Just Like Heaven

Just Like Heaven by Julia Quinn 608

Honoria Smythe-Smith is preparing for her families upcoming annual musicale, an event she knows she should be dreading because she, and her fellow quartet members, possess almost no musical talent. While in Cambridge with her relatives she runs into family friend, Marcus Holroyd, Earl of Chatteris, who had been her brother Daniel's best friend. Daniel had been forced to flee England years before when a duel went awry and his victim's father swore vengeance, but before he left he extracted a promise from Marcus to watch out for Honoria by making sure she didn't marry anyone not suited for her. Marcus kept his promise, subtly chasing away a couple inappropriate suitors, but Honoria didn't really notice as she didn't care for those men anyone. She does notice when her unmarried female relatives want to take advantage of her friendship with an unmarried Earl to try to set themselves up. When a party is proposed to find them all a match, Honoria decides that she does know a young man who would be a good match and hatches a crazy scheme to catch him.

Marcus finds Honoria digging a mole hole so she can pretend a sprained ankle so her proposed beau will take care of her, but instead Marcus is the one who falls into it. Upon her return to London Honoria is informed that Marcus has taken a turn for the worse and she and her mother go straight to his estate to take care of him since Marcus does not have any family and her family has served that role for him in the past. The two of them care for Marcus through a terrible fever that nearly claims his life and in the aftermath he and Honoria share a moment where they both realize that they are in love. Unfortunately she then discovers about his promise to her brother and, believing she is nothing but a burden to Marcus, she abruptly leaves. Marcus, of course, follows her to London, just in time for the Smythe-Smith musicale, which is threatening to fall apart when one member up and leaves. The show must go on and Marcus and Honoria must find a way to get around the past and find away to make the family they both want, together.

I will admit that I bought this book because I had read so many mentions of the Smythe-Smith musicale that the opportunity to get something from their POV was irresistible. I have not had too much luck with Julia Quinn in the past; I find her books to be entertaining, but feel like the focus is on being funny and fast rather than truly having a really good romance between the characters and developing their relationship. I found this book to be true to form as I did find it very funny and I certainly breezed through in only a couple days. However, I obviously wanted more from a romance and pretty much finished it wondering if she had just wanted to write a fun little story and threw a romance between two friends in their just so she could market it. I like romances where the characters are friends beforehand, especially friends through a relative because there's the whole element of not betraying a friend or relative, but I did not like that Honoria and Marcus were only friends for the first 2/3 of the book. That left far too little time for me to feel like they belonged in a relationship or that there was real love between them.

Marcus and Honoria were both fairly interesting, Honoria mainly because she was a member of the dreaded Smythe-Smith clan and Marcus because he had all the issues of the lost boy without a family who was just searching for somewhere where he belonged. The two of them really didn't spend that much time together and I am not a fan of falling in love during an illness or recovery because it just doesn't seem real to me or it just seems too cheesy or easy. The fear and angst surrounding Marcus watching out for her while her brother was away was completely overdone and really just seemed to drag the book on. I did like that once he recognized his feelings for Honoria he went after it and didn't hem and haw like many romance novel heroes. I also admired her handling of her atrocious musical talents and the way she kept her fellow quartet members going. In keeping with the lack of romance and the very slow development of their relationship the sex was barely lukewarm, very brief, and only occurred once at the far end of the book.

Rating: As usual a fun book, but it lacked a romance that I could get behind and that is really what I look for in a romance.

The Lady Most Likely...

