Have you ever experienced reading and enjoying it, until the author says something, which is quite unforgiveable that it destroyed almost everything?
WHave you ever experienced reading and enjoying it, until the author says something, which is quite unforgiveable that it destroyed almost everything?
Well, I did. Susan Elizabeth Phillips had done that mistake.
One of the characters of the book described a pug, UGLY.
I love pugs.
How can this pug be ugly? [image] Pugsley, my pet dog, God bless his soul, is really adorable. How could anyone call him ugly?
And now, Pugsley is crying. [image]
But despite my seething anger, I continued on, chanting She called a pug ugly again and again. But obviously, the chanting didn't work. I still loved this book.
How could I hate it, when I was still up 3am in the morning, trying to finish it? And, pray, tell me, how I could hate a book with a hero who has a British accent? That got me all weak in the knees already.
Speaking aside, the story is cute and the happily ending well deserved. The bantering of the H/h is refreshing. The dialogues are all witty and humorous. I was laughing loud so often, I thought the doctors are going to take me away.
The plot, though not actually unique, (the heroine had three ex-husbands and was a mean ass is high school) is still good, since Susan Elizabeth Phillips added tons of new stuff to it, that it became an original.
I should also mention that this book taught me that it's never too late for love. Despite all the heartaches that can come my way, we should never close our doors. And also, it's never to late to ask for sorry.
This book is 97th on the All About Romance Top 100 list. And I'm wondering why it isn't any higher.
BTW, Susan, I forgive you for saying that a pug is ugly.
[image] However, I think Pugsley does not. He takes things quite seriously. He is deeply hurt, thus, the frown....more
Zsadist is the most tohrtured and tohrmented soul I have ever read in my entire life. Zsadist isn’t actually a zsadist (I mean he is, but only to the Zsadist is the most tohrtured and tohrmented soul I have ever read in my entire life. Zsadist isn’t actually a zsadist (I mean he is, but only to the baby powdered smelling lessers), but Zsadist is more of a masochist. He’s been keeping all these emotions in him, that he had to vishously tohrture himself physically and the ones he love emotionally.
The last book, Lover Eternal, ended with Bella, a civilian vampire, being abducted. Zsadist, takes care of Bella’s house (which is actually really sweet, if you ask me). He is almost out of hope in locating her, but another civilian vampire escapes from the lessers' lair, and reports that Bella is still alive.
Zsadist, along with the other brothers, save Bella, but finds her in an awful condition. This fills Zsadist with extreme amounts of phury, wrath and rhage. He decides to ahvenge Bella’s honor and seek rehvenge for himself. Zsadist believes the worst of himself. He thinks of himself dirty and unworthy of anybody, especially Bella. Could Bella be the one to actually save Zsadist from his inferior thinking and inner payne?
Lover Awakened, shows us Zsadist in a different light. This book definitely made me understand him more and ultimately, fall in love with his tohrtured soul. Though I am confused on why there is so much lesser talk going on. It's as if J.R. Ward wants me to sympathize with a lesser! And I did. The romance of the book is great, though something if quite off, that I can't put a name on it.
In my review of the previous book, Lover Eternal, I said that me reading the Black Dagger Brotherhood series will mess my ability to spell right. But scratch that. I think my spelling is pherfect, though Microsoft Word is disagreeing with me since I see lots of those red zigzagged lines. ...more
**spoiler alert** I belong to the 6% of the human populace who do not like this book. And I have to say, I do not like being the odd man/woman out.
I h**spoiler alert** I belong to the 6% of the human populace who do not like this book. And I have to say, I do not like being the odd man/woman out.
I honestly wanted to like this book. This is included in All About Romances Top 100 list and on Dear Reader Top 100 list plus it won Romance Writers of America RITA Award for Best Contemporary Single Title (2005), so it was justified that I had high hopes for this. Also, all my goodreads friends rated this four stars or more, however, the characters and dialogues were unbelievable.
Examples are: (1)
Bonnie turned back to the field and called Roger's name. When he came trotting over to them, she said, "Honey, are you going to ask me to marry you?" "Yes," he said. "I didn't want to rush you, so I thought I'd wait till our one-month anniversary. It's only eleven days." "Very sensible," Bonnie said. "Just so you know, I'm going to say yes." Roger sighed. "That takes a lot of the worry out of it." He leaned over and kissed her and went back to the field.
Seriously, does that really happen in real life? I think not.
(2)When Diana, Min's sister, decided not to get married since her fiancee is a cheating bastard, her mother caught her drinking wine, but then her mother quickly said:
"Do you know how many calories—"
Mothers are not like that. The could be calorie police at times, but not at a really lousy time, such as your failed wedding. And if the mothers are all like that, I'll stab them to death.
(3)Statistics are vital in everyday life. Dialogues with a mention of statistics a little often are cute, however, almost every conversation with a mention of percentages of whatever does not strike me as amusing.
