The Dream Chasers
By Melinda Hammond

      Vivyan Lagallan has led an exciting life abroad, but as he approaches thirty, he realises that it is time to settle down, so he becomes betrothed to the beautiful but boring Helen Pensford. But things aren’t going to be quite the same for either of them when a young lad’s luggage falls out of a tree as he drives back to town…for the “lad” is a lady: the spirited Eustacia Marchant, who is running away to London to marry her true love. Is Rupert Alleyne ready for this devotion, and is Vivyan’s reckless past really over for good?

      The flyleaf informs the reader that this is a sort of sequel to Autumn Bride, as it features some of the same characters. However, if you haven’t read it (and I haven’t), don’t worry, for it does not seem to allude to any previous adventures. Instead, here is a fun Regency with a more approachable male lead than many, and a delightfully lively though innocent heroine. As with most Regencies, it would have been pleasant--and informative--to have meticulously described at least one of the Society functions, but at least there is some description of Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens. There are no surprises here and this is a good example of a Regency romance--light hearted, frothy fun--but the author manages to avoid the cliché where the two main characters snap at each other throughout most of the book and there is happily a dearth of contrived misunderstandings. All lots of fun.