This is a re-read; it was previously reviewed on another site, but the review was lost.

A light Regency romance in the style of Georgette Heyer, albeit written by someone with shaky London geography (Richmond Park from the West End via Clerkenwell and Holborn - I don’t think so). It is less assured than her later works, and seems rather uneven in style. The second half of the book seems to flow better than the first.

Penniless Lady Catherine, sister to the Marquess of Tarval, befriends Clarissa Harlowe after her father’s yacht is sunk by the Marquess’ cutter in a fog. Clarissa invites Lady Catherine to spend the season with her and assists in the manner of dress (Lady Catherine having resorted to her late mother’s wardrobe). Lady Catherine falls in love with Clarissa’s wealthy cousin, and Clarissa falls in love with the Marquess.

The complications are that both Clarissa and the Marquess are betrothed to other people, and the plot revolves around their efforts to gain their freedom to follow their hearts.

Tolerable, especially when read on the daily commute.

There are quite a few wobbles of tone here—Danse de la Folie starts out as a send-up of Regency-era romances, what with its inclusion of a smuggling sub-plot, authorial breaking of the fourth wall, and a heroine who I thought for a while was going to realise she was a lesbian. (I would absolutely have been down for that.) By the halfway point, with some audible gear grinding, it's become a much more standard romance novel in the Heyer mode, with a slightly cartoonish villain. It's readable, though, and definitely far better than the other book of Sherwood Smith's that I've read. ( )

Slightly pre-Regency, being set in 1801. Clarissa invites her new friend Lady Kitty to spend the Season with her family, and both of them fall in love.

The language is more formal, suited to the setting. *Not* a sexy book--much to its credit. ( )

This is a rich, very Austinian Regency romance with lots of characters, lots of texture, and the perfect Austen voice. I loved the ill-matched betrotheds you love to hate! The whole tangled mess of relationships starts slowly and then rolls toward one disaster after another...I didn't know if the author would ever unscramble these poor lovers! A great ride! ( )