I read this after the first in the series but I didn't seem to miss anything that I didn't already know by skipping the second. Once again the Tribbles must come to the rescue of an exasperated parent. Squire Wraxall's daughter Delilah, still unmarried at the advanced age of three and twenty, has become a hardened flirt after being disappointed by Sir Charles Digby when she was 17. The Squire hires Miss Amy and Miss Effy to help give Diana some "town bronze" and cure her of her habit of breaking hearts. Sir Charles Digby has returned from the wars and decided to have some fun in London and hunt for a wife. The romance happens too quickly and unbelieavably. It's predicatble but there's more of a plot than the romance and more mature than the first book. There is an amusing subplot involving Miss Amy Tribble and her desire for a husband and the outcome of the story had me laughing out loud. More Tribbles waiting for me on my nightstand and in the library! I am hooked on them.
"There has been enough whoopsadaisy in this house already" p 130. Murder, mayhem, giggles and guffaws more than a frivolous Regency romance. Senior lead roles are plain-faced and plain-spoken Amy, twittery tiny fan-flourisher Effie, Tribble twins, their wrinkled bodies still surge with yearning hormones, compete for nabob Mr Haddon. Delectable deep-chested Delilah 23, flirted since 17, older neighbor Sir Charles Digby then 28 kissed her and life goodbye for the Napoleonic wars. Her father, squire Wraxall, is released from shyness by manninsh Amy. (view spoiler)[ He proposes to village homebody Mrs Cavendish "pleasant motherly woman shaped like a cottage loaf .. very good cook .. conjures delicacies out of remarkably little" on hand p 14 (hide spoiler)]
What do You think about Enlightening Delilah (1990)?
School for Manners #3. Still loving the Tribble sisters. Things turn up a notch in this one, with a disaffected suitor turning ugly to the flirt Delilah. But everything turns out all right in the end, thanks to the down to earth wisdom - and a little bit of trickery - of Amy Tribble.I guess this is the summer of light reading for me. With hubby's health problems, etc. I can't seem to keep my mind on anything deep or challenging. So thank heavens for Marion Chesney (M.C. Beaton) and her fluffy romances!
—Terry Southard
This has one of the funniest scenes ever!!!The only thing is it's supposed to be a romantic scene! Now, I would be the first to admit that, although I love reading romances, I'm not really a romantic person. When the heroes clasp the heroines in their arms and declare themselves besotted, I'm laughing my head off at the way they choose to to go about it! This book is a case in point. The heroine and the hero are in the middle of a smooch fest when, without warning, the hero pulls away, rips off his shirt and cravat and demands that the heroine witness how his heart beats for her!!! In that situation I would have laughed so hard I would probably fallen out of the carriage!!!
—D.D. Chant