(4)The characters also talked about theories on love. That got me confused on what I am reading. Whether this was a contemporary romance book or a psychology book. And in my honest opinion, I think the author was trying to merge the two in one.
Also in the duration of the book, there wasn't any real focus on the H/h. One minute, it's Min and Cal, then next, it's different people talking. The thought and motive were both good, however, it would have worked more if this was a movie.
To all my friends who loved this, I am absolutely sorry. I really wanted to love this book. And it wasn't due to a lack of effort on my part. ...more
Thirteen years from now, on October 6, 2023, a baby boy will be born. He will grow up into a sexy, mysterious man who will someday own 28% of the worlThirteen years from now, on October 6, 2023, a baby boy will be born. He will grow up into a sexy, mysterious man who will someday own 28% of the world. His description: black hair, blue eyes, 6 feet, 2 inches, 173 pounds. His name will be Roarke.
In this near future, specifically 2058, when JD Robb talks of cars flying, the cars are literally flying. You could buy a more pointed nose and a different eye color. You could be anyone you ever dreamed of. There aren’t any diseases spreading about, except the dreaded flu virus. There are licensed companions/ prostitutes to go around. It makes me imagine Amsterdam as our future. Anyway, the humans could already travel in space and there are space stations built for pleasure and entertainment! How cool is that?
This is my second book from Nora Roberts, but first under the pseudonym, JD Robb. This is also my first futuristic romance. I found Roarke fascinating for a male, but my heart became his when he was sitting in his huge library, reading a book and petting a cat. But it became his more, when he showed his ability to hack the US government. He has a wonderful head that goes with his awesome physique.
I enjoyed the mystery. I pointed fingers on almost everyone and still I was ‘almost’ wrong in the end. I absolutely loved the romance of the book. With the futuristic aspect, I enjoyed imagining the technology, however, since the world JD Robb drew was farfetched from what we have now, I had trouble imagining the tubes of Coke, which I imagined as a tube of Colgate, just with a different label. But still, I enjoyed the story and would anyone ever doubt my love for Roarke?
For now, advance happy birthday Roarke! I’m waiting for you to be born, and the medicine that could reverse my age a bit, cause once you hit your 30’s, I would be in my 60’s, so a little age reversal wouldn’t hurt. Don’t ever let Eve Dallas ever soften her hold on you, because that is when I would get you! No way will I let my white hair and arthritis get in the way! LOL
*This review was made on the 06th of October, 2010
_____ I have to know who Roarke is since many goodreads friends hold him in very high esteem.
WARNING: First part of this review (if this could still be called a review) will sort of be a homage/ temple for worship to my beloved James AlexanderWARNING: First part of this review (if this could still be called a review) will sort of be a homage/ temple for worship to my beloved James Alexander Malcolm MacKenzie Fraser, the most gorgeous and swoon worthy hero ever existing in literature!
♪♫♪ Ain’t no other man can stand up next to you Ain’t no other man on the planet does what you do You’re the kind of guy a girl finds on a blue moon You got soul, you got class, you got style in your bad ass Ain’t no other man, it’s true. -Christina Aguilera, Ain’t No Other Man
If I’d be singing a song about Jamie, it would honestly be the one above. And never had I thought that I could fall in love more with Jamie. But wow. I was wrong. And since I have to ease a bit off my chest, I am INSERTING A SHORT LETTER TO JAMIE.
Jamie,
Oh, how I love you! Where could I buy a seed that I could plant and and then grow into you? I want you so badly that I think I will become a spinster, unless I meet you. Or someone almost as you. Oh, how I wish to go to Scotland and go to Craigh na Dun and time travel to your arms. Blast your faithfulness to Claire! Unfortunately, I see yer faithfulness as a verra verra negative thing. But at the same time, it’s a verra verra good thing, since that makes ye verra honorable. I love you. Though you will never love me back. I swear I won’t go back in time and stab Claire. I love you so much that I would never want to see you hurt. But know this, as I think of you, I always have a smile on my face, though I know you would only make my heart break, since you can never be mine. I wish you the best in your travels.
Lovingly yours, Jasmin
PS: I LOVE YOU JAMIE! I WISH YOU WOULD LEAVE CLAIRE AND PICK ME INSTEAD!
OKAY. I AM STOPPING NOW, BEFORE ANYONE REPORTS ME AND SAYS I AM DELUSIONAL AND IN NO SHAPE TO BE IN HUMAN COMPANY.
Okay, Jasmin, relax. Breathe in, breathe out. Gather your wits and stop showing the people how stalker-ish you are.
Voyager is a masterpiece.
It is absolutely beautiful that it deserves more than five stars. Actually it’s even better than that. If I could just pluck real stars from the sky, I would offer all that I can carry and more to Diana Gabaldon’s feet. That is how marvelous this book is.
