1.5 starsOh my, was this book awful. The writing is laughably bad. I love lush, descriptive prose (Sherry Thomas, Loretta Chase). I even love unnecessarily detailed descriptions (Diana Gabaldon). But I just could not stomach the overwrought, purple prose of this book. Here is an example. I defy anyone to read this without gagging:"How deeply has this wench entrapped me?" he mused. "She has snared my spirit and my soul. Like a hawk, she has snatched them in full flight." He shook his head. "But unlike the wild bird, she harmed them not. Nay, rather took them to her breast and breathed new life into them, and they have been so blissfully refreshed, my heart is nigh to bursting...." It goes on but I will spare you. Mind you, he's speaking to himself in an empty room. Hamlet, he's not.And then there is the heroine. I have rarely hated a character as much as I hated Erienne, with her head tossing and foot stamping and general uselessness. At one point she decides to steal a horse and run away from home, so naturally she rides it down the main street where her father can see her fleeing. Why would I want to waste my time on a heroine so stupid? Her abject terror of Lord Saxton because he was scarred was insulting. I was ready for him to throw her back to her other sniveling suitors, and good riddance.Lord Saxton himself was described as a Georgian era Darth Vader, which I found mildly amusing. As the original book was published fairly soon after The Empire Strikes Back came out, I doubt it was coincidental. I actually increased my rating from 1 star to 1.5 stars because there was the glimmer of an interesting plot hidden beneath the layers of horrible writing and ridiculous characterizations. I had the plot figured out by around page 70, but predictability isn't necessarily a fatal flaw in a romance. Beauty and the Beast is one of my favorite tropes, but in most versions, Beauty has something more going for her than her appearance. In this book, she really doesn't, at least for the first half of the book. She does eventually show some degree of loyalty to Lord Saxton, which was her only redeeming virtue and probably the reason I didn't just give up on the book altogether. Well, that and the fact I was reading this for a book club. If I'd been reading it on my own, I would have given up in the first chapter. It's really that bad.
4 and 1/2 Stars! A Great 18th Century English Romance from a Great Author!Kathleen Woodiwiss has written some truly great romances (Shanna, The Wolf and the Dove, The Flame and the Flower). She can be a great storyteller and has given us tales of true love that develop slowly like a well roasted marshmallow. This one at well over 500 pages is no exception. A rose in winter...a flower blooming out of time...a sign of true love to come. Ah yes...how we love it.Set in late 18th century England, this is the story of the Sexton noble family. They were so envied, their lord and his eldest son were killed for their wealth and lands. The eldest son, now the young lord who succeeds his father, dies in a fire purposely set to end his life, the same fire that burned a wing of their mansion. Years later, a wealthy Yankee merchant seaman, Christopher Seton, has come to seek a place to live in the village for awhile and he makes inquiries about the old Saxton Hall still vacant after the death of the young lord. Living in the same village is Erienne, a beauty whose only value to her father (the Mayor) is to be sold to the highest bidder who will pay the old man's debts to gain Erienne as a bride. At the sale, the highest bidder is an agent for a mysterious "Lord Saxton," supposedly the very same lord who was thought burned in the fire. He wears a mask to hide his deformed face and walks with a deep limp. Erienne initially fears the man she calls husband though he is kind and generous to her. Slowly she comes to respect and care for him, but alongside this growing feeling for her husband is a growing attraction to the Yankee rake Seton.Woodiwiss deals us a fast moving hand as the players hide their true motives and character from each other. As we follow along, we are not disappointed. Like her other romances, she weaves a complex tale and provides a rich tapestry of characters. If you're a Woodiwiss fan and enjoyed the Flame and the Flower or The Wolf and the Dove (each of which I gave 5 stars), you'll like this one. While it's not quite at that level, it is still a worthy read.
Do You like book A Rose In Winter (1983)?
This was a good, solid read. However, as soon as I started, I could tell immediately from the writing that it was dated. First of all, it is very, very, very wordy. Roll the Twilight series and Gone with the Wind together and then you’ll have an idea of how wordy this book truly is. Second of all, the heroine (at least at the beginning of the book) seemed whiney and occasionally weak. Thirdly, the hero fell in love with the heroine solely based on her beauty. There was no mention to why Christop
—Megan
Reasonably entertaining (but predictable) Beauty and the Beast Plot. Erienne Fleming's father, the hard drinking and gambling mayor of their northern England town needs to sell her in marriage to the highest bidder to pay off his gambling debts. Handsome Yankee Christopher Seton wants Erienne, but since Christian is the one he owes the greatest debt to, Christian is banned from bidding for her hand. Instead, Erienne's hand is purchased by the mysterious Lord of Saxton who was horribly injured and scarred for life in a fire. Erienne is as first horrified by her new husband's appearance and fights her growing attraction to Christopher at the same time and thus begins KEW's take on the Beauty and the Beast. Unfortunately, as much fun as KEW's romances can be to read, this book has some major flaws. The big twist in the plot is pretty easy to figure out -- as other reviewers have noted. In fact, almost everything in the book is pretty easy to figure out. The bad guys were inept and almost cartoonish in their bad deeds. Erienne is supposed to be intelligent and well educated, but her initial reactions to her disfigured husband just don't ring true, Stuart was nothing but kindness itself and a very gentle and loving husband. She was always running off and getting herself into a pickle so that Christopher could rescue her, and I have to agree with the other reviewers in that it got to be just a tad bit over the top that every man in the book was dying to jump her bones. All in all, not the worst in the historical romance genre, but far from the best either and certainly not one of KEW's better efforts (which would be Ashes in the Wind), but well suited for a rainy Sunday afternoon easy on the brain type of fluff. I'm sorely torn between a two and three star rating, so I'm calling it at 2.5 stars rounded it up to three.
—Misfit
I'd give this book a 4.5, so I rounded up.I loved the story/plot. I loved the characters. I loved the suspense of not knowing what was going to happen next.... It was definitely (and obviously) a Beauty-and-the-Beast story, and once I got through about the first 90 or so pages, I really quite enjoyed it!The only thing that was a bit difficult for me was Kathleen Woodiwiss's writing style. Very..... FLORID.... which I just looked up to make sure I was using the word correctly: "elaborately or excessively ornamented". Yes. Definitely yes to that. Everything was just SO WORDY. Once I got into the story, I didn't notice as MUCH, but still... During one scene, I almost DIED laughing.... Romance authors use many... errr... euphemisms... for male anatomy, but "flaming sword"??? *snorts* OH GOSH, I read it to my husband so he could laugh with me... We had a great time with that one... ;)
—Sara ♥
