Elizabeth Mansfield's "The Accidental Romance"

The Accidental Romance - Elizabeth Mansfield

 

A cute story with a couple of twists.  The twists are not in the story itself, but in some connections with other Regency romance novels.  

 

The first one is the hero's sideline as the pseudonymous author of a gossip column called "The Whistledown Diary".  Now, where else have we seen that name?  Why, in Julia Quinn's Bridgerton series, where one of the main characters is the pseudonymous author, Lady Whistledown, of a weekly gossip column in a London newspaper.  Hmmm ... "The Accidental Romance" was published in 1988, the first Bridgerton book appeared in 2000. You do the math.

 

The second twist is in one of the main plot elements of the book. The hero and heroine are at a 2-week long house party where the weather is not cooperating and people are feeling cooped up inside. One of the other guests suggests that they put on a play. They end up staging Oliver Goldsmith's "She Stoops To Conquer", and the heroine of this book is given the role of Kate Hardcastle, the heroine of the play. It just so happens that Mary Balogh wrote a Regency romance for Signet called "The First Snowdrop" (published 1986), where the guests at a house party stage Oliver Goldsmith's "She Stoops To Conquer", and the heroine of the book is given the role of Kate Hardcastle, the heroine of the play.  Hmmm ... The games that some authors play!