so so
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The idea is not bad, nor the begining, but that book I did buy and read recently is not one I wish to read again or keep, it is finally a very forgottable book for me that I'll give away.
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This book has everything one would expect, and more!
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There are many reviews here to describe the plot, so I won't add more of the same. I just want to say that I read it from cover to cover and did not put it down until it was finished. I LOVED it!! I heartily agree with all the positives, and just a point.... did Gideon not see the character in Prudence instead of the fashionable 'beauty' of her sisters? I am sure this was so!!
On to the next Anne Gracie book now!
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briliant
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I recomend this book to any romantic passionate people, I thought it was absolutely brilliant, I have bought the rest of the this collection, and am now engrossed in the second book (the Perfect Waltz)
definitely a good one
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Great read!
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This was my first Anne Gracie book after amazon put it in my recommended list.
I wasn't expecting much but I have to admit I thoroughly enjoyed this book, the characters were very well written and very likeable. Prudence and Lord Carradine were obviously made for each other and all through the book you root for them to finally get together.
I enjoyed this book so much that I have now ordered the other 3 books in the series :)
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Bravo!
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Who the heck is Anne Gracie? I had no idea but various people recommended this book so I thought I'd give it a go. The cheesy title and the cover artwork weren't too encouraging (actually, apart from the new Arrow edition Georgette Heyer books, I tend to find most Regencies' artwork is toe-curlingly awful) and so I started the book without expecting too much.
But it was good - very good. Anne Gracie knows how to write, how to keep your attention even though not that much is happening in the plot. Prudence Merridew and her sisters (Faith, Hope, Charity and Grace) live with their horrible grandfather who regularly beats and whips them. They decide they have to escape him before he does them serious injury and whilst he is laid up with a broken ankle. So Prudence with her sisters, a maid and a footman, journey to London to throw themselves upon the mercy of their great-uncle, having faked a letter from his brother first of all.
And their Great-Uncle is delighted to see them and says he will launch them into society - only he has to launch Prudence first as she's plain (the other sisters are stunningly attractive). The problem is that Prudence and their sisters only have six weeks or so until their grandfather is up and about and realises they've gone (the servants were covering up for them). The plan was for one of them to marry within that time so that the others were under the protection of the new bridegroom. But the Great-Uncle's plans will ruin it - who will want to marry Prudence? Besides, she's already secretly betrothed to Phillip Otterbury and so can't accept another offer of marriage - but her Great-Uncle would not approve of Phillip, a farmer's younger son who has been in India for four years, so she pretends she is instead betrothed to the Duke of Dinsdale, a hermit who lives in Scotland.
But, as in all of these novels, things don't go smoothly. The Duke of Dinsdale happens to have arrived in London looking for a wife so Prudence has to go and see him to warn him about the fake engagement. But the dishevelled gentleman she meets isn't the Duke... and thus starts a strange flirtation with Lord Carradine. Of course he wouldn't find Prudence attractive, she knows that, and he's a well-known rake, so she doesn't make much of their time together.
The story continues (and I won't give anything more away) but what's so good about this book is the dialogue. Anne Gracie doesn't spend a great deal of time describing scenes, clothing, people - it's all about conversation and she makes it believable that the hero and heroine fall in love through their shared humour. She portrays how people can slide into love without really realising it and how misunderstandings can persist, especially for Prudence who knows she's no diamond of the first water. This is, perhaps, the only part of the book that didn't work for me - Lord Carradine finds Prudence absolutely beautiful and barely notices her sisters whereas everyone else finds the sisters stunning and Prudence plain. Would such a successful rake really have completely different tastes than the rest of the world? Or is it beer goggles?
Some of Prudence's fears are well written - does Carradine want her as a wife or a mistress? Does he take anything seriously? And his slow change from a rake to a caring and kind man is well written. There are a number of other romantic sub-plots that are very well written too. Anne Gracie is definitely an author to watch and I recommend this book as an enjoyable read.
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