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The Further Observations of Lady Whistledown
written by Julia Quinn, Suzanne Enoch, Karen Hawkins, Mia Ryan
Studio : Avon
by Avon
Release Date : 2003-01-28
Publisher : Avon
Released : 2003-01
Availability : Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Number of Items : 1
EAN : 9780060511500
Avg. Customer Rating: (based on 42 reviews)
List Price : $7.99
Our Price : $2.44
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Product Description |
Lady Whistledown Tells All! Society is abuzz when the Season's most promising debutante is jilted by her intended -- only to be swept away by the deceitful rogue's dashing older brother -- in New York Times bestseller Julia Quinn's witty, charming, and heartfelt tale. When the scandalous actions of his beautiful fiancée are recorded in Lady Whistledown's column, a concerned groom-to-be rushes back to London to win his lady's heart once and forever, in Suzanne Enoch's enchanting romantic gem. Karen Hawkins captivates with an enduring story of a handsome rogue whose lifelong friendship -- and his heart -- are tested when the lovely lady in question sets her cap for someone else. A dazzling and delightful tale by Mia Ryan has a young woman cast out of her home by an insufferable yet charming marquis -- who intends to take possession not only of the house ... but its former occupant as well! |
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5 stars, 3 stars, 2 stars and 2 stars for four stories. |
This book contains the following four stories.
5 stars for THIRTY-SIX VALENTINES by Julia Quinn.
Excellent story. I loved the characters Susannah and David. Their honesty was refreshing. There was also some wonderful and thoughtful conversation.
During the summer of 1813, Clive courted Susannah. Then, he publicly humiliated her by announcing that he was going to marry Harriet. Susannah became the subject of gossip, lies and ostracism. In January, 1814, Susannah was a wallflower at a party when Clive's older brother David asked her to dance. His purpose was to apologize for Clive's behavior. But, he ended up intrigued and enjoyed the conversation with her. They accidentally met again at the theater with interesting conversation. After that, David invited her to go ice skating. The rest of the story was wonderful.
CAUTION SPOILERS:
I loved the conversation on page 318. Susannah asked David why he didn't want Clive to marry her the previous summer. David said "I love my brother, but he has his flaws, and he required a wife who would need him and depend upon him. Someone who would force him to become the man I know he can be. If Clive had married you he would have no need to be strong. You would have been strong for the both of you. Clive would never have had any reason to grow."
I also loved the following thoughtful conversation, starting on page 340. David asked Susannah what she saw in Clive. Her answer was "Clive always seemed so happy and free. It was contagious. Somehow it was exciting to be on his arm. When you're with Clive everything seems brighter. It's almost as if he has a glow to him, and everything that comes into contact with it seems somehow better than it really is. Everyone seems more beautiful, the food tastes better, the flowers smell sweeter. But at the same time, I've come to realize that he shone so brightly, everything shone so brightly, that I missed things. I didn't notice things I should have done." She continues with an example. Then David said "So it wasn't the man himself you loved, so much as the way he made you feel."
Sexual language: mild. Number of sex scenes: one. Setting: 1813 and 1814 London. Copyright: 2003. Genre: regency romance.
For a listing of my reviews of other Julia Quinn books, see my 3 star review of "The Duke and I" posted on 6/28/08.
3 stars for ONE TRUE LOVE by Suzanne Enoch.
Nice story. Pretty good. The hero is madly in love with the heroine.
When Anne was born, she was promised in marriage to Max by agreement of the two sets of parents. Other than as an infant, she never met Max until she was 19. Max lived in Yorkshire. Anne lived in London. Max comes to London to marry her and take her back to Yorkshire. He falls in love with her immediately upon seeing her. She is mad that he never corresponded with her over the years. She does not want to marry him or leave London. Max wants her to love him back so he stays for awhile and woos her. Max's intense love-at-first-sight for her was a little unbelievable, but it made the story more interesting.
Sexual language: mild. Number of sex scenes: one. Setting: 1814 London. Copyright: 2003. Genre: regency romance.
2 stars for TWO HEARTS by Karen Hawkins.
Ok, but it didn't grab me. At times I wanted it to be over.
