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Title: The Ideal Bride (Zebra Regency Romance) by Nonnie St.George, Nonnie St George ISBN: 0-8217-7590-1 Publisher: Zebra Books (Mass Market) Pub. Date: October, 2003 Format: Mass Market Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $4.99 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.29 (7 reviews)
Rating: 3
Summary: Promising but needs work
Comment: Nonnie St George's debut novel has received enthusiastic comments elsewhere and I bought a copy on the strength of these. However, I was disappointed. Althought the author has great energy and obviously tried hard, I felt there were too many annoying rough edges to make this a truly sparkling debut.
The best thing about the novel is the plot - stuffy businessman unwillingly attracted to aristocratic but poor woman dedicated to charitable work with war widows. Add in a silly, party-mad mother, various other incredulous relations and OTT friends and you have the beginnings of a farce along the lines of Barbara Metzger. What let this novel down was that the ingredients were strained and two dimensional.
Every decent hero has a flaw; in this case Mr Gabriel Carr is incredibly beautiful (and although reluctantly, he knows it and uses it). OK. But his beauty is used in the feminine sense: eg "I'm so lovely that no one can see beneath the surface". It just didn't work for me. Our heroine, Lady Nola, is the daughter of an earl but the family seems to be on its financial knees. OK. But where did she acquire the urge to look after Peninsular war widows with such business acumen?
The characters behave in exaggerated ways; they throw things, they bump into each other, they shout, they lunge, they slam, they loom. They act without any of the refinement of behaviour you would expect in the genre. The hero's middle aged mother parties all night yet is purported to know everyone of importance in society: sorry but this strained credulity a bit. She is described as "lurching to the table in a billowing purple dress like a round grape rolling down a matron's heaving bosom". I realise this is meant to be funny but, really, it's just silly.
And, our hero falls down a flight of stairs, "shatters" his knee yet is up and walking within days. And this before the benefit of x-rays, orthopaedic surgery, physiotherapists, etc. Sorry, just did not work for me.
The author has tried to amuse us. She has made a good effort and no one reading this can doubt her enthusiasm but I think she needs to polish her work a bit more and strive for a little more irony in her humour rather than making it so slap-stick. I will try again with her but she will have to improve on this to keep my interest. Three stars because this is a debut; two might have been nearer the mark.
Rating: 4
Summary: A thoroughly delightful read!
Comment: I would give this book 4 1/2 stars if I could, it was so much fun to read. I was pleasantly surprised at every turn and just thoroughly enjoyed this book! Nonnie St.George has a great sense of humor and for a first book, plot, characters and dialogue were all excellent. I look forward to reading more of her books and with a bit of polish, I'm sure her next ones will all be 5 star rated.
Rating: 3
Summary: She's got potential (I hope)
Comment: After reading this book, I could only feel a deep sense of regret for what it could have been. Nonnie St George is clearly a very talented writer, infusing an abused and formulaic medium with wry humor and not entirely cardboard characters. However, the novel falls sadly short of it's mark. It's almost as if it was published too quickly; as if a few more runs through the editting process could have produced a more complete book, and hopefully far less typos.
The plot developement is sometimes stunted, frequently repetitive, and often boring. The characters, while potentially likeable, suffer from the mere fact that there are simply too many of them--- you can easily see the author building herself a healthy stock of characers with which to build future novels out of. However, I found myself just wishing that all the aunts and servants and friends would just get hit by a meteor en masse and leave the poor lovers alone.
But they are NEVER left alone. There's not even an opportunity for the obligatory nude scene.
Some romance novels cannot be expected to be anything more than mediocre, and thus hardly merit the benefit of criticism. This one does, however, because it could have been so much more.
Nonnie St George, nice try, but next time, edit a little more, and give yourself enough time to write a really good novel, because I know you can.
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Title: His Lordship's Holiday Surprise (Zebra Regency Romance) by Kate Huntington ISBN: 082177493X Publisher: Zebra Books (Mass Market) Pub. Date: October, 2003 List Price(USD): $4.99 |
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Title: The Family Matchmaker (Zebra Regency Romance) by Jeanne Savery ISBN: 0821775669 Publisher: Zebra Books (Mass Market) Pub. Date: July, 2003 List Price(USD): $4.99 |
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Title: Regency Christmas Wishes: 5 New Holiday Tales by Sandra Heath, Carla Kelly, Emma Jensen, Barbara Metzger, Edith Layton ISBN: 0451210441 Publisher: Signet Pub. Date: 07 October, 2003 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: A Viscount for Christmas (Zebra Regency Romance) by Catherine Blair ISBN: 0821775529 Publisher: Zebra Books (Mass Market) Pub. Date: October, 2003 List Price(USD): $4.99 |
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Title: The Greatest Possible Mischief (Zebra Regency Romance) by Jo Ann Ferguson ISBN: 0821775227 Publisher: Zebra Books (Mass Market) Pub. Date: October, 2003 List Price(USD): $4.99 |
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