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The Trouble With Harry
written by Katie Macalister
Studio : Leisure Books
by Leisure Books
Publisher : Leisure Books
Released : 2004-05-30
Availability : Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Number of Items : 1
EAN : 9780843951448
Avg. Customer Rating: (based on 21 reviews)
List Price : $6.99
Our Price : $2.50
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Not what I expected from MacAlister |
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After reading her Guardian series I was excited to read anything she wrote. But this was more on par with a young adult story - if it weren't for all the sex. Sorely dissappointing. |
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Loved this book... |
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This was the first historical romance by Katie Macalister I've read, and it was a 'hoot'. Although her Guardian books are my favorites, this was one I couldn't put down. A great light summer read. |
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Not nearly as good as the reviews led me to believe. |
For me this book had some cute moments but it also had many more moments which were nothing but pure irritation. I did not find it funny that Harry did not tell Plum about any of his children before the wedding and had actually intended to introduce her to the children one a day until she had met them all. How ever did he intend to perform this miracle? In the first few pages the five got into more scrapes and mischief than most children get into in a full year. A bull in the foyer? With no person seriously trying to get the animal out? With Harry actually hiding in his office? See, I don'lt find that kind of scenario funny. To me it is so totally impossible that it makes me thoroughly dislike where the author seems to believe I can be led. Were we supposed to believe that Plum could have just hitched up her skirts and waded right in to become the perfect Mum to this crew?
Also, Plum had been married for six weeks twenty years previously. How in the world did she gain enough sexual experience in that time to be able to write a book? Why did she even get the idea of writing a book? Did she write it soon after Charles left her? Did she write it because she needed money? Did she write it because she just wanted to share her vast knowledge? The author gives us no clues and answers no questions and because of that this part of the story made absolutely no sense. Had she not had a hankering for "Connubial Calisthenics" in all that time? What was it about Harry that triggered her overwhelming longing to once again practice these "arts" after being married to him for five hours? They were practically foaming at the mouth for each other yet neither knew the first thing about the other. It made me think, I'm sorry to say, about "connubial calisthenics" for hire. He lied, lied, lied. She lied, lied, lied. Is this funny? Not for me.
I wanted very much to like this book. Harry was an older hero and he wore glasses and he wasn't gorgeous. Instead of sympathizing with him and his plight, I just wondered why he didn't get a grip and deal with his children and their horrible behavior. Plum was an older heroine which is refreshing in romance novels but I didn't like her because every time she found out another of Harry's lies she blamed herself and tried to figure out how to keep him from sending her away. When the brats were being brats she blamed herself and tried to come up with ways to keep Harry from sending her away. How could she be expected to be a perfect mother to five hellions? She had never been a mother to even one hellion.
Unfortunately, not recommended. This author had a good idea but with kids who were so totally bratty and two adults whom I never liked, this story did not stand a chance with me. |
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Hilariously Funny! Don't Miss This One! |
Marques Harry Haversham, forty-five year old widower, decides he needs a wife, a good stable woman, to help him raise his five unruly children. She must have a "certain charm to her appearance", though it's not absolutely necessary. While she might not have to be toothsome, he would like to look at her and not think of a bulldog!" Feeling too old to enter the marriage mart, and not wanting to suffer the torture of the Ton, he places an advertisement in the paper. To his dismay, he receives numerous applications from all types of women. He finally chooses the thirty-third interviewee, "Plum" Pelham, as his spouse. She desperately wants a family, would love children, but no man in all of Dorset would have her "after the scandal" - well, no man except Harry.
After they marry, Plum learns that Harry is marques, something he conveniently forgot to tell her. He also concealed the five kids he expects her to mother. Though clearly taken aback, Plum adapts because she has a secret too. Two decades ago, she married, well almost married. Charles her husband, forgot to mention one little thing before their marriage -- that he already had a wife! Of course, her family blamed and disowned her. Also, she is an author of "The Guide to Connubial Calisthenics" -- a book judged so obscene to be banned by the government. Her past surfaces when her first "spouse" tries to blackmail her, but even worse someone is trying to hurt the children. Plum will do anything to protect Harry and the kids and he feels likewise.
This is a terrific Regency romance starring two delightful forty-something protagonists who think love has passed them by. The secondary characters propel the tale as the children add comic relief (There is little India -- not such a little angel, hell bent to know about the birds and the bees, the twins trying to "fly" from the barn roof, Marston -- Harry's heir - who would rather be a blacksmith than the next Marquis, and MacTavish who presents his father with his latest "treasures"). The accidents begin to occur and her "ex" provides a hint of intrigue. The suspense flows smoothly till the end.
From the opening scene in which beleaguered Harry is trying to explain the facts of "womanhood" to his eldest daughter - I was laughing out loud! This book is a sheer delight from beginning to end! Katie Macalister is one of the most delightful (and prolific) writers in Romance today. When I want sheer fun, I look for a book by Katie Macalister. There is nothing as special as a writer who can leave you feeling good all over. A+ |
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The Trouble With Harry |
I laughed through this entire book. Laughing is good for the soul. I am sending this book to my daughter-in-law who is expecting.
L |
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