Reader Recommendation: Kasey Michaels Backlist

Book The Tenacious Miss Tamerlane I received an email from Rayvyn, who wanted to tell me all about the Kasey Michaels books she's discovered and has been enjoying immensely. I love enthusiastic reader recommendations, so I asked if I could share her email with you. 

I have in the last few days “discovered” Kasey Michaels “Alphabet Regency Classic” series, which begins with The Tenacious Miss Tamerlane and goes from there.

I have not read any of her books before, and I am so very glad to have stumbled upon her older ones first.

Each one of [books] I've read have proved to be first of all, very well written, I think in the style of Georgette Heyer in the best of ways. Only funnier.

The Tenacious Miss Tamerlane has as its main characters:

  • A recently inherited Duke
  • A “dragon” Dowager Duchess who recognizes a good thing when she sees it
  • A hen-witted (or is she?) Aunt who has more flounces and lace on her dresses than any girl during her come out season…and to top it all off, only speaks in famous (and not so famous) quotes
  • A superstitious valet, and
  • A Heroine who is lucky, smart enough to take advantage of that luck, but not dumb enough to lose her virginity before marriage.

This novel is “sweet” which is a bit of a relief after all the “ruined” or “fast” heroines I've been reading about with increasing frequency. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy a well-written sex scene as much as anyone–not to mention have written a few myself–but the scenarios I've read lately do really strain credulity with the laxness of the chaperonage.

I've read:

The Tenacious Miss Tamerlane
The Playful Lady Penelope
The Haunted Miss Hampshire
The Belligerent Miss Boynton

And I'm about a quarter of the way through The Lurid Lady Lockport.

So far, every one has been fantastic and I would recommend them all. Funny, sweet and interesting!

ANYWAY. I wanted to bring to your attention that these novels are currently selling for $3.99 each, a bargain, in my mind.

Oh, those sound FUN. Have you read any of them? I'll feature each one here, but please tell us which is your favorite! 

Book The Belligerent Miss BoytonAmanda Boynton is set on escaping her marriage-minded stepfather, refusing to be “sold” on the open market. She plans a grand exit from Society, first making a spectacle of herself at Almacks in order to humiliate the man, and then leaving London for — well, she hasn’t quite figured out that part of her plan yet.

Jared Delaney, Lord Storm, is both intrigued and appalled when he hears of Amanda’s plan (or should we say her lack of a plan), and decides she needs a companion, a protector, as she flees Mayfair in the dead of night. But once on the road with the belligerent Miss Boynton, his plan begins to change. A small seduction is one thing, but Jared’s thoughts quickly turn to a more permanent arrangement …

 Goodreads | Amazon | BN | Kobo

 

 

 

 

 Book The Tenacious Miss Tamerlane

 Tansy, left penniless by her late father, has been putting herself out as a governess to other people’s brats for two years when she is somehow caught up in playing chaperone to a distant cousin, the sister of a duke, no less.

Ashley Benedict, Duke of Avonall, is a man beleaguered. His grandmother is a terror, his sister a lovely but none-too-bright chit, his valet a superstitious twit, and his aunt Lucinda is … well, odd. Now, Ashley has a new problem … how to keep himself from falling for Tansy Tamerlane.

 Goodreads | Amazon | BN | Kobo

 

 

 

 

 Book The Rambunctious Lady Royston

Zachary St. John, Earl of Royston, didn’t know he was looking for a wife when he encountered Miss Samantha Ardsley. He didn’t even know he had encountered Miss Ardsley, for the cheeky thing was dressed in her brother’s clothes at the time, and calling herself Samuel Smythe-Wright.

She didn’t care about Zachary’s title or consequence, or even his devilish good looks — and she certainly didn’t wish to be married to him. But married to him she was, because she amused him, he said, and because he needed an heir. What neither of them expected was to tumble into love.

 Goodreads | Amazon | BN | Kobo

 

 

 

Book The Lurid Lady Lockport

 

Kevin Rawling (first encountered in The Belligerent Miss Boynton), is finally the Earl of Lockport, now that his eccentric and reclusive uncle has at last stuck his spoon in the wall. But when Kevin goes to inspect his country estate, he finds that he has inherited more than a huge, ramshackle old mansion. Gilly Fortune grew up as a servant on the estate, the bastard child of the late earl, and she’s none too thrilled to see Kevin come riding up to the door.