Liza has been best friends with Royce for years. Liza is wealthy, smart about business, and wears garish, colorful clothes. She loves living in the city and shopping. At age 31 she decides she wants to get married and is willing to settle for someone less than ideal. She has selected Durham who raises cows and lives in the country. Her friend Royce is against the marriage and realizes he feels more for her than he thought. For much of the story, both Liza and Royce have feelings for each other that they don't want to admit to themselves.
Sexual language: mild. Number of sex scenes: one. Setting: 1814 London. Copyright: 2003. Genre: regency romance.
2 stars for A DOZEN KISSES by Mia Ryan.
It was ok. It was different. Terrance was shot in the head while in the military. It caused a speech impediment. His brain was sound, but frequently he couldn't get his mouth to communicate his thoughts accurately. As a result, there was miscommunication. Caroline was a little odd. She was sensitive and cried easily. At times she would say or do odd or inappropriate things. The story did have a sweet ending.
Sexual language: none. Number of sex scenes: one partial scene. Setting: 1814 London. Copyright: 2003. Genre: regency romance. |
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Worth reading |
First up is Suzanne Enoch. I did like this one, but not nearly as much as I hoped. I honestly didn't feel any passion or emotion. When he kissed her it basically said, "He kissed her." And that was it. No emotion at all. At least none that I could feel.
At one point Anne was felt over-heated, and I have to assume that it was because Max was in the room, but I found myself thinking, "Well maybe you shouldn't stand by a fire while wearing a heavy velvet dress." Same thing when Max said his chest felt tight. I assume it was tight with worry, but my first thought was, "You are skating around in the freezing cold. Perhaps it's asthma?" I think this novella was good, but could have been so much better.
Next is Karen Hawkins' "Two Hearts". This one I really liked. I think that Liza was such a great character. Royce, too.
Mia Ryan's "A Dozen Kisses" started off great, but then started to annoy me. It just didn't seem real. It was the shortest of them all, at about 60 pages, and by the end I just didn't believe they were in love. Ms. Ryan told me they were in love, but it felt like a lie.
Luckily, Julia Quinn was last, and left me on a high note. I loved hers. I love everything she writes and this was no different. It made me laugh, it made me sigh, and it made me cheer. Lame, I know, but it's so true.
Overall, I think it was so awesome how they tied all four novellas together. Very clever. It makes me appreciate it so much more to know that the authors really had to try hard and work together to produce this. You can tell that it's not just four stories thrown together to make a book.
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5/5!!!! |
For me this was the 1st and is the ONLY anthology (so far) that contains stories so well written by ALL of the participating authors. The one bad thing about this book was that the stories were so addictive that I neglected my homework to read them; I read all four stories word for word and finished the book in one day. All 4 stories contained funny moments that made me LOL uncontrollably more than few times (in public places no less!!!).
Pick this book up, and you'll be glad you did. |
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4.5 Stars***** |
This was a delightful set of stories that were linked together by Lady Whistledown's gossip papers as well as a skating party everyone ends up attending.
Julia Quinn's novella Thirty-Six Valentines was excellent! I loved the dialog between Clive and David. I felt so sorry for Susannah which inturn made her realization that David loved her and wanted to marry her so rewarding. 5 stars.
Mia Ryan's A Dozen Kisses was so romantic.The author made it easy to identify with Lord Darington's handicapp as well as Caroline's sad relationship with her mother. The letter written to Caroline from Dare explanning how he felt was so heartfelt and loving. 5 stars.
I love stories where two people who have been good friends fall in love. Karen Hawkins' Two Hearts was a beautiful example of the discovery of romance where there was once just friendship. 5 stars.
I have to say Suzanne Enoch's One True Love was my least favorite. I did enjoy the character of Anne but I felt that the love that developed in Maximilian for Anne happened too quickly making it feel rushed. 3 stars.
I definitely recommend this book!!
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Loved it ! |
I really enjoyed all four of these stories, even though they lacked historical fact: it would have been highly unlikely that any of these women would have engaged in any type of intimacy before they were married.
I agreed with other reviews below - the way the four stories were intertwined through the characters attending the same events - the theatre, the skating party, the Valentines Day ball etc; it was so well done. |
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