Marion Chesney has been compared to Georgette Heyer, as a lighter version of Heyer, while others do not see the comparison. I belong to the latter group. There are some similarities, of course - they both write about the Regency era, and they are both very faithful in the depiction of the time period they write about, but I am afraid that in my opinion that is all they have in common.
Georgette Heyer's books were written many years ago, and the flavor and style of her books are certainly very different from those written with the contemporary hand of Marion Chesney. Heyer concentrates on manners and dress, while Chesney is usually more focused on the minutae of everyday living in the Regency era - and does a good job describing the very different mindset of those people of long ago, as opposed to the modern way of thinking. While Heyer writes mainly about the upper classes, Marion Chesney will often focus on the lower classes - something, I might add, which I have never seen before in a Regency novel, and find engrossing for that reason alone. Heyer is probably a better writer - but that is not an insult to Chesney - while Heyer is simply a classic, Chesney is certainly one of the best of the writers in today's Regency Romance genre. The fact that there is a comparison made at all is a compliment to Ms. Chesney, though, I think.
While I liked both Georgette Heyer and Marion Chesney, they are very different writers, and I can see how someone who loves Georgette Heyer may not like Marion Chesney, and vice versa (although I can't quite imagine someone not liking Georgette Heyer).
In "Emily Goes to Exeter" we are introduced to Miss Hannah Pym, a former housekeeper who has come into a small inheritance and decided to use her money on her life-long ambition. All her life she has watched the "Flying Machine" pass by her window, and finally she will have the chance of her own for Adventure! For Living Life!
I thought this was one of Marion Chesney's best books, Miss Hannah comes across as a very vivid and sympathetic character, and we are caught up in her until-now dull life, the sad life of her former employees, and finally her chance for adventure. Nor does Ms. Chesney let her down, as in page after page, there is never a dull moment!
If you are a Regency fan, you will certainly like "Miss Emily Goes to Exeter" as this is one of the best regencies in today's market.
