The Sport of Baronets
I haven’t made a secret of my love of Theresa Romain or my love of horses, and when Romain announced that her new series involved Regency horse racing, I declared that she had hit upon the perfect RedHeadedGirl bait, and if this is a plot to get me kidnapped due to being told that an ARC is down a dark alley somewhere, it’ll probably work.
Please don’t, though.
This is a novella to set up the series, and the story of Sir Bartlett Crosby and Hannah Chandler- scions of families that have been feuding for years and years, and also both families raise racehorses. The Crosby family has been in a decline, and Bart has pinned all of his hopes and dreams of restoring the family fortune on one colt, Golden Barb. But then Hannah, daughter of his nemisis shows up with a bill of sale transfering ownership of Golden Barb from Bart’s mother to her, Hannah.
This doesn’t go over well.
It goes over even worse when Golden Barb is stolen while they’re fighting, so they must join forces to find the colt, sort out their shit, and maybe, by accident, get their families to stop this stupid feuding.
I’m usually not a fan of novellas. If the hero and heroine don’t already know each other, I often don’t buy the progression of relationship in such a short length. The fact that Hannah and Bart knew each other already (and they were well into “I hate you, I hate you, I can’t stop thinking about your hair”) helps make the relationship seem organic and reasonably paced. My only wish was that it was longer.
I loved that the resolution appears to be a homage to my favorite Sherlock Holmes story (which I’m not going to name because spoilers) (but if you’re smart you can probably make an educated guess) and I’m a sucker for a good burying the hatchet trope, and I am SUPER thrilled to have this series start. YAY HORSIES
An original novella introducing Romance of the Turf, Theresa Romain’s exciting new Regency romance series…
The lives of Sir Bartlett Crosby and Hannah Chandler have been marked by fierce competition between their elite families…the perfect breeding ground for a mutual attraction neither can deny.
Bart hopes to conquer “the turf” through victory in a much-touted match. Should his heavily-favored colt win, the Crosby reputation and fortunes would be revived. Bart’s plan seems poised for success until the lovely Hannah Chandler, daughter of a noted rival trainer, turns up claiming ownership of the colt. When Hannah insists on claiming her purchase, the prize colt disappears from Bart’s stable. Theft or treachery? As Hannah and Bart rush to solve the mystery before race time, they uncover a scandalous truth about their families’ pasts-a truth that has the potential to either destroy both their futures, or to guide them to a love they never imagined.
Historical: European, Novella, Romance
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I’m with you, RedHeadedGirl … yay horsies! I am looking forward to the rest of the series. I loved the banter between “Mr. Crosby” and Hannah, especially the series of messages and panting messenger.
yay horsies! *click* but I have to admit when I first glanced at the cover I thought it said “the sport of bayonets.” I mean, that’s a double entendre worthy of the genre, right?
Disappointing read. If I were giving stars, I’d give this 1.5. Sorry, because I generally like Theresa Romain. (To Charm a Naughty Countess was excellent, for example.)
And because I have liked Romain’s previous works, I still plan to read A Gentleman’s Game. However, The Sport of Baronets was a “by the numbers” humdrum story that did not inspire me in any way to read further in the series. In fact, I could not finish this novella in one sitting, I was that bored.