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A Very Plain Young Man (The Hapgoods of Bramleigh) Paperback – May 27, 2014

by Christina Dudley (Author)
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 9 ratings
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She’s beautiful but practical. He’s charismatic and disreputable. When duty conflicts with love, will their hearts win?

Somerset, England, 1808. Elfrida Hapgood keeps her eyes on the prize. Born to a penniless squire, she’s determined to follow common sense and marry an upstanding and steadfast gentleman. So when her brother-in-law’s handsomely rakish sibling attempts to woo her, she rigidly ignores the flutter in her chest.

Frederick Tierney enjoys a flippant and frivolous life. But when he needs to escape a vengeful former mistress, the lovely older sister to his sibling’s bride strikes him as an apt solution. Yet despite his efforts, he’s shocked to discover the oh-so-proper lady is impervious to his charms.

In spite of herself, Elfrida begins to like the well-dressed man-about-town until an unsavory encounter reignites her doubts. And when Frederick realizes he has truly fallen for the alluring woman, he struggles to prove there’s more to him than his reputation.

Will this unlikely pair take a chance at forever?

A Very Plain Young Man is the enchanting second book in The Hapgoods of Bramleigh clean Regency romance series. If you like heroes with chequered pasts, playful tales, and clever turns of phrase, then you’ll adore Christina Dudley’s comedy of manners.

Buy A Very Plain Young Man to choose happiness today!

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Previous page
  1. Print length
    380 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publication date
    May 27, 2014
  4. Dimensions
    4.25 x 0.86 x 7 inches
  5. ISBN-10
    0983072140
  6. ISBN-13
    978-0983072140
  7. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"'Enchanting' and 'sparkling'...The characters were unique and had depth, and the novel overall was both a witty comedy of manners and a beautiful love story." -- Austenprose.com

"[5 stars.] I simply cannot decide what I love most about this second installment to the Hapgoods of Bramleigh series - the brilliant characters with so much personality and depth, the playful tone and witty banter the author deftly commands, or the thoughtful and riveting plot that was far from predictable." -- Austenesque Reviews

About the Author

Clean Regency romance author Christina Dudley's books have been called "enchanting," "sparkling" and "swoon-worthy" by reviewers like Austenprose and Austenesque Reviews. Her award-winning series The Hapgoods of Bramleigh contains six books: The Naturalist, A Very Plain Young Man, School for Love, Matchless Margaret, The Purloined Portrait, and A Fickle Fortune. Watch for her next series The Ellsworth Assortment in later 2022!

Dudley also wrote The Beresfords, a modern retelling of Jane Austen's Mansfield Park, which the Seattle Times praised as "ingenious and entertaining," and of which Austenprose's Lisa Galek declared, "I would rank The Beresfords with some of the best Austen updates I've ever read or seen."

To join her mailing list and receive a FREE copy of a Hapgoods of Bramleigh novella, visit her at christinadudley(dot)com.

She and her family live in Bellevue, Washington.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Bellavita Press (May 27, 2014)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 380 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0983072140
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0983072140
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 13.3 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 4.25 x 0.86 x 7 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 9 ratings

About the author

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Christina Dudley

Christina Dudley

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Christina Dudley's books have been called "enchanting," "sparkling" and "swoon-worthy" by reviewers like Austenprose and Austenesque Reviews. She's authored two award-winning Regency series: The Hapgoods of Bramleigh and The Ellsworth Assortment, as well as PRIDE AND PRESTON LIN, a contemporary riff on Austen's classic which was chosen as a February 2024 Editor's Pick by Kirkus Reviews Magazine and received starred reviews from both them and Booklist.

To join her mailing list and receive a FREE copy of a Hapgoods of Bramleigh novella, visit her namesake website.

She and her family live in Bellevue, Washington.

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
4.6 out of 5
9 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

LL
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on September 22, 2017
Verified Purchase
really enjoyed the story...old fashioned romance at its best
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H. Bok
4.0 out of 5 stars A Very Fine Regency Romance
Reviewed in the United States on September 19, 2015
Verified Purchase
First, a practical note: *A Very Plain Young Man* is the second in a series that should probably be read in order. Characters who are relatively minor in this novel are the centerpiece of the first volume, and if you haven’t read it, they (and the major events of their lives) might seem underexplained here. The first novel is called *The Naturalist.*

Christina Dudley’s writing is very polished and elegant, convincingly “period” in its phrasing and style. I experience a little dissonance when reading her books because while the Regency language is very correct, the sensibility of the novels is relatively modern. The book opens with a bedroom scene (not explicit, for those readers who prefer “clean”) between an adulterous couple; some comic episodes draw inspiration from modern forms of humor, dressed up in period language; some of the characters’ manners are conspicuously modern. I find these aspects a little jarring sometimes, but Dudley’s writing is so winning that I don’t really mind.

