If you're looking for an immersive read, that will pull you in from the first page, then I highly recommend Lord Frederick's Return!

Review of Lord Frederick’s Return by Catherine Kullmann

Older hero ✅
Steely, grounded heroine ✅
A delightfully outspoken four-year-old named Ruperta ✅✅


Catherine Kullmann doesn’t just tiptoe through Regency tropes; she peels back the layers of return, loss, and rebuilding a new life in a society that still whispers about your origins.

A sweet, thoughtful Regency romance that trades the ballroom for believable emotion. Frederick, Susannah, and especially Ruperta feel lived-in and real. With lush historical texture and a scandal that tests more than just a proposal, it's delicate, quietly powerful, and utterly charming—exactly the kind of thoughtful second‑chance love story you didn’t know you needed.

RSVP? Always.

It's a pleasant, slow, entertaining enough regency romance.

It's very short (~200 pages) and quite abrupt in both action and emotion. I felt like watching a 1h30 film, nice, but too short to feel much attachement to characters or story. There's even a murder mystery set up but it's never really resolved.
It's a nice read if you like old school regency novels and/or in need of a quick and slower palate cleanser between heavier reads, but don't expect too much.

(I did puff at the audacity of both Susanna's father, for dismissing his indian mistress in such a manner; and Frederick, for being offended at the idea of having to choose between "spinsters and widows" as if he wasn't an almost 40yo man with an illegitimate child! Men.)

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

In August 1816, Lord Frederick Danlow returns to England with his young daughter, hoping to build a new life. He finds unexpected comfort and friendship in the home of Colonel Ponsonby and his capable daughter, Susannah. As his admiration for Susannah grows into something deeper, Frederick begins to imagine a future with her—until a scandal involving his younger brother threatens everything.

This was a highly entertaining novel. I loved how it was set in a time period I love to read about but brought something new to the genre. It was interesting how the author weaved in the realities of someone returning from foreign lands and how it would have affected the family around him.

The plot moved at a good pace, neither too fast nor too slow. The romance between Lord Frederick and Susannah was believable, and I was rooting for them to make a success of it. Part of me did wish there was more about the younger brother and his actions, but as a whole, the story stands complete.

Readers who enjoy a standalone sweet Regency romance novel will enjoy this one. I

My thanks to the publishers for the ARC.

I am a great fan of Catherine Kullmann, as her books are always well-written and based on solid research. This one is rather different in style compared with her earlier novels, and is a slightly odd off-shoot of The Potential for Love, providing another perspective on some of the events in that story. It is a (mostly) easy and engaging read, but does explore attitudes towards mixed race relationships in India during the mid to late 18th century and how they began to change – for the worse – by early in the 19th century. As this is a romance, the difficulties Lord Frederick and Susannah are in reality likely to have encountered in English upper class society are somewhat glossed over.

I could have done with learning a bit more about Lord Henry’s motivations for his actions, as the ensuing scandal was billed as a major stumbling block to Lord Frederick’s chances of pursuing his interest in Susannah. On the whole, one suspects that, given time, this would have been much less of an issue to his peers than Susannah’s mixed race ancestry and illegitimacy.

Overall, I enjoyed reading this, and warmed to the main characters very easily.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Catherine Kullmann for providing me with a complimentary digital ARC for Lord Frederick's Return coming out July 22, 2025. The honest opinions expressed in this review are my own.

This is the first book I’ve read by the author. I’m obsessed with Regency romances. It was a short read. I was thinking it would be more like Jane Austen’s Persuasion. I wasn’t as into the story as I thought I would be. I would check out other books by this author though.

Lord Frederick's Return tells the story of Lord Frederick Danlow and his four-year-old daughter as they journey back to England after living in India for the past 18 years. During his stay in India, Lord Frederick took an Indian woman to be his lady, but after she died in childbirth, he found himself with a motherless daughter and could no longer find comfort in the country following his partner’s passing. Thinking of the best scenario for his daughter, he decides to take a six-month journey by ship to return to his home country.

Without any current connections in England, he accepts an invitation to stay at Ponsonby Place, the home of Colonel Jack Ponsonby, who also lived in India for many years. Upon arriving, they notice that the Colonel and his daughter, Susannah, have made accommodations within their household to somewhat resemble their time in India. Each day that Lord Frederick and his sweet daughter Ruperta spend in the Colonel’s home, the closer he feels to the old man and his gracious daughter. He realizes not only that he has found the help he needs to ensure Ruperta receives a proper education and upbringing for her new life, but also that he might be in need of a lovely, smart, and understanding wife... and that woman might just be Susannah.

This Regency story features many daily aspects one might expect from the lives of the ton: visits from faraway, unknown travelers, dinner invitations, games, and helping other families. I particularly loved learning about the complex process of acquiring the necessary resources and materials to provide a proper education to a young girl of means. Additionally, it is very interesting to see the social implications for people returning from India—especially those who bring partners or children with them. Sadly, such families were often not accepted and were poorly received by society.

