Review: The Peacock Throne by Lisa Karon Richardson

Unimpressive Christian Regency Romance

I love Regency romance and I love adventure stories and I love non-US settings. The Peacock Throne had all these things, so I should have loved it, yet I didn’t. Why not? It started well, with the two main characters brought together by murder: Lord Anthony Danbury’s father and Miss Lydia Garrett’s cousin.

There was a lack of romantic tension. I never got the impression that Lydia was interested in either of her potential suitors (although it was a nice touch to have two men interested in one lady, rather than the more common “other woman” plot).

And I guessed the identity of the evildoer too early, which raises another point: I felt the whole rationale behind the adventure plot was a little strained, and the Christian content was subtle to the point of being almost non-existent (although that’s not a bad thing: it’s better than a novel where the characters stop to sermonise each other every chapter).

The characters were interesting, there were plenty of exotic locations, but the indifferent writing and lack of pace at what should have been exciting moments made this an easy book to put down, even at what was supposed to be the climax. While I didn’t dislike it, nor did I feel engaged with the plot or the characters, and it was a struggle to finish.

If you’re looking for a historical adventure novel with foreign settings, I’d recommend you read Christine Lindsay or Rita Stella Galieh instead.

Thanks to Lion Hudson and NetGalley for providing a free ebook for review.