There’s Nothing Logical About Babies! Especially in the Regency Era!

The great comedian W.C. Fields is noted for advising actors to avoid working with children and animals because they are unpredictable and invariably steal the scene. It is precisely for this reason that I love Regency era romances that have infants and children in them. As a reader, children can bring poignancy, humor or the unpredictable to a story.  As a writer, I’m always looking for a way to incorporate young people into my stories. They offer me a way to lighten a difficult scene or draw attention to an unexpected feature of an adult character’s personality.

New York Times bestselling author Cathy Maxwell’s lovely Regency era series, A Logical Man’s Guide to Dangerous Women, tells the tale of several generations of determined bachelors residing in the small town of Maidenshop near Cambridge. They formed a society dedicated to the preservation of their freedom from love and marriage and named it “The Logical Man’s Society.” The founders believed that a sane man wouldn’t choose to marry. Marrying, they believe, goes against all logic.

All was well until The Garland, the pub that was the time-honored gathering place for the men of Maidenshop, is inherited by a woman. Even worse, she turns it into a tea garden! Then some of the Society’s most devoted members do the unthinkable: they commit marriage!

In Book 3 of this series, His Lessons on Love, we examine the trials and tribulations of one of the most stalwart of the club members, the Earl of Marsden. “Mars,” as he’s known to his friends, doesn’t believe in love and refuses to ever contemplate marriage. That is, until he is faced with a tangible token of his philandering lifestyle, an infant daughter of whom he was completely unaware. As he holds his daughter in his arms, he realizes that he knows nothing about babies! If ever a man needed a woman in his life, it’s Mars. What’s a confirmed bachelor to do?

Meet Clarissa Taylor, Maidenshop’s “charity case,” and Mars’ long-time nemesis. Readers of all types of Romance novels do not need more information than this to fill in the blanks and write the happy ending. That being said, His Lessons on Love is a beautifully written historical romance.   It explores serious issues relating to bereavement, acceptance, finding one’s place in the world and building trust in a relationship.

Clarissa, the heroine, is a lost lamb who believes that people will love and accept her if she can just please them enough. Many readers will identify with her struggle. Her determination to make her way in the world is inspiring and thought provoking.

Published in 2022, this full-length Regency novel is available in paperback, on Kindle and as an audiobook. The other books in this series are also very satisfying reads. Thank you, Cathy Maxwell, for a number of well-spent hours with this series and your engaging heroes and heroines.

HIS LESSONS ON LOVE: A Logical Man’s Guide to Dangerous Women Novel | By Cathy Maxwell | Avon| 400 pp.|