{"id":13281,"date":"2020-07-05T10:49:29","date_gmt":"2020-07-05T14:49:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=13281"},"modified":"2023-02-27T21:09:24","modified_gmt":"2023-02-28T02:09:24","slug":"nearly-a-lady-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/13281","title":{"rendered":"Nearly a Lady"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nearly a Lady<\/a><\/em> (2011) Alissa Johnson<\/a> (Haverston Family)<\/p>\n

\"nearly<\/a>Set during the early 1800s.<\/p>\n

Winnefred Blythe became the ward of The Marquess of Engsly after her father died unexpectedly. She was then shunted of to an estate in Scotland with a governess little older than she was, where she has lived in poverty since.<\/p>\n

Lord Gideon Haverston has spent the years since the war avoiding social entanglements. But when his unlamented step-mother disappears, he brother discovers the estate’s affairs are a disaster, and sends Gideon to make reparations to Miss Blythe for the funds it is assumed their step-mother stole from her.<\/p>\n

Things are far worse than he expected.<\/p>\n

Gideon has been badly broken by the war–a little in his body, but mostly in his spirit.<\/p>\n

Gideon had made one promise and one promise only. <\/p>\n

Never again would he be responsible for the well-being of another person. <\/p>\n

In the two years since he\u2019d left the Perseverance, he\u2019d managed well enough. He\u2019d sworn off marriage, bucked tradition and eschewed the services of a valet. He\u2019d even refused to have live-in staff at his town house, preferring to eat at his club and relying on a maid to come during the day. <\/p>\n

He wasn\u2019t a hermit. On the contrary, he sought out and enjoyed the company of others. But at the end of the day, he had only himself to look after.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Freddie and Lily are lovely. Although Lily is theoretically in charge of Freddie, there are sisters of the heart by the time Gideon arrives.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love you, Lilly Ilestone.\u201d She planted a kiss on her cheek. \u201cI\u2019m sorry I was so rotten at breakfast.\u201d <\/p>\n

Lilly returned the kiss. \u201cAnd I\u2019m sorry I maneuvered you so unfairly into something you don\u2019t want.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cSorry enough to\u2014?\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cNot nearly.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

One of my favorite things about her writing is the delightful dialog between the characters.<\/p>\n

Winnefred shook her head in bewilderment. \u201cThis is absurd. What the devil would I do with a London season?\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cFind a husband, I imagine,\u201d was Gideon\u2019s reply. <\/p>\n

It only served to mystify her further. \u201cWhat the devil would I do with a husband?\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cObtain long-term financial stability,\u201d Lilly told her. \u201cSomething more reliable than sheep that can fall ill or crops that can fail.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Do you play an instrument?\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m afraid not.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cWatercolor, sketch?\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cNo.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cCan you sing?\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cNot well.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cDo you know any French?\u201d <\/p>\n

A corner of her mouth hooked up. \u201cA bit.\u201d She cleared her throat. And then proceeded to recite a list of French invectives so extensive, so obscene, that she actually hit upon one or two he\u2019d never before encountered. <\/p>\n

He gaped at her for a moment. \u201cIt is a sad state of affairs, indeed, when a young lady can out-swear a sea captain.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

One of the things I particularly like about her books is that the misunderstandings are, well, understandable. Gideon struggles with the deaths of those under his command during the war, and his desire to protect himself and not suffer further guilt is understandable. <\/p>\n

And Freddie has spent more than half her life in isolation, and although Lily tried to teach her gentility, she really doesn’t get how society and relationships work. It’s not her fault, and she tries, but she hasn’t had nearly enough time to learn.<\/p>\n

The other thing that was particularly fascinating was Freddie’s weakness. Reading it, it’s kind of astounding that motion-sickness has never appeared in another story I’ve read. Sure it isn’t romantic, but considering that it’s not uncommon in modern society, it should have appeared in fiction more often.<\/p>\n