The Lady Most Likely... by Julia Quinn, Eloisa James, and Connie Brockway 113

Hugh, the Earl of Briaryly, is kicked in the head by his newest racing horse and knocked unconscious for a day. This serves as a wake up call for him and he realizes that it is time to get married and produce an heir so he enlists the help of his sister, Carolyn, Lady Finchley. She decides to host a house party for her brother to get to know several of the eligible ladies of the ton and invites a like number of males to round out the numbers. Things do not go according to plan as the ladies on her list fall for the other men. Gwendolyn Passmore is the belle of the ton and is accounted the most beautiful lady on the market but many think her cold and hard because she does not make friends. But really she is painfully shy and being around other people makes her uncomfortable; she would much rather spend her time in the country and she is dreading the house party where she knows she is being considered for the position of Countess of Briarly. Luckily Alec, Lord Charters, is bringing his sister to the party and after one memorable afternoon spent by the lake the two of them are madly in love, even if it angers his sister.

Miss Katherine Peyton is outspoken and is renowned for getting herself into scandalous scrapes. For years she had been in love with Neill Oakes, her brother's friend and her near neighbor, but on the afternoon she declares her affection he enlists in the army. Neill had been prepared to marry Katherine but her father had turned him down so he planned to go to the army before reapplying for her hand. Reuniting at the house party brings up all their old feelings and when they both admit they have been in love for years they can make a life together. Georgiana Sorrell has been widowed for 3 years but has no plans to marry even as she attends the house party given by her best friend, Carolyn. Hugh does not find any of the ladies his sister picked out for him to be suitable but he is starting to see his friend Georgina in a whole new light. After a passionate encounter in the outdoors he needs to convince her that a marriage between them can work out and that she is the only woman who could ever keep him from losing himself in his horses.

This book was different than most with multiple authors because it was not three separate stories that were each written by a different author. This was one novel and no part was credited to a single author and I was unable to figure out which part was written by whom. As is typical in these novels only a very short amount of space is given to each couple, but what is different is that they're all interacting together at the same house party and their stories overlapped. Two of the stories made sense of the shortness of their courtship by explaining that they had known each other previously either as funs or as secret loves. Gwendolyn and Alec were not known to each other before the party but it was obvious from the beginning that there was some sort of deep connection between them. I have read about shy heroines but never one whose shyness was such an important part of her personality that it affected everything she did and I found that an interesting change. All in all I found Alec and Gwendolyn to be a cute pairing of well matched characters who shared a much needed connection or they needed more time together.

Kate and Neill were secret loves from their childhood who weren't ready to declare their love and had to undergo some maturing before they could come together. Kate is supposed to be brash and outspoken and in such a short book, where it's not explained or explored, sometimes it comes across as rude and impolite. She did not undergo as much change as Neill who went from the rake about town to a promising and stately army captain. I rather fell in love with him a little myself because he was such a strong alpha character, and I enjoyed this story to an extent. I liked Georgina and Hugh's romance because it was the last one so we could see it developing slowly throughout the book and in a sense it had more space than the others. It was also the only story where the characters had sex, except for Lord and Lady Finchley, and while it wasn't exactly hot, it was nice to have in a romance. Both Georgina and Hugh were very mature and well suited for each other and I felt like they had a real relationship between the two of them.

Rating: A different type of anthology that suffered from many of the same setbacks; not enough time for each of the couples. As good as can be expected.

The Secret Diaries of Miss Miranda Cheever

The Secret Diaries of Miss Miranda Cheever by Julia Quinn 804

From the time she was ten years old Miranda Cheever has been infatuated with Nigel Bevelstoke, Viscount Turner, ever since he told her she would grow into herself and be beautiful. This infatuation grows over the years and turns into love even as he marries someone else and has his heart crushed by her philandering. When his wife dies, Miranda is there to see his relief and his guilt over said relief and for the first time Turner looks at Miranda as more than a little sister. But he is determined never to marry again and distrusts love as he had believed himself in love with his deceased wife and that ended so miserably. Miranda is crushed with the knowledge that Turner will never love her, but she cannot help her feelings and Turner cannot seem to keep his hands off of her. He tries to avoid her, but during a house party the two are conveniently stuck in the rain and it becomes apparent that their relationship will need to change drastically.