The book is well researched and vivid in detail. Still wordy and lengthy, but for me, it’s a good thing, because all those words help me see the bigger picture. This book isn’t just romance, though there’s a healthy dose of that. It’s also about loyalty, family and politics and so much more. And I could also feel so much more coming.
I would love to give a plot overview, but how? Where would I start when I see every word and every page important?
Diana Gabaldon, has killed me three times already! The endings she makes are fantastic cliffhangers that make me want to die! It is seldom that an author could make me thrash around my bed, due to sheer frustration, and clearly she is one of them. The ending made me want to smash things. But Diana deserves the honors of killing me, because what she gave me is priceless. She gave me Jamie. And she also gave me an epic love story. ...more
Isn’t it nice when a book you read could not just make you laugh at some lines, but can make you smile almost all throughout the book (exemption are tIsn’t it nice when a book you read could not just make you laugh at some lines, but can make you smile almost all throughout the book (exemption are the pages where either or both major protagonists are in distress of course) and just as you are about to close it? But then, it just hits you that it’s over and then you’re wistfully happy?
It Had To Be You just has to be that book.
Phoebe Somerville, blonde hottie, has just inherited a football team. And she doesn’t even know the its in football. It sounds like a complete joke, but it isn’t. If her team, the Chicago Stars doesn’t win the championship, the team goes to her evil cousin. The team really doesn’t matter to her, since she wants her father to spite her father and make him roll in his grave. But then Coach Dan Calebow, hot muscled god, decides to step in and set things straight with Phoebe. If she doesn’t, all of the team’s hard work goes down the drain.
At first, for Phoebe, handling the team, was a burden. But as the days passed by, the team became more of a family and helping them win became a necessity and not an obligation. So in order to make her father go ballistics in heaven or hell or wherever he is, Phoebe decides to do what her father never expected her to do. To win and keep the team, for life.
The book is great, but for me came short just a little. I honestly have no idea how American football goes, and I know a bit of soccer, but they’re two different things. So I had trouble imagining the sports parts, but I could feel the testosterone in the air as I was reading. ...more
I have a confession to make… But please don’t throw rotten tomatoes at me! PLEASE!
*in a tiny tiny voice* I *gulp* seriously gave Dark Lover, the firsI have a confession to make… But please don’t throw rotten tomatoes at me! PLEASE!
*in a tiny tiny voice* I *gulp* seriously gave Dark Lover, the first book in the Black Dagger Brotherhood series, umm, one star. *run and cower for cover*
I think I have a logical explanation on the one star. I seldom skim pages, but whenever there was a lesser talking, I just had to skip pages. Plus, I felt that the H/h were jumping on each other. I barely liked the romance, so the one star. Oh, please let me have friends left, after this review.
But now, after contemplating that I am abnormal since after the 12,552 people who rated Dark Lover, I go straight to the 1% who didn’t like it. So that makes me abnormal.
However, I don’t like being abnormal. I want to be normal. So I gave Lover Eternal a chance, since it means that I am giving a chance to jump on the hype and be “normal”. So, I pre-programmed my head that “I would like this” again and again. I really thought that hard. But flipping through the pages, it became easy, and I didn’t need the chant anymore. I was seriously liking what I was reading. That is what the power of thought can do. Oh heck! I admit, I also have to give praise to J.R. Ward for writing this splendidly. And seriously, my apologies for not liking the first book of the series. I am considering a re-read soon.
This book, I truly enjoyed. Rhage is not just smoking hot, but he’s sweet and dedicated as well.
Hmm, but why did I not give this book five stars? (1) The ending was just too good to be true. I know that this is a paranormal romance, but can’t we have a happy ending without ‘literal’ magic. (2) The spelling of the warriors are messed up for me, and I seriously think it wuold affhect my spehlling skhills frhom now ohn. (3) And the names of the lessers. What happens when there are more than 24 lessers introduced? What would she call them then? A1? B2? (4) My brother. It felt too redundant to me.
But why did I seriously like it? (1)I love the romance aspect of the book. Quick plot details ahead.Well, Rhage has been cursed by the Scribe Virgin. He could turn to a savage beast when he feels pain or any intense emotion. He needs an outlet, which are violence and sex. Well, that was until he met Mary Luce. Her voice could calm the beast inside him. He falls for her, and what I love is, he’s not ashamed to admit it. But the thing is, Mary is sick. But they work that out. (2) The bond between the brothers are cute. (3)Rhage is so *sigh*. (4)Bella and Zsadist are also a thing to look out for.
Well, definitely I’m amending my first opinions, recommending this to all paranormal romance readers and seriously hoping that my friends don’t hate me. ...more
Jaine, Marcie, TJ and Luna, a group of friends became overnight celebrities because they made a list. One might think they It all started with a list.
