwind romance, but considering the many years they've known each other it makes perfect sense after all. The epilogue at the end was the perfect cherry on top of this delicious set of stories. I love stories with strong family values and HEAs all around, and this set is all that and more. Each story has plenty of passion and chemistry between the lovers, while saving the truly intimate scenes for the wedding nights of each couple. I'm thrilled that I was able to read all these wonderful romances in this one set, and I highly recommend it for anyone who loves historical romances. I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book.

Delightful, Sweet, Silly, and Humorous Set of Regency Romances -- This is the full set of stories about the Townsbridge family, starting with the parents' romance in the prequel. I love series that not only focus on the children of a family but also show the parents’ romance. As I have been an RN in a year of medical turmoil, I have missed some books of this series as they came out, so I was thrilled that the author put them out in the set so I could enjoy all of them in one book download. Here are my full two reviews of the books I read as they came out: Full Review of Falling for Mr. Townsbridge -- Sweet and Silly Regency Romance -- This is an unusual Regency romance because it features an upstairs/downstairs couple. When the third son of a viscount comes home from helping diplomats in Lisbon, he is surprised by the better food quality at home and then swiftly becomes enamored of the cook herself. She's French and has been taught how to cook and bake by her grandfather who was a chef at a fancy house in France. They engage in some fun antics (like the kitchen scene), and the hero comes to realize that he truly enjoys his time with her and feels like he can be himself. But the social structure is certainly against marriage between the nobility and servants. She knows it is hopeless as well, yet they are both very attracted to each other. The little moments between them were often silly and sweet, and they certainly kept me reading. I really enjoyed this story. It is relatively low angst, or at least, the more angsty moments resolved rather quickly. SPOILER The only thing I had a hard time believing was how quickly and easily everyone in his family accepted their relationship. After the hero and heroine struggled so mightily with their feelings and what to do about them, it felt like a bit of a denouement to have the family be so supportive so fast. END SPOILER By the way, if you prefer your romances to be more sweet than steamy, it is relatively sweet with only kisses before the end. There is one steamy scene at the end of their wedding night that you could skip if you prefer not to read those kinds of scenes, although it was a nice one that fit the characters. All in all, I found this simply delightful. -------- Full Review of A Duke for Miss Townsbridge -- Humor and Depth... A Great Combination! -- The meet-cute for this book has to be one of the best I've read! And I read a lot of Regency romances. I won't tell you about it so you can enjoy it for yourself if you choose to read this book. Not only was that scene excellent, but the first one with them together on a walk and fishing on the Serpentine was witty, well done, and surprisingly illustrative of character on both their parts. This book certainly did have surprising and light moments, but much of the book was very serious, as the duke's dark past still afflicted him. I wasn't sure how I was going to like the duke at first, but as I watched him interact with the heroine, I liked him more and more. Until a certain point when he acted absolutely ridiculous and hurtful to the heroine who was only trying to help. Sigh! I so dislike moments like that in novels. But, on the whole, this was a well-done novel. I received a free copy of this book, but that did not affect my review.

Townsbridge Regency Anthology . . . The Townsbridge siblings risk scandal in the name of love in this 6-book Anthology which includes a prequel featuring their parents. The characters in this family are all extremely likable, and there is plenty of variety in the stories the author gives us here. Below is a review of one of the books to give you an idea of what’s in this wonderful collection. Titles included are: • ONCE UPON A TOWNSBRIDGE STORY (#0.5) - George Townsbridge and Margaret • WHEN LOVE LEADS TO SCANDAL (#1) - Charles Townsbridge and the woman in the park • LADY ABIGAIL’S PERFECT MATCH (#2) - James Townsbridge and Lady Abigail • FALLING FOR MR. TOWNSBRIDGE (#3)- William Townsbridge and the new cook • A DUKE FOR MISS TOWNSBRIDGE (#4) - Sarah Townsbridge and the duke next door • AN UNEXPECTED TEMPTATION (#5)- Athena Townsbridge and Robert Carlisle *** Reviewing “A DUKE FOR MISS TOWNSBRIDGE (#4)” *** Matthew Donovan, Duke of Brunswick, made his decision that it was time for him to marry after contemplating for three years what he expected of a bride. He decided Sarah Townsbridge met his requirements, being kind, energetic, and with the disposition to be a wonderful mother to his children. He had never been introduced to her, but he confidently strode over to her and proposed in front of everyone. Not knowing him, aside from who he was, she said no. That, of course, shocked everyone that she would deny a Duke! But Matthew is stubborn and had made up his mind. Now he had to convince Sarah that she would indeed marry him! Sarah wants a marriage of love and communication like her parents have. Matthew, aside from the behavior already displayed, has strict unbendable rules for their marriage, such as living apart – with occasional time together to produce an heir. With Sarah’s desire to heal and fix broken people, she decides to get to know him better and try to help him. But unless she can break down his rigid walls, he will never be the man she is looking for. Can he change for her? Will he allow himself to fall in love? Sarah will have her work cut out for her with this gentleman. But she loves a challenge, and he certainly presents her with enough to work on! Will their enforced proximity bring out the emotions each needs to begin a real relationship? Grab your copy and watch as the two begin to work things out.