Neither of them are happy to learn the conditions of the late earl’s will, that has a lot to do with the two near combatants marrying in order to release estate funds badly needed by Kevin…and then there’s this business about a hidden fortune. But all of this pales when Kevin and Gilly begin to realize that there’s more between them than either could have supposed .

Goodreads | Amazon | BN | Kobo | iBooks

 

 

 

 Book The Savage Miss Saxon

 THE SAVAGE MISS SAXON: Long ago and far away, in 1976 actually, Kasey Michaels was asked to compile the history of her Pennsylvania township as the entire country celebrated its Bicentennial. She fell in love with the Lennai Lenape Native Americans who had inhabited the area, and in 1985, she decided to bring one of those noble men to England to protect his charge, the orphaned but quite independent Alexandra Saxon. You can pretty well see the reason now for the title, yes?

Alex had promised her dying father she’d travel to England and present herself to her curmudgeon of a grandfather, who was certain to take her in. Well, somebody did…

 Goodreads | Amazon | BN | Kobo

 

 

 Book The Mischievous Miss Murphy

Candice Murphy and her uncle Max con their way through the world impersonating Italian counts and African princes, duping the greedy into parting with their money in hopes of fattening their fortunes. Mark Antony Betancourt, Marquess of Coniston, stumbles onto the pair in the local guardhouse, and is immediately captivated by Candie’s beauty, not to mention her avowal that the turbaned man next to her is the Maharajah of Budge-Budge.

The Marquess is sure he knows their game, but it takes him longer to realize that Candie is as virtuous as she appears, and not open to casual seduction.  

 Goodreads | Amazon | BN | Kobo

 

 

 

 Book The Questioning Miss Quinton

 Patrick Sherbourne, eleventh Earl of Wickford, had been unwittingly charmed by the feisty Miss Victoria Quinton. Her bespectacled appearance belied her femme fatale persona—one he almost dared to covet, until the vixen accused him of her father's murder!

Not one to allow his good name to be sullied, Patrick found his only recourse was to aid Victoria in uncovering the real criminal. But the earl had to act fast. For not just his family honor was at stake…spending a prolonged period in Victoria's company might mean the end to his beloved bachelorhood.

 Goodreads | Amazon | BN | Kobo

 

 

 

 

 Book The Playful Lady Penelope

 Lady Penelope is a rather singular miss in that she wants nothing to do with a London Season, and nothing to do with marriage. Lucien Kenrick, Earl of Leighton, shares those same sentiments, so when the two are thrown together, there should be no problems, with neither of them in the least marriage-minded.

Then again, there’s always that thing about best-laid plans… especially once both, through design and accident, end up residing under the roof of one Lucinda Benedict.

 Goodreads | Amazon | BN | Kobo

 

 

 

 

 Book The Anonymous Miss Addams

 He was London's most eligible—and outrageous—bachelor. But though Pierre Standish didn't give a whit for polite society, he could not deny his father's latest request. To prove himself a true gentleman, Pierre had to perform a random good deed. The task proved unimaginatively easy when, en route to London, Pierre came upon a damsel lying in the road.

Her clothes bespoke her an urchin, but although his anonymous Miss Addams had lost her memory, Pierre was certain she was a well-bred lady. A lady whose innocence and plight might just ensnare the ton's most unattainable rogue.

 Goodreads | Amazon | BN | Kobo

 

 

 

 Book The Dubious Miss Dalrymple

 Forced to assume a false identity, “John Bates” journeyed to the new Earl of Hythe's home to uncover a murderous plot. There he found Elinor Dalrymple, sister to the newly ensconced earl and mistress of his seaside estate.

At first glance, John dismissed her as merely a staid spinster. Yet once she let down her hair, sweet Elinor transformed into a beautiful butterfly—and a feisty damsel who was dubious of his devilish rogue persona. Suddenly John's carefully orchestrated masquerade was crumbling…under his own desire to reveal his true self to Miss Dalrymple!