Jaine, Marcie, TJ and Luna, a group of friends became overnight celebrities because they made a list. One might think they came up with a diabolical list to destroy mankind, like (1)nuke the earth, (2) use tons of aerosol cans loaded with chlorofluorocarbons per household to destroy the ozone layer and fry mankind and so on and so forth. However, these ladies made a far cry of a list I mentioned above. Ask me what list they made? They made a list of qualities Mr. Perfect should have. Come to think of it, the list sounds pretty harmless. It started out as fun, but in the end, it became the cause of something that would end their lives.
At first, I found the Mr. Perfect list airing on TV silly. Don't they have any decent news up their sleeves? That they had to resort to a Mr. Perfect list? But controversy sells, and TV programs need to sell.
Anyway, the romance between the H/h was too fast paced that it didn't work much for me. I couldn't even remember the two of them dating. They just suddenly noticed each other and then hitting it off. But I loved the dialogues between them. They were both smart characters. I also liked the mystery. The murderer was named, but still, I didn't see that ending coming.
So I've been searching for Mr. Perfect on google. But I found a wrestler instead. I found him fat. However the blue guy below is the closest I got to Mr Perfect. [image]...more
The more you hate, the more you love.(Well, that absolutely didn't happen in my case, because I absolutely loved, loved, loved this book)
Lilian BowmanThe more you hate, the more you love.(Well, that absolutely didn't happen in my case, because I absolutely loved, loved, loved this book)
Lilian Bowman hates the the arrogant clod pole which is Marcus Marsden, or Lord Westcliff. We could also be assured that Westcliff feels the same way. So they definitely have a mutual understanding.
But mutual understanding is better than nothing right?
If you've read Again The Magic before this one, you would see that Westcliff isn't actually a complete pig but actually an affectionate brother. If you haven't and read Secrets of a Summer Night straightaway, well, Marcus would be someone you would want to drop an anvil on.
In Secrets of a Summer Night, Lisa Kleypas already showed us how Marcus and Lilian wanted to engage in a fist fight. As a reader, I could feel they were attracted to each other (some hopeful thinking on my part), but they bantered so much that Lilian and Marcus didn't know that the extreme dislike was a defense mechanism to hide their intense attraction to each other.
Westcliff is a stickler for propriety and control. So how come after having a sniff of Lilian Bowman, his defenses crumble and he becomes such a savage that he wanted to make a Lilian a gourmet meal? Not that I could blame him, but still. Westcliff lost control. And he had trouble believing that himself. Wanting to prove to himself that he could no doubt control himself, they challenge each other in another embrace, but failing. Guess how they ended up? These two ended up falling for each other hard!
Who would have thought that these two rascals would come to care for each other?
This is the best Lisa Kleypas book I've read so far. It made me laugh out loud tons of times and it also made me feel giddy since Westcliff was such a romantic brute. This is a beautifully written tale that every romance reader must not miss.
And I end my review with advice. Before you hate someone, I suggest that you better think twice :D...more
”I am certainly not going to marry Penelope Featherington!”
Ever since we heard Colin Bridgerton utter, ummm, shout the above statement, we should
”I am certainly not going to marry Penelope Featherington!”
Ever since we heard Colin Bridgerton utter, ummm, shout the above statement, we should have known that he’s going to eat his words sooner or later.
And eat them he did.
Penelope Featherington. She freshly comes out to society, out to meet the ton, with an excess of a few stones in her weight, and either orange/yellow/red gowns which doesn’t do her complexion any good. We can’t blame her. Her mother is a tyrant. But Penelope knows she doesn’t look good. The entire ton would agree with her. She also lacks the confidence to show her sharp wit to at least make up for her disgraceful attire. And instead of being seen as an intellectual lady with a terrible fashion sense, she’s seen as a stuttering plump and overripe orange, only worthy of staying at the sidelines as a wallflower. Season after season, she manages to improve herself, loosing the extra weight, however never being able to get rid of the horrendous clothes her mother has been forcing her, but still the ton doesn’t see her, or rather refuses to see her as her beautiful self. And she ends up on the spinster shelf.
Colin Bridgerton. What more could he ask for? He’s loaded with good looks and charm. And he’s a Bridgerton. So, what more? Unfortunately, one does find it hard to seek contentment with just what he has. He has sought refuge in his travels. He’s not just the charming easygoing gentleman everyone thinks, because behind his beguiling smile are tons of layers of insecurities and dissatisfaction with his life.
But in this work of fiction lies real people with real problems. How can we not relate to either one or both of them? Who hasn’t been insecure a few times in their life? Who hasn’t felt the fear of looking a fool? Who hasn’t dreaded no being able to search their life’s purpose?
How could one not want what Penelope and Colin have? They were friends in the beginning and ended up as something more. And having one another seemed to be more than enough.
