Disappointment from a Favorite Author

I think the most disappointing kind of read is when you're anticipating a book from a favorite author, and then it falls flat. I've been saving up the last of Candice Hern's Regencies (her single titles are OK, but not the same) and hoping it would give me the pleasure of Change of Heart or A Garden Folly.

An Affair of Honor by Candice Hern
(Regency, 1996) 9/1/06
Grade: 2.5

Six years after meeting him during her disastrous Season, Meg Ashburton discovers Viscount Sedgewick thrown from his curricle. He is taken to her home nearby to recover. During the weeks he spends in her company, she is charmed all over again, and he finds himself thinking of love for the first time. But does he want marriage - or something less honorable?

A surprisingly boring Regency from the usually reliable Candice Hern. I was skeptical from the first, when Meg declared her “love” for a man who danced with her twice and barely remembered her. It seemed more like a “plot setup” than an actual emotion. But I was willing to go along, if it had turned into something more interesting. There wasn’t much chemistry between the hero and heroine, and the “mystery” was obvious. I would have graded this as average if not for the tedious misunderstandings in the last third - by the time I reached the end, I just wanted it to be over. Hard to believe that this book came after the enchanting Change of Heart.

I hesitated before grading this one, because I didn't want to grade it too harshly just because I'm a fan of Candice Hern. But in the end, I had to give it a lower score, because I had such a hard time finishing it. I probably would have given up if it had been by another author.

I've been on a Regency kick lately, but I think I'd better switch to a different genre to "cleanse my palate".