The writing is superb, the author shows her craft with how beautifully the story was written. The characters have great depth and personality—I will remember them for sure. The story moves slowly, which is why I was a bit surprised it took me so long to read, especially given that the book isn’t very long. But I believe that’s because the story focuses more on daily life than on major events.

I was not expecting the turn of events when Frederick visits his brother. I found it a bit jarring for the tone the story had established. Perhaps if there had been undertones or foreshadowing leading up to that moment, it wouldn’t have caught me so off guard. I wasn’t bothered in the sense of annoyance, more that I didn’t know how to react to it. I understand that [the event] serves as an effective catalyst for what follows, but I wish it had played out a little differently.

Lord Frederick, Susannah, and Ruperta are so lovely together. I am very happy with how the story ended—a beautiful scene for their future together. Superb writing for a lovely Regency period romance.

Thanks to NetGalley and the author for this copy in exchange for an honest review.

The prose in this novel is good and the history interesting. The storytelling is amateurish and unstructured. The romance is quickly resolved yet the novel continues, with nothing much happening. A crime is introduced but not solved. I honestly don’t know what the point was of the second half of the novel. I think maybe this is part of a series that doesn’t really stand alone, but I’m not sure.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC.

A return to England....

Lord Frederick is back in England, after a lifetime away in India. He married Jiya, had tow sons and a daughter. He became a widower when Jiya died after childbirth. But he decided to return to England with his young daughter Ruperta.

Susannah is a spinster, in charge of her brother's household. Her brother and Frederick knew each other in India, where they both made their fortunes.

I really liked that this was a book that featured slightly older leads, they have both lived their lives. It was also a book that incorporated India customs and words and shows the intermingling of the two cultures.
Recommend.

Thank you BooksGoSocial for this arc.

This is a gentle, slow moving revelation of life in 1816 England with the glitter of aristocracy as well as the various ways that family and society can help or hinder you. As Susannah and Frederick get to know each other in the quiet of a country residence rather than in the spotlight of a London Season, they realize that they’ve probably spent more quality time together in a few weeks really getting to know each other than they would have in months of regular courtship.

A lot of the book focuses on the little details of social life in an English village in Kent with nitpicky status being high on the list of What’s Important. When news of the scandal emerges, it’s learned who are friends and who sniff and walk by without talking. It’s also very important that proprieties are adhered to as rumor can dash a woman’s hopes of a good marriage while accepting the introduction of an unknown into a small social circle is a risk if that person later is associated with something untoward.

Much time is also spent on Frederick becoming reacquainted with his family after so many years apart. Will they accept him and his daughter or shun them as Colonel Ponsonby and Susannah were? This is mostly delightful. Frederick’s brother and sister-in-law are staunch supporters of him, welcome Susannah and Ruperta and (figuratively) roll their eyes at the troublemakers.

I will re-warn readers who didn’t pay attention to the warnings above that several Anglo-Indian period terms are used such as ayah and bibi. Several British characters look down on Susannah and Ruperta due to their bi-racial status and illegitimacy. Frederick is the son of and younger brother to Marqueses and his family think about how their brother Henry’s actions will possibly taint the family.

One thing that did annoy me slightly is that at one point later in the book, Frederick says something to Susannah to the effect of “why didn’t your father marry your mother?” when he had never married his bibi either. This is a book that shows how people navigated this society and how reputations needed to be protected as there were always eyes watching everything. Social rules were important and flouted at risk. But as I said about “The Husband Criteria,” these two characters look for “compatibility, kindness, someone who listens to them, and respects them” and in addition find love. B

A quick and easy read. The characters were well written and the plot kept me intrigued. Definitely recommend this book if you like historical romances!

if you are looking for something that is a quick and easy read then this is the novel for you. it tells the journey ofba man named Frederick and the hardahips he faces after the death of his wife. Overall it is perfect if you are looking for something that is a quick and easy read!

When Lord Fredrick returns from India with his four year old daughter. They have to accumulate to the English culture. They find help and comfort with the Ponsonby Family will there be more?

It is such a short novel only just reaching 200 pages. But the historical detail is emacculate and it is a topic not talked about much, about the British men returning with Indian children. I thought the characters were extremely well crafted, causing for a really interesting and gripping plot. I especially like Miss Susannah Ponsonby she was a very strong character, but in a really graceful and quite way, I adored her and also little Ruperta was adorable. The plot was varied having a lot of family drama, but also quiet domestic joys. The one things that I had is that I personally like it a bit better when there are more indicators in which time period it is. But you can see really well that it is a historical fiction. But that is just my personal preference, it wasn’t really troublesome.

Overall I really liked this book, it was really interesting. The historical fiction is good and the characters excellently crafted. I definitely recommend this book for lovers of historical fiction.

Lord Frederick’s Return has a little bit of everything Regency romance lovers could want. Romance ( of course), scandal, drama, and a happily ever after. I did feel a bit uncomfortable with slight gory details, but of course that is merely personal bias against gore of any kind. So cute!