Romancing Mr. Bridgerton, despite the laugh out loud parts and the easy smiles it caused me or rather distressed me with, since I couldn’t help but smile in public places, is a romance of tough and broad proportions. It made me laugh. It made me smile. It made me cry. It touched my heart and it touched my soul.
And it also made me desire a certain Mr. Colin Bridgerton. He loves intensely. Just the way a certain me wants to be loved. As proof, I leave you with this:
”I love you with everything I am, everything I’ve been, and everything I hope to be. I love you with my past, and I love you for my future. I love you for the children we’ll have and for the years we’ll have together. I love you for everyone of my smiles, and even more, for every one of your smiles.”♥
"Dragonfly in Amber" is a lusciously perfect way to continue Outlander. It couldn't happen any other way. It has to be this way. It is absolutely perf"Dragonfly in Amber" is a lusciously perfect way to continue Outlander. It couldn't happen any other way. It has to be this way. It is absolutely perfect in every way possible in my eyes, and I love it with sheer perfection.
Dragonfly in Amber, the second book of the Outlander series, continues with another amazing journey (or rather retelling) of Claire Randall/Fraser beyond time. But this time, Claire is back in her own time, year 1968, with daughter Brianna, already a twenty year old lass. Coming from America, Claire goes back to Scotland to hasten aid of Mr. Roger Wakefield, adopted son of Reverend Reginald Wakefield, (of whom we met in Outlander #1), to investigate what happened to the men of Lallybroch after the war at Culloden, to know if Jamie Fraser had carried out his final wishes to save his men & to reveal to Brianna the true nature of her heritage.
Claire shares her story of the battle to either stop the uprising or find victory for Bonnie Prince Charles Stuart, the Great Pretender.
But OMG! How am I going to narrate 752 pages of sheer perfection into something shorter, but something not too short of how perfect it was? It's hard.
But the next part is easy.
I LOVE JAMIE FRASER. JAMIE! JAMIE! JAMIE! JAMIE! I feel like a chit fresh from school. I'm resembling all the Edward Cullen fans/stalkers but with me, it's all about Jamie. I'm giddy. I'll end up a spinster if I don't find myself my own Jamie.
If you're not in love with Jamie yet, I'll make you fall in love with him too. Aside from his delicious and majestic body; he also has the sweetest and swoon worthy lines I've ever read in history. SPOILER ALERT! Coming up are my favorite Jamie Fraser lines from Dragonfly in Amber.
"I want to protect ye, sassenach- spread myself over ye like a cloak and shield you and the child wi' my body."
"Blood of my blood," he whispered, "and bone of my bone. You carry me within ye, Claire, and ye canna leave me now, no matter what happens. You are mine, always, if ye will it or no, if you want me or nay. Mine, and I wilna let you go."
"Claire. To feel the small bones of your neck beneath my hands, and that fine, thin skin on your breasts and your arms... Lord, you are my wife, whom I cherish and I love wi' all my life and still I want to kiss ye hard enough to bruise your tender lips, and see the marks of my fingers on your skin."
"I'm honest enough to say that I dinna care what the right and wrong of it may be, so long as you are here wi' me, Claire," he said softly. "If it was a sin for you to choose me, then I would go to the Devil himself and bless him for tempting ye to it."
And when Claire asked why Jamie agreed not to kill Jack Randall (a loathsome human who abused our dear Jamie) this is what he said: "...I want there to be a place for you; I want someone for you to go to if I am... not there to care for you. If it canna be me, then I would have it a man who loves you."
"Damn you, too, Claire Randall Fraser, while I'm at it!" he said. "Damn right I begrudge! I grudge every memory of yours that doesna hold me, and every tear ye've shed for another, and every second you spent in another man's bed! Damn you! You're mine, damn ye, Claire Fraser! Mine, and I wilna share ye, with a man or memory, or anything whatever, so long as we both shall live."
When Claire woke up in the middle of the night and Jamie wasn't asleep, Claire tells Jamie she loves him. Jamie replies: "I know it," he said quietly. "I do know it, my own. Let me tell ye in your sleep how much I love you. For there's no so much I can be saying to ye while ye wake, but the same poor words, again and again. While ye sleep in my arms, I can say things to ye that would be daft and silly waking, and your dreams will know the truth of them. Go back to sleep, mo duinne."
And just before Jamie sends Claire back: "I will find you," he whispered in my ear. "I promise. If I must endure two hundred years of purgatory, two hundred years without you - then that is my punishment, which I have earned for my crimes. For I have lied, and killed, and stolen, betrayed and broken trust. But there is one thing that shall lie in the balance. When I stand before God, I shall have one thing to say to weigh against the rest. Lord, ye have given me a rare woman, and God! I loved her well."
End of spoilers! I can swoon now. But I have to continue a little more. Are you in love with Jamie yet? If not, please pick this book and see how his every gesture is swoon worthy.