But first Turner wants to collect his thoughts and a four day vacation turns into a month long excursion and while he feels guilty about what happened he knows that he will eventually marry Miranda as it is the right thing to do. Miranda is once again heartbroken as she thinks Turner has abandoned her and she does not want him to marry him out of duty, especially as she loves him so much and he knows of it. But even though he does not think he loves Turner, he is looking forward to being married to her as he knows that she will be a good person to spend the rest of his life with. He turns out to be right as they get along famously as a married couple, especially as they both look forward to the birth of their first child, but Miranda is still waiting for him to tell her those three words she needs to hear. As usual it will take almost losing her for Turner to realize that he can't live without this wonderful woman.

Julia Quinn is an expert at writing great characters that it is impossible not to fall in love with and Miranda and Turner are no exception. I loved Miranda as the bookish, smart, and desperately in love young woman. I admit I am always a sucker for romances where the heroine has harbored a tendre for the hero for years and he suddenly realizes he loves her. She handles her infatuation so well from afar and I liked that she told him so soon in the book. I also liked Turner as the older man who is coming to grips with falling for his little sister's best friend. His recovery from his ex-wife's deception was well done as well, and I liked how he readily aditted his (lack of) feelings for her. They worked very well together for the most part, but I felt as though the sex between them was lacking in both instances and in style as there was a lot of weird dialogue throughout it.

I am not really a big fan of books where the outcome is basically settled except for the hero telling the heroine he loves her. While I understand that words are important, and in this case, it really was a matter of the hero getting over his dead wife, I felt as though he did love her and forcing him to say it was really not a matter to take up an extra 50 pages. However, I loved some really great scenes between them that were really just heartbreaking as he desperately wanted her to be happy, but didn't know what to say. The banter between the two got a little awkward at times and he specifically said he liked her "fiery" which just seems a little odd to me as he apparently liked arguing with her. As usual Quinn wrote some great side characters in Turner and Miranda's families' and really she just always has a fun, fast-paced, writing style that I love.

Rating: An enjoyable book overall, but really nothing spectacular with awkward banter and some problems, with good well-written characters.

Scottish Brides

Scottish Brides 719

Under the Kilt by Christina Dodd

Hadden Fairchild's drive to document the oral history and excentricities of Scotland takes him to the clan MacNachtan where he meets and falls in love with their "leader" Andra. But Andra does not trust men after she has been abandoned by all of them in her life and she forces him to leave. Neither can get the other out of their head and Hadden comes back determined to win her and discover the secrets of the MacNachtan marriage kilt. When the servants take it into their heads to meddle and the two are locked in the attic with the marriage plaid and plenty of fertility figurines to help them work through their problems.

This was quite a short story where a lot of the getting to know you obviously took place before the story really began. I really did miss a lot of that, but the story did get to at least a few meaty issues such as her problem with letting go of responsibility and her issues with men. While the story ended up with a few more issues to be resolved, it worked fairly well. The sex was incredibly hot, like wow, for such a short story, but I did not like that there was a completely random out of the blue reunion between her characters from other stories.

Rose in Bloom by Stephanie Laurens

Duncan, Earl of Strathyre, has known Rose Mackenzie-Craddock her whole life and she has been quite the thorn in his side. When he heads back to his childhood home to introduce the woman who may become his fiance, he runs into Rose and discovers that she continues to push his buttons, but in a completely different way. Rose is also contemplating an engagement to another man, but neither Rose nor Duncan can resist the other. They begin a game of teasing that keeps both of them on their toes and it is not long before they both realize they can't marry someone else.

Remarkable what Laurens can do with 100 pages really as she manages to write some really great chemistry between these two. I liked both of these characters immensely and they worked together so amazingly perfectly. A great deal of the story was told from Duncan's point of view and I really liked getting that perspective in a romance. To go along with the chemistry there was a little bit of really good sex, but not enough to overwhelm such a short story. Really this story boiled down to two great characters who were just great together.