 Goodreads | Amazon | BN | Kobo

 

 

 

 Book The Chaotic Miss Crispino

 Valerian Fitzhugh had been entrusted to accompany a wayward, headstrong heiress from her disreputable Italian pensione to her family's English estate. He had expected a young girl, not a beautiful, full-grown woman employed as an opera singer.

Ever mindful of his obligation, Valerian escorted Miss Allegra Crispino across the ocean in a most gentlemanly fashion. Yet once they touched shore, the Englishman could no longer deny himself a kiss from the maddening minx. With that one embrace, their fates appeared to be sealed…until chaos was unleashed.

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Book The Haunted Miss Hampshire

Miss Cassandra Hampshire is yet another poverty-stricken young lady of quality, but her luck is about to turn, for her distant relative, Lucinda Benedict, has willed her a small estate rather incongruously known as Wormhill. But the gift comes with a catch. Cassandra only inherits the estate if she and Philip Rayburn, Earl of Hawkedon, can share the residence for the space of two months without killing each other.

You see, Lucinda Benedict was a romantic, and she believed that putting these two fine people in each other’s company would prove to be a fine bit of matchmaking. The only problem (other than these two very matchable people killing each other) is that Lucinda didn’t realize that she would be an earthbound ghost until the marriage took place.

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 Book The Wagered Miss WinslowBeaumont Remington — known only as “Fish” in The Haunted Miss Hampshire, is a man searching for revenge … but what he finds with Rosalind Winslow, the sister of his enemy, is something much more satisfying:

She was a pretty enough little thing, he granted to himself, and she would have brought out more of his protective tendencies if he didn't believe she could probably hold off an army on her own, if not with weapons then with her sharp tongue and even sharper intellect….

But she was a Winslow, and her family and his were sworn enemies, not that he had so far been able to summon up any real animosity toward her. Did this house, this property, mean enough to him that he would even consider marrying a Winslow?

 Goodreads | Amazon | BN | Kobo

Categorized:

General Bitching...

Comments are Closed

  1. DonnaMarie says:

    Now there’s a backlist. It begs the question be asked. Where does one start?

  2. The titles are enough to make you click the buy links. Can’t wait to start reading these.

  3. JRex says:

    I would also add that another of her backlist series the Maggie Kelly series that starts with Maggie Needs an Alibi is a great one.  The heroine (a romance author) imagines to life the hero (her Regency hero from her books).  It’s less a traditional romance since it has a mystery element and a hero that carries through all the books, but it’s hysterical and St. Just is to die for!

  4. I read most of these years ago and I’m happy to know these are available again. The Rambunctious Lady Royston is on my keeper shelf. I second the of recommendation of the Maggie books. The one set at a romance writers’ conference is to die for, though may it’s inside baseball.

  5. lml says:

    I found it interesting to find the “prototype” of St Just’s sidekick Sterling as a character in _The Tenacious Miss Tamerlane_.  Did anyone else notice?

  6. kkw says:

    Uh-oh.
    I don’t want to be a hater, and ordinarily I’d let slide the fact that I found these books to be in the more hair than wit camp, but funnier than Heyer?! I’ve got to throw down.
    Mediocre at best, unless one has a particular craving for ‘zany’ ‘characters’ contorting through ‘madcap’ ‘plot’ contrivances.
    Great titles, though. I kept reading them as a result, which is probably the only reason I recall how embittering I found them.

  7. Diane says:

    Don’t forget her other alphabet novels under the Michelle Kasey penname – Beleaguered Lord Bourne, Enterprising Lord Edward, Toplofty Lord Thorpe, etc.

  8. SaraLC says:

    I have read a few of these – they were hit and miss for me.  I liked The Wagered Miss Winslow and The Toplofty Lord Thorpe, though.

  9. Katie D. says:

    I’ve read a few, and the two that SaraLC mentioned are the ones on my keeper shelf. I really did love The Wagered Miss Winslow (Niall was such a dick brother to her), but another reason it’s on my keeper shelf is because the copy I bought from my UBS in high school, and then turned back into my UBS when I was going off to college (stupid me on so many levels there), was the same copy I got when I bought it again at the same UBS when I was in college. I know this due to the tape repair job I made to the cover 😀

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