As usual, Diana Gabaldon is wordy. Not that I complain, because every word and every page is a necessity to make such a wonderful story come alive right in front of your very eyes (or rather imagination).
Also, the ending is the best and worst cliffhanger ever! Best because I'm verra verra anxious to read the next and worst because it made me figuratively feel why endings like these are called cliffhangers. I felt like I've been dropped from a cliff.
To ye, Diana Gabaldon, thank you for the gift of Jamie.
And to ye, dear reader of this review (or rather narrative on how obsessed I am with Jamie), do yourself a favor, try and give yourself some Jamie loving. ♥...more
For a classic, Jane Eyre is an easy read. The dialogues are simple and understandable, but still wonderfully beautiful. But despite its simplicity, JaFor a classic, Jane Eyre is an easy read. The dialogues are simple and understandable, but still wonderfully beautiful. But despite its simplicity, Jane Eyre, never lost its form in being a “classic”.
Jane Eyre, is written in autobiography form. Jane Eyre narrates vital points of her life, starting from her childhood, up to her adulthood.
The major characters are hideously described.
Despite Jane Eyre being described as simple and plain looking while, Mr. Edward Fairfax Rochester described as a man with prominent nostrils(the description actually reminds me of a toro/bull) and this is hardly a romantic compliment:
”You are dumb, Miss Eyre.”
under all their physical hideousness and insulting comment about being dumb, lies a stunning and striking love story.
But what do these lovers have in common? Aside from their lacking of pleasant physical characteristics, there is almost nothing that connects them. Jane is as poor as one could be, while Mr. Rochester is overly rich. Jane is a plain governess, while Mr. Rochester owns lands. Jane is eighteen and Mr. Rochester is forty. My list could go on and on, just to point how different these two lovers are and on how they would not suit, but what is it that connects them? It is pure and undiluted love.
Spoilers ahead. Continue at your own peril.The story starts with Jane narrating her childhood. She has lost both her parents at an early age. She is forced to live under the cruel hand of her aunt, Mrs. Reed. But aside from Mrs. Reed, she also has to bear the brutal treatment brought about by her three cousins, namely, John, Eliza and Georgiana. But at one point, Jane decides to step up and strike back at her cousin John. Mrs. Reed then punishes her and sends her to the “red room” where the deceased Mr. Reed used to stay. She then sees a ghost and screams desperately for help. But it is thought that it was Jane’s strategy to escape punishment and she was left there alone. Seeing a ghost is actually very frightful, so Jane gets terribly sick. Mrs. Reed decides to dispose of Jane and send her to an orphan school called Lowood. Jane struggles to fit in at first, but ends up actually spending eight years of her life at Lowood, six years as a student and two as a teacher.
Jane then puts up an ad as a governess. Alice Fairfax, housekeeper at Thornfield Hall, answers her ad, and Jane ends up as governess to a child named Adele Varens, Mr. Rochester’s ward.
Jane has stayed at Thornfield for quite a long time without having met the owner of the house. One time, Jane decides to go for a walk. She stumbles upon a man needing her help. Of course she helps the man. And without her knowing, she finally meets Mr. Rochester for the first time.
At some point in the book, these two fall in love. Jane Eyre admits throughout her narration that she has fallen in love, wherein with Mr. Rochester, there are subtle hints. There is admission is the form as below:
"Because, I sometimes have a queer feeling with regard to you- especially when you are near me, as now: it is as if I had a string somewhere under my left ribs, tightly and inextricably knotted to a similar string situated in the corresponding quarter of your little frame. And if that boisterous channel, and two hundred miles or so of land some broad between us, I am afraid that cord of communion will be snapt; and then I've a nervous notion I should take to bleeding inwardly. As for you, - you'd forget me."
But after a cat and mouse like chase and after Mr. Rochester’s employing certain strategy, which is to make jealousy an ally (he hints that he has desires to marry a certain Blanche Ingram, but it was actually a ploy), we come to a point where these two finally express how much they mean to each other and this encounter ends with a proposal.
But alas! Do not celebrate yet!
On the wedding day, someone objects to the union. Just before the vows of matrimony, a solicitor arrives and divulges that our Mr. Rochester is married!
This makes him sound like a complete bastard. Well, he sort of is. But we couldn’t blame the poor man. His wife, Bertha Mason is mad.
But our heroine, Jane Eyre is strong. Their love is pure. So instead of ending up as Mr. Rochester’s mistress, she flees Thornfield Hall and searches for life without him. She becomes a teacher at a province, manages to secure an inheritance and gains a family in the form of the Rivers siblings.
Perhaps you think I had forgotten Mr. Rochester, reader, amidst these changes of place and fortune. Not for a moment. His idea was still with me, because it was not a vapour sunshine could disperse, nor a sand-traced effigy storms could wash away; it was a name graven on a tablet, fated to last as long as the marble inscribed.
