Tag Archives: Patricia Cabot

Educating Caroline by Patricia Cabot

Choice number two of the Summer Reading Challenge hosted by Little Miss Drama Queen, a book that had been sitting on your shelf for over a year, was one of the more difficult choices for me since it described most of the books on my bookshelf. I narrowed the choice down by choosing a Meg Cabot novel and then narrowed those down by choosing one of Cabot’s old regency romance novels written under her pen name, Patricia Cabot. TheEducating Caroline result was Educating Caroline.

Taking place in 1870 London, Lady Caroline Linford is engaged to Hurst Devenmore Slater, the Marquis of Winchilsea. She’s pretty happy about it until she catches him cheating on her with another aristocrat, Lady Jacquelyn Seldon. Not wanting to disgrace her family by calling off the wedding Caroline decides to instead engage the services of notorious lady’s man Braden Granville to teach her how to entice her betrothed away from the slutty Lady Jacquelyn. It sounds pretty silly doesn’t it? Not to mention scandalous. But Caroline’s own mother plants the seed for the idea when she says that in order to hold on to a man Caroline should use her body…

“…which, if I do say so myself, is the spitting image of the one I had at your age, and which I used to excellent advantage…”

Braden Granville is not only a womanizer with a horrible reputation, he is not even titled (gasp!) and has made his fortune on his new fangled gun company. His appearance is secondary, possessing the self-made confidence and logic we all love in Cabot’s leading men. (In fact, based on his dominant traits I would not be surprised if he is an ancestor if Michael Moscovitz.) Caroline shocks him with her unusual request for lessons but seeing as it is a romance novel, passionate sparks fly throughout.  (Code for: there’s a lot of sex.)

In addition to the love triangle Caroline finds herself in, there is also a mystery involving the Marquis and Caroline’s brother which is quite intriguing.

While I did enjoy Educating Caroline, I did have a hard time getting into it mostly because I’m getting a little bored with the regency romance genre. That said, the novel is still quite delightful especially given Cabot’s humor which is the basis for this story. She even throws in a few references to the always pregnant Lady Rawlings who hardcore and keen eyed Meg Cabot fans know is in fact Pegeen MacDougal who married Lord Edward Rawlings in her first published book, Where Roses Grow Wild.

If you are looking for an old school regency romance with humor and a fun storyline I highly recommend Educating Caroline. I give it a Classic Mrs. B.

Mrs. B rating classic