Lord Yates And The Yankee (Zebra Regency Romance)

by Joy Reed

American Constance Locke spurns the English aristocracy, her blood boiling at the thought of their idleness. Yet Constance can't deny that Lord Vincent Yates is everything she could ever want in a... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 082177476X
• ISBN13: 9780821774762
• Release Date: February 2003
• Publisher: Zebra
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 6.8" x 0.8" x 4.3"

Customer Reviews

Both pleasing and entertaining

I always enjoy Joy Reed's regencies and this was no exception. The premise initially worried me - the self-righteous American berating the allegedly dissolute, useless aristocrat. However, the heroine, Constance Locke, may have indeed expressed herself in this way at first, but she redeemed herself soon after. She realised that there could be other opinions than her own. Lord Yates was very much the likable, seemingly foolish unheroic nobleman. He is caught at the beginning of this tale, at the crossroads, for him, of deeper thoughts on life. He is discovering the aimlessness of his existance and finding his usual pleasures empty. The influence of the family tomb on his state of mind, is particularly well done and is a recurrent motif.Both of these characters are well drawn and likable from the first. They are both willing and ready to change and not stupidly stubborn in their behaviour.Read and enjoy.

one of Joy Reed's better novels

Vincent, Lord Yates, has spent most of his life enjoying the social whirl, playing ridiculous pranks, and in general being a jolly fellow who can always be counted on for a laugh. But at the (perhaps belated) age of 35, he has started to consider society a bore, he begins to considers his mortality, and wonders if he is wasting his life. Soon after he begins having these thoughts, he meets the daughter of a visiting American author at one of his sister's literary parties, which he had impulsively promised to attend. Being a friendly fellow, he introduces himself to Miss Constance Locke, and is surprised when she gives him an icy reception, telling him she believes that the British system of aristocracy is tyrannical. Vincent is not stupid, despite his clowning ways and habit of speaking in sporting man's cant. He responds to Constance's opinions with good humor and common sense, and she sees that there is more to him than the handsome dandy she first took him for. Constance and Vincent have considerable chemistry together, despite their surface differences. Constance is used to being considered a sensible, eccentric woman, and enjoys Vincent's attention, while believing he can't possibly be interested in her as more than a friend. Vincent is a man who is perhaps accustomed to people taking him at face-value, which has contributed to his lack of confidence in his own abilities, and his lack of ambition. This probably accounts for his initial attraction to Constance, as she sees the intelligent man beneath his social exterior, and challenges him to defend his opinions. Constance is also attracted to Vincent, but believes he can't possibly be interested in her. She is astounded and delighted to find that Vincent does indeed seem to think of her in a romantic light...and dismayed, because she has a fiance back home in Boston. Constance reminds herself frequently that she made a promise, and that anyway, she wouldn't be a fit wife for a British earl. Vincent, though initally devastated by her engagement to another man, figures he will at least spend as much time with her as he can while she remains in England. Maybe a miracle will happen, and she will love him back, even though he doesn't think he is worth Constance's love. Once I got past Vincent's frequent "By Jove"s and sentence-concluding "what?"s (by regarding them as the Regency equivalent of sprinkling one's conversation with "like" and "dude"), I really enjoyed this book. Constance's insistence upon honoring her promise to her fiance back home went a little farther than necessary, if you ask me, but it all ended well. And the scene where Vincent and Constance first openly confess their love for one another was beautifully written. Both main characters are quite likable, and seemed to blossom when they were together, having very witty conversations. What more can one ask for in a romance novel? (There are no graphic sex scenes in this book--just some kissing.)