I really liked this story<\/p>\n

Rating: 8.5\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nearly a Lady (2011) Alissa Johnson (Haverston Family) Set during the early 1800s. Winnefred Blythe became the ward of The Marquess of Engsly after her father died unexpectedly. She was then shunted of to an estate in Scotland with a governess little older than she was, where she has lived in poverty since. Lord Gideon […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[191,30,668,33,41,26,56],"tags":[156,50,556,212],"class_list":["post-13281","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-8-5-10","category-british","category-comfort-read","category-historical","category-reread","category-romance","category-sexual-content","tag-alissa-johnson","tag-boinking","tag-georgian-era","tag-ptsd"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/piQkW-3sd","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":23586,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/23586","url_meta":{"origin":13281,"position":0},"title":"Nearly a Lady","author":"Michelle","date":"May 19, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Nearly a Lady (2011) Alissa Johnson (Haverston Family) Set in England and Scotland during the regency, after the wars with Napoleon. Gideon Haverston has returned home from war with both physical scars and mental ones. Gideon shifted his weight to his good leg, pivoted, knocked the barrel of the rifle\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "9.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"9.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/9-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Nearly a Lady","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/nearly-a-lady-e1511016913295.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":24126,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/24126","url_meta":{"origin":13281,"position":1},"title":"Nearly a Lady","author":"Michelle","date":"December 12, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Nearly a Lady (2011) Alissa Johnson (Haverston Family #1) Set in England during the Napoleonic wars She pushed forward again, into the noise and smell and great wall of people. She\u2019d never seen so many people. She felt as if she were on the verge of being trampled. Panic began\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "9.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"9.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/9-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Nearly a Lady","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/nearly-a-lady-e1511016913295.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":25476,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/25476","url_meta":{"origin":13281,"position":2},"title":"Nearly a Lady","author":"Michelle","date":"October 27, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Nearly a Lady (2011) Alissa Johnson (Haverston Family #1) \"He needs something to do. Something to accomplish.\u201d Something, the marquess thought, that might lighten the shadows his brother attempted to hide behind a cheerful wit and careless smile. Being knocked unconscious by two small women was a degree better than\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "10\/10"","block_context":{"text":"10\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/10-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Nearly a Lady","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/nearly-a-lady-188x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":19498,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/19498","url_meta":{"origin":13281,"position":3},"title":"Nearly a Lady","author":"Michelle","date":"December 31, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Nearly a Lady (2016) Alissa Johnson (Haverston Family) Set in Scotland and England during the Regency. Lord Gideon Haverston and his brother are discovering the full duplicity of their step-mother, as his brother--the new Marquess--tries to straighten out the family finances. Their most disturbing discovery is a young woman who\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "9\/10"","block_context":{"text":"9\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/9-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"nearly a lady","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/nearly-a-lady-e1511016913295.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9323,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/9323","url_meta":{"origin":13281,"position":4},"title":"Nearly a Lady","author":"Michelle","date":"October 9, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Nearly a Lady (2011) Alissa Johnson Set in England during the regency. Freddie Blythe and Lilly Ilestone have been barely surviving in Scotland after the death of Freddie's father and the promise by Lord Haverston to care for his Freddie. Gideon and Lucien Haverston are trying to set their inherited\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "9\/10"","block_context":{"text":"9\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/9-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/nearly-a-lady.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":21726,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/21726","url_meta":{"origin":13281,"position":5},"title":"Nearly a Lady","author":"Michelle","date":"March 21, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Nearly a Lady (2011) Alissa Johnson (Haverston Family) Set in Britain during the Napoleonic Wars. \"What the devil would I do with a London season?\u201d \u201cFind a husband, I imagine,\u201d was Gideon\u2019s reply. It only served to mystify her further. \u201cWhat the devil would I do with a husband?\u201d \u201cObtain\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "9\/10"","block_context":{"text":"9\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/9-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Nearly a Lady\r\n","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/nearly-a-lady-e1511016913295.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13281","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13281"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13281\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13281"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13281"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13281"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}