The Hapgoods of Bramleigh series, of which this is the second, focuses on an impecunious Somersetshire family with four daughters, a huntin’-and-shootin’ father, and a hypochondriac mother. The major characters are all strongly drawn and very appealing. This story centers on the eldest daughter, nearsighted Elfrida, who is the backbone of the household—practical, dutiful, calm. (I worry how the others will go on when she leaves them!) Into her life comes Frederick Tierney, the brother of her younger sister’s husband, a wild London rake. He decides rather early on that he will marry her, for reasons that seem inadequate to me but help the plot along. She, of course, is not interested—at first. Cue the complications and misunderstandings.

The family’s circumstances and dynamics are used in credible ways to drive the plot, leaving Elfrida suspended between duty and desire. But I wish she had not taken a journey at the juncture in the plot when she did—if the other characters had come to her instead of her going to them, there might have been more opportunity for direct conflict between these dueling aspects of her personality. As it is, we know all along which path she will choose, and the pressure on her to do otherwise is more described than felt. Mrs. Todd was an amusing addition to the story, though her speech could have been more specifically London and less generically lower-class. On the subject of accuracy, the climactic ball scene was not so credible because a lord would not be likely to throw a ball in the country in the summertime, during the peak of the agricultural activity; it might have been better to shift the time of year.

These are mere quibbles, however, and overall I enjoyed this story as much as the first. Considering the personalities of the third and fourth daughters of the house, I can’t wait to read their tales! Margaret’s especially should be a rollicking journey. A final note: I adore the covers of the books in this series!
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Meredith (Austenesque Reviews)
5.0 out of 5 stars How I Adore This Ingenuous and Enchanting Family!
Reviewed in the United States on September 10, 2014
A Very Plain Young Man is Book Two in the Hapgoods of Bramleigh series by Christina Dudley (a Traditional Regency romance series in the style of Georgette Heyer). The series focuses on the Hapgoods, an almost impoverished gentry family living in Somerset. The family is headed by a blustery, unsophisticated squire who prefers to spend all his time with his beloved canines and an often indisposed and indolent mother. The four delightful daughters of the family are frequently left to their own devices and have very little society besides their immediate family.

Book One of this series, The Naturalist, was about Alice The NaturalistHapgood (the second oldest) and how her desperate desire to study nature led her both into scandal as well as to the altar! In Book Two, we spend more time with Elfrida, the eldest and most beautiful sister in the family. While Elfrida’s beauty attracts the notice of all around her, she pays it no consequence, in fact she considers being called practical the more desired compliment. Elfrida is an adorable heroine who carries a lot of responsibilities on her shoulders – she is indeed practical, forthright, and composed, all things a young lady ought, but her one flaw is her nearsightedness. Poor Elfrida can’t see much detail in anything unless it is a few inches from her face. And perhaps Elfrida’s shortsighted tendencies extend to her views on men and marriage…

Because of her attractive and amiable qualities, Elfrida is pursued by two men in this novel, one suitor being the handsome, rakish brother of her sister’s new husband. Frederick Tierney, who spends a good deal on flashy apparel and immoderately enjoys the pleasures of town life, finds himself in want of a wife (or at least a fiancé) to help him avoid certain scandal. In addition to wearing fancy embroidered waistcoats, Mr. Frederick Tierney is a rake with a proclivity for married women and actresses, and his latest inamorata is getting a little too demanding, conniving, and hysterical for his tastes. Will Elfrida be a good decoy for him?

Elfrida’s other suitor is her cousin who recently became a widower. Hugh Hapgood, heir to Bramleigh (yes, another entailment!) and father of three children decides to descend upon the Hapgoods and search for a new wife and mother from amongst his fair cousins (but guess what, Elfrida is the only one of marriageable age!) Will she sacrifice herself in marriage for the sake of her family?Will Elfrida let her practical nature rule? Or, will she give her heart to a known rake?

This story was just marvelous! I loved our proper and dutiful heroine and how the rakish Frederick Tierney would tease and try to ruffle her! What a pair they made – she determined to ignore him and distrust his intentions, and he steadfastly falling deeper and deeper in love with her! Loved every minute of their tumultuous journey – and in Frederick’s case, admirable transformation! And I thoroughly enjoyed how Christina Dudley kept preventing this couple from coming to an “understanding” by throwing more obstacles and surprises their way! Ending the story in a very madcap and uproarious style – classic Georgette Heyer.

I simply cannot decide what I love most about this second installment to the Hapgoods of Bramleigh series – the brilliant characters with so much personality and depth, the playful tone and witty banter the author deftly commands, or the thoughtful and riveting plot that was far from predictable. I loved it all! A splendid and skillfully written traditional Regency romance! I can hardly wait for the next installment! I <3 the Hapgoods! #TakeMeBacktoBramleigh

Austenesque Reviews
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