Gretna Greene by Julia Quinn

Margaret Pennypacker rushes off to Gretna Greene to save her brother Edward after discovering that he has eloped, but on her way she is waylaid by bandits. Angus Greene saves her as he hates bad guys and upon discovering she has been robbed he takes her to an inn and pretends they are married. The two spend the evening discussing Scottish cuisine, their wayward siblings, and trying to avoid ripping each other's clothes off. When morning finally arrives, they've only known each other one day, but in Gretna anything can happen.

I enjoyed the slightly contrived means by which Quinn got both our characters to Gretna as it gave them some common ground and moving on from "protecting" their siblings lent the

ir rashness some realism. At times I did become irritating with their too-cute banter and it seemed more like arguing than fun, but I still liked how well these characters fit. The sex was kind of thrown in rather willy- nilly in the end, but the story definitely still felt complete.

The Glenlyon Bride by Karen Ranney

Lachlan Sinclair is not at all pleased when the local seer predicts he will marry, and he assumes this woman is Harriet, an English lady. Janet MacPhearson is companion to Harriet and she yearns to go back to Scotland. When Lachlan shows up to scope out Harriet, he finds Janet and assumes she is Harriet. At night the two meet out by the water and it is not long before they know they love each other. But with a legend against them and Harriet using her evil influence, it may take a lot for them to find their way to Glenlyon together.

I really liked the plot of this book with the mistaken identity, but there were instances where I thought it was handled poorly. To me it was obvious that Janet was actually the woman from the legend and I wanted them to wake up and go for it. I thought that Janet and Lachlan were perfect for each other and really meshed well, with a lot of common and a lot of ways the two could help each other. Some brief sex was thrown in almost as an afterthought, but overall the story worked fairly well.

Ten Things I Love About You

Ten Things I Love About You by Julia Quinn 619

Annabel Winslow knows that in order to save her incredibly large family she needs to marry a wealthy man, and if he has a title than it will certainly make her grandmother happy. She has been taken to London by said grandmother to find said titled gentleman and it is not long before the very old, very rich, and very heir-less Lord Newberry takes a hankering to the young lady whose family has proved so fertile. Newberry is determined to wed and produce an heir so that his wastrel nephew, Sebastian Grey, does not inherit. Sebastian has no particular desire for the Earldom as he has his own revenue from the gothic novels he publishes under the pseudonym, Sarah Gorley. He also has some issues that stem from his time spent as a sniper during the war as he has difficulty sleeping and certain sounds will bring back terrible memories. When the two meet neither knows who the other is and they have a marvelous time in the dark with a stolen kiss, but when the truth is revealed nothing good can come of it.

Things really start to go South when they attend an opera together and in front of the entire ton Sebastian spends the duration whispering in Annabel's ear so that everyone thinks he's seduced her and she is ruined in the eyes of his uncle. In an attempt to bring her back into the fold, at the behest of his cousin's wife, Olivia, he begins spending time with her until his uncle decides it would be a great idea to steal Annabel away from his nephew. Sebastian is horrified, and Annabel is not happy either, and it just suddenly comes to his mind that they should marry each other. When the two are called away to a house party in the country everyone is there to watch the sparks fly between Annabel, Sebastian, and his uncle and they certainly aren't disappointed as Sebastian doesn't tell Annabel that he can support her family so she believes she needs to marry Lord Newberry. But when it comes to love Annabel knows that some things are worth taking a risk for and there are ten reasons she should choose Sebastian. Maybe more.

Annabel and Sebastian both did not really have anything going on for them to make them special. The best I could say was the Sebastian's war problems were interesting and leant a depth of character to his character and Annabel's brief determination to marry to save her family made her (briefly) rather sympathetic and heroic. But really- not really that exceptional. I couldn't understand why Sebastian didn't just tell her the truth about his money situation as he knew why she had to marry and that it wasn't as though she was gold digger. There was literally almost no sex between them, just a very few, short scenes where they got a little heated and then one brief sex scene at the end. For two people who didn't really have much else going for them I thought the sex could have really ended up helping them, especially as they both seemed so ripe for it. The lists with ten things were a fun little literary addition the book that I appreciated and wish there had been more of them.