But of course, this Jane and Mr. Rochester’s love was fated to happen.
Jane, after receiving a marriage proposal from St. John Rivers, decides to search for Mr. Rochester and learn what has happened to him after her fleeing. She sees Thornfield, or rather what’s left of it after a fire. She inquires at the hotel and learns that Mr. Rochester has lost sight and has lost a hand. But still, she runs to him.
…if you wish me to love you, could you but see how much I DO love you. You would be proud and content. All my heart is yours, sir: it belongs to you; and with you it would remain, were fate to exile the rest of me from your presence forever.
Despite the added imperfections of Mr. Rochester’s appearance and the burden of having to take care of him, Jane Eyre still loves him and accepts him with open arms. But of course, Mr. Rochester is hesitant.
"I am no better than the old lightning-struck chestnut-tree in Thornfield orchard," he remarked ere long. "And what right would that ruin have to bid a budding woodbine cover its decay with freshness?"
"You are no ruin, sir — no lightning-struck tree: you are green and vigorous. Plants will grow about your roots, whether you ask them or not, because they take delight in your bountiful shadow; and as they grow they will lean towards you, and wind round you, because your strength offers them so safe a prop."
As I said Jane Eyre is a strong woman. She handled strife and whether it was unbearable, she managed it. And she can handle Mr. Rochester.
"Mr. Rochester, if ever I did a good deed in my life — if ever I thought a good thought — if ever I prayed a sincere and blameless prayer — if ever I wished a righteous wish, — I am rewarded now. To be your wife is, for me, to be as happy as I can be on earth."
Jane Eyre deserves her happy ending. Thank goodness she got it in the end. :)...more
**spoiler alert** Sebastian Leslie Guy de Ath Ballister. Marques of Dain. Earl of Blackmoor. Beelzebub. The Bane and Blight of Ballisters. Lord of Sco**spoiler alert** Sebastian Leslie Guy de Ath Ballister. Marques of Dain. Earl of Blackmoor. Beelzebub. The Bane and Blight of Ballisters. Lord of Scoundrels. The greatest whoremonger in Christendom. A cocksure, clod-pated ingrate. The wickedest man who ever lived. A great gawk of lummox. A spoiled, selfish, spiteful brute. A Conceited clod-pole.
And only a femme fatale, in the form of Jessica Trent could tame the beast. Only she had the ability to become the beast’s passionate chatelaine of his body and the loving mistress of his heart.
I had trouble imagining Sebastian. He was described as:
”…wizened olive thing with large black eyes, ill-proportioned limbs, and a grossly oversize nose.”
Probably among all the fair-colored British men about, he could be ugly. But as the common saying goes, ”beauty is in the eye of the beholder”. And in the eyes of Jessica Trent, Lord Dain was in beautiful, masculine and virile in every way.
It was lust at first sight. Jessica, having a very informative grandmother, had known the what lust was when it hit her. But her grandmother called it animal attraction.
I must warn you, do not think that Dain is the swooning type. As I said in my first paragraph, he is the wickedest man who ever lived. His mission is to destroy Jessica’s brother, (though the brother in a hen-witted and would eventually destroy himself sooner or later); as Jessica declines to sell an icon which slipped his vision. Apparently, Jessica is a finder of treasures. He also manages to destroy Jessica’s reputation by her being found in quite a state of undress. And instead of being a gentleman, he rushes off by the first sound of other’s footsteps. He is in no way gallant, and is literally the lord of scoundrels. He left Jessica. And in one event, Jessica shoots him and puts him under a lawsuit, where he would have to support Jessica and her hen-witted brother.
Dain doesn’t like loosing. So, he offers marriage, or nothing at all.
Jessica ought to decline. He’s ugly. But she agrees, and they marry.
He deserves happiness, even a little.
Then he’s faced with the problem of how to deflower his virgin wife. He was more than six feet and his wife, just five feet. He weighs too much and he’s afraid he’ll crush her to bits.
But Jessica is a femme fatale. And along with his wife comes tons of other problems. But they work everything out. Even the healing of his heart, and ultimately, his soul.
However, to the dear reader of this review, I dare you to pick up this book.
Witness how the Beauty falls in love with the beast. And fall in love with the Lord of Scoundrels, yourself. ...more
Are you in a melancholic mood? Perhaps feeling distressed or unusually sad? Then I have the perfect cure for you. Read this book. Sadness will be goneAre you in a melancholic mood? Perhaps feeling distressed or unusually sad? Then I have the perfect cure for you. Read this book. Sadness will be gone. However, side effects include stomach ache (increased laughing). Therapeutic claims not approved. Haha, I sound like a commercial.
