Helpful Score: 4
If you like your Regency romances clean but intense, this is a book you shouldn't miss. I have a few quibbles about heroines who sometimes can't see their noses in front of their faces, but an extremely likeable hero and some unexpected humor make up for it.
Helpful Score: 3
Get yourelf a copy of this bad boy! I love it. I am a Georgette Heyer fan, and I love me some Jane Austin, but this book was something else. This is without a doubt the best romance novel I have ever read in my life. I hate to say it, but Mr. Darcy has just been kicked to the curb. Best. Book. Ever.
An absolutely wonderful read! As with Blackmore, Donaldson sucked me right into her story, successfully bypassing my usual irritation over the first person point of view and a really young heroine. I didn't even twitch over the lack of lusty, sexy scenes; the story was that good. I could actually feel the intense emotions between Marianne and Phillip; his longing for her was utterly delicious. This is the stuff of every diehard romance lover's dreams. Don't miss it! 4.5 stars.
It was well written for what it was, but be aware that the text is written at a young adult or below level. The elegance, the richness, the complexity of classic regency authors is not here. The plot is simplistic, the characters (especially the males) are cardboard, the manners are too modern, and the writing too simplistic. It's something I might give a subteen girl; there's no harm in it. But no reality either.
Really, really good! I would like more novels by this author! Highly recommended!
If you finish a book and want to read it all over again I consider that pretty good. I actually read the author's 2nd book first before realizing this one existed too. I liked this one better but both are good. I have a hard time getting behind the fact that the main girls are 17 in the books but it makes sense for the time period. I loved both main characters in this one and their dialogue, though hard to believe sometimes that they would actually talk like that given the restrictions of the time period, I loved it! I didn't like the constant comparison to her twin or that she constantly felt unwanted and went over that point a lot but the rest of the story made up for it. I love that it is a clean book and that it actually showed a male character being romantic and being interested in her as a person.