One of the oddest things I found in this book was that it often seemed as though Sebastian had more chemistry, more in common, more real moments with Annabel's cousin, Louisa, than he did with Annabel herself. When Sebastian and Annabel were together I didn't really sense any true feelings between them or why or how they fell in love with each other. I felt that throughout the book the humor and the banter, and most of the conversations in general, were forced. Even moments that could have been genuinely funny, like her drunken grandmother giving sex advice about how to deal with large noblemen in bed, came across like the author had just pulled stuff out of the air to make her audience laugh- not as though two people were talking to each other and happened to say funny things. However, Quinn again managed to bring previous characters into the story without banging the reader on the head with it and it was more fun to read about than annoying.

Rating: This book was really nothing special and I expected more from Quinn. What usually annoys me, she did well, and what she usually did well she did not in this book.

What Happens in London

What Happens in London by Julia Quinn

When Olvia Bevelstoke's gossipy friends inform her that her new neighbor, Sir Harry Valentine, killed his fiance, Olivia can't resist doing a little spying to find out what he hides. Harry knows from the beginning that he is being spied on by the very attractive daughter of the Earl of Rudlend, but he can't figure out why. When Olivia realizes that Harry is completely aware of her exploits she is humiliated but determined to pretend she has no idea what had occurred. Things don't go precisely as planned when the two meet up at a random ball and they verbally try to run circles around each other. Both are left exhilerated and excited over the encounter although both claim to dislike the other. Shortly thereafter Harry receives word from the war office that his new assignment is to watch out for Prince Alexei, a Russian Prince who has taken a shine to Olivia and who has ties to Napoleon sympathasizers. Harry is more put out over having to spend more time with Olivia then he is with his new assignment, but on his very first excursion he runs into Olivia and realizes there is more to her than meets the spying eye.

Unfornately Harry can't let on to Olivia his true mission so he has to stand somewhat idly by as Alexei makes pitiful and apparently obscene (in Russian) attempts to court her. Harry and Olivia's romance is conducted through ballroom dancing, hiding from the Prince in said ballrooms, through morning calls to Olivia's house and, most fun of all, through some late night window chats where they read to each other. Not to long in to his investigation of the Prince, Harry receives the abrupt news that the whole thing has been called off and he is somewhat confused, but glad he can now devote himself to winning Olivia's affection. Things all come to a head the Russian ambassador's ball as both Olivia and Harry admit their feelings for each other and make plans to marry. Unfortunately someone still believes the Prince has feelings for Olivia and kidnaps her in an attempt to gain a large ransom from the royal. Harry is distraught and determined to save Olivia so the two can have the life they had imagined for each other just hours before.

I have read plenty of Julia Quinn and have never precisely understood why she is considered one of the best romance writers, nor why her books tend to be $1 more than most other romances. While I'm still not precisely an avid fan, this book went quite a ways to explaining why so many people like her, even though I can't see how they could from her other books. For one thing this book did not contain the typical large dose/s of references to previously happy couples that her other books do (the Bridgertons) although it does contain some fun little allusions (such as the Smythe-Smith musicale) that were sprinkled in and more fun than heavy-handed. This had everything I had been expecting from such a well-loved author. A great progression as the characters moved from outright dislike to a mutual respect and enjoyment of one another's company to admitting they loved each other. And she did it so realistically too as they got to know one another and spend time with one another. It wasn't riddled with sparring or outright animosity just some lively (and not annoying) banter/ jokes that progressed to something more.