Anthony Bridgerton, the oldest of eight siblings had always feared and convinced himself that he will die at an age younger than his father's death. He kept his fears to himself though. But being a viscount, he had a responsibility to have an heir, thus this season, he is in search for a wife, on who he is unlikely to fall with, because:
Death wasn't frightening to a man alone. The great beyond held no terror when one managed to avoid attachments here on earth. Love was truly a spectacular, sacred thing. But love was the enemy of the dying man. It was the only thing that could make the rest of his years untolerable - to taste bliss and know that it would all be snatched away.
Kate Sheffield, is almost a spinster. Being almost 21 years of age, she is out for her first season, but pursuits for a husband is highly unlikely because the belle of the season is her stepsister, Edwina. She's not jealous though and rather glad for her. She also makes sure to check out her sister's suitors and decided that a rake like Anthony Bridgerton is dangerous and must, at all costs, never be near Edwina.
Kate convicted Anthony of being too dangerous, however, she had not been able to set protection for herself from Anthony's lovely smile or dazzling eyes. Edwina was safe. However, Kate was not....more
Unknowingly, I've read this earlier in 2008. I had no idea, since Amanda Quick's covers and titles have a striking resemblance. Titles are one word, aUnknowingly, I've read this earlier in 2008. I had no idea, since Amanda Quick's covers and titles have a striking resemblance. Titles are one word, and cover is one-colored too, but in different shades and featuring an object.
The title and characters were a little forgotten to me, however, the story and plot are etched in my cranium.
As I flip the pages, I begin to become immersed in a different world, pleasant and achingly familiar, however I do not drown, for romances as sweet as this could sustain my survival.
Bones and fossils. Imagine creepy skulls, teeth, toes and femurs stuck on a stone wall and being freed by our odd heroine, Harriet Pomoroy. Bones and fossils do not scare her. She is considered a spinster, for she is 25 years of age. She has no interest in marriage, for only fossils catch her attention. And perhaps the Beast of Blackthorne Hall.
Gideon St. Justin, is our battered hero. Being the second son, he was least favorite of his parents. Has a terrible scar on his face. Has gained reputation of "Beast of Blackthorne Hall". Is believed to have compromised fiancee, the daughter of Reverend Ruston, Dierdre, who have committed suicide after allegedly being dropped by Gideon after discovering she is with child. His reputations is also tarnished to shreds. And is feared by all. Except Harriet.
Harriet and Gideon are an odd couple. They never fit in normal society. However, they no doubt belong in each others arms. Despite the world being against them, they manage to fight all odds, since loving each other is as inevitable as the dawn.
BTW, this book is not just a wonderful story that would make you smile. It is also educational.
One could learn a lot from Harriet's archeological skills. However, the best of her lessons that I would keep in mind, is a practical lesson & being non fossil related, is this:
Brid•ger•ton fam•i•ly /brid-jer-ton fam-uh-lee/ n. ann odd and frolicsome family consisting of a mama and eight broods •founder of the Bridgerton methoBrid•ger•ton fam•i•ly /brid-jer-ton fam-uh-lee/ n. ann odd and frolicsome family consisting of a mama and eight broods •founder of the Bridgerton method of naming children; first born is named after the first letter of the alphabet and so on •a family resembling closely, or "so ludicrously alike in physical regard" (look: Lady Whistledown's Society Papers, 26 April 1813) •all members, except mama, posses similar bone structure and same thick, chestnut hair •no doubt that broods are of legitimate parentage
____ The Duke and I by Julia Quinn revolves around the fourth daughter, fourth letter of the alphabet is D, thus she is named Daphne. Being the oldest of the sisters, she is out for a husband, however, she is too friendly and intelligent to catch the love interest of the men of the ton. She's been in the market for two years, but no decent man had caught her heart. However, she meets Simon Basset, Duke of Hastings, which of course is irresistibly handsome and considered a great catch by all the mamas who are in search for a husband of their daughters. Daphne and Simon both find themselves in a need of each others assistance. They would pretend that they are besotted with one another to gain the following end results:
Firstly for Daphne Bridgerton, her mother will stop dragging her from man to man if she thinks that Daphne has secured the interest of Simon.
Secondly, Simon Basset's "make believe" attraction for her would attract attention of other males of the ton since Simon believed that men are always more interested in a woman if they think other men are interested. "But if all the world thinks I intend to make you my duchess, all of those men who see you as nothing more than a friend will see you in a new light," as Simon said to Daphne.
Thirdly, for Simon Basset, all the mamas, all the unmarried females and all the eldest sisters of the unmarried females of the ton, will finally put him at rest, since Simon has no plans to marry whatsoever.
All goals have achieved fruition.
However, even at the beginning, the two have accomplished unspeakable depths to fight the attraction they felt for each other. But, there comes a point where all the walls break and resistance comes tumbling, and all that is left to do is to embrace anything at reach, which was one another ♥...more
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