Apparently Quinn is known for her "feverish love scenes" and while I have read at least one of her books that possessed these (When He Was Wicked) this was certainly not one of them. The kissing scenes were rushed and the ONE actual steamy scene was 320 pages into the book and over far too quickly without being anywhere near hot. This wasn't my main problem with the book though as the development of their relationship was enjoyable enough to make up for this. What I found weird was the completely bizarre, out of far left-field, was the kidnap at the end. I could not figure out what point that played in the novel except to stretch it out into the requisite 370 pages. Completely unnecessary, but I did manage to forgive her a little bit as the few pages following, where Olivia is forced to realize that there's quite a bit about the man she loves that she doesn't know, are quite good and the perfect amount of angsty. I was glad that the Prince Alexei/ kidnap/ Russian side plot weren't completely overdone and didn't overwhelm the novel, even if it did seem a little awkward in the book.

Rating: I very much enjoyed this book and, while annoying, the kidnap plot didn't throw me off all that much. Wish there had been more steam though.

To Catch an Heiress

To Catch an Heiress by Julia Quinn

Heiress Caroline Trent runs away from her guardian Oliver Prewitt after his plans to get her to marry his son lead his son Percy toward attempted rape. Once outside however she finds herself kidnapped by Blake Ravenscroft who mistakes her for the French spy Carlotta de Leon. Once he brings her back to his estate she decides it would be better to pretend to be Carlotta then to have him send her back to Oliver and Percy. She plays along with his game and Blake is furious to find his mortal enemy so fun, so frustrating, and himself unbearably attracted to her. Until his friend James Riverdale shows up and proclaims that Caroline is indeed not Carlotta. Blake is once against furious that he has messed up and that Caroline never bothered to correct him. His frustration with Caroline will last pretty much the entire book without exception. She has spent nearly her entire life desperate and lonely going from one guardian to another and wants nothing more than to find a happy family and hopes that Blake could be the one. Blake is determined never to love or get married after his former fiance was murdered while on a foolish mission for the war Office.

James and Blake reveal to Caroline that they were looking for Carlotta because they believe Oliver has been involved in smuggling and passing important information to the French for years. So the three begin plans to take down the entire operation which involves Caroline living in secret with Blake for several more weeks. The two get along horribly with Caroling rearranging his garden and his library and his servants all out declaring war against him whenever Caroline is not treated properly. immense amonts of witty banter and sparring ensues until eventually James leaves claiming he can no longer stand it. His sister's unnannnounced visit makes things much more difficult and she declares that either James or Blake will have to marry her. Blake is furious but of course eventually gives in and marries Caroline. Once in the married state she quickly admits to her feelings but Blake holds back for fear as being as weak as he was when he lost Marabelle. Then it is time to take down Oliver's operations and when things go wrong Blake is forced to confront his own feelings and a cute little epilogue lets the readers know we got our happily-ever-after.

So many authors resort to witty banter and sparring to illustrate that our two protagonists can match each other and have fun matching intellects with each other. However, page after page of it quickly got old. The two almost never had a decent conversation that wasn't arguing, not so cleverly disguised as gentle sparring, or arguing about Marabelle and his feelings/ future that wasn't disguised at all. And the Marabelle thing got old quickly. I understand that he's upset and felt that he should have protected his fiance, but she went out afte promising him she wouldn't and died while he was ill. After so many years I didn't feel it necessary for him to swear off love and future happiness because of her. Surprisingly enough though she wasn't portrayed as an awful person- she was the "she would want you to be happy" type. I wanted some sort of angst outside of Marabelle- a family member who didn't like her, a realistic chance that Blake might have lost her to James- anything not a gross relic of past love. I was happy with the way that the smuggling/ spying ring was handled. It was a central part of the story and indeed set up our two protagonists to meet but did not take over everything.

Rating: The book was fun and fast and I liked the characters by themeslves, but none of those made up for the incessant sparring or the lack of hot sex. All in all not very sticking (In truth I may have read this before and not remembered).