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15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Top notch regency with a very engaging heroine and hero, September 29, 2004
This review is from: The Arrangement (Mass Market Paperback)
I have read several of Joan Wolf's Regency novels and have enjoyed them all. "The Arrangement" is a very well-written book with strong lead characters and an interesting plot. The first person point of view (the story is told by the heroine in the past tense) is a refreshing change of pace from the usual romance novel. Because the heroine, a young widow by the name of Gail Saunders, is telling the story, we do not have to constantly get beaten over the head with descriptions of her beauty (i.e. her flashing blue eyes and her silky raven locks, as would be the case in the *typical* romance novel); the author lets us know that she is beautiful by the things that the other charcters say and do. Gail is a wonderful heroine--strong enough to care for her young son, Nicky, by herself after her husband dies, proud enough to resent the implication that she cannot take care of her family, human enough to be rueful about her shabby wardrobe when dining at Castle Sevile and passionate enough to fall in love with Raoul, the Earl of Sevile, against her better judgement and to enter into "an arrangement" with him which she suspects will leave her with a broken heart.
Raoul is a wonderful hero--fabulously handsome and obscenely wealthy (of course), but also loyal, kind and intelligent. He is perfect in every way for Gail except for the fact that he is light years above her in the social strata. The development of their relationship is very well done and Gail's conflicted feelings about it are heartfelt.
The mystery part of the book is also entertaining, although a bit predictable. Lord Devane, Raoul's cousin, has died and left a bequest to Nicky, Gail's young son. Immediately this raises questions about Nicky's parentage which Gail refuses to answer. When it appears that someone is trying to kill Nicky, almost everyone is a suspect until the mystery is neatly unraveled.
My only complaint with this book was that the ending seemed a bit too pat, but that is not a major problem.
In summary, this is a *very* enjoyable book with an engaging heroine and hero. I would also recommend "The Pretenders" and "The Gamble", also by Joan Wolf.
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18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Another great work by a superb writer, August 29, 1997
By A Customer
This review is from: The Arrangement (Mass Market Paperback)
Though she prefers not to show up, widow Gail Saunders knows that she has no choice but to attend the reading of the will of George Davane at the castle of the deceased's cousin, Raoul, the Earl of Saville. Gail plans to reject any inheritance sent her way. However, George knew her too well; her eight year old son Nicky inherits a large sum of money. This bequest leads to much speculation and intrigue as to the lad's biological father. Though her reputation is destroyed, the mysterious Gail refuses to reveal anything about the birth of her beloved son, preferring to leave it as a enigmatic puzzle.
Gail quickly falls in love with Raoul, who sets her up as his mistress. She accepts the position because she needs to grab the few crumbs of happiness that she can in spite of knowing that they can never marry since she is way beneath his station. However, happiness turns into a fleeting illusion as someone tries (and almost succeeds) to kill Nicky. Gail and Raoul know that they must uncover the identity of a villain, who finds the child's inheritance threatening his/her lifestyle before another attempt occurs. If they fail to solve the who-done-it, an innocent child could be murdered.
Regency romance aficionados will howl with joy upon perusing Joan Wolf's latest romantic intrigue, THE ARRANGEMENT. Though the romantic sub-plot is well written, sensuous, and fun to read, it follows the Regency sub-genre's basic rules. However, the mystery is extremely exciting (especially with its first person narrative) that it turns the book into an intriguing historical who-done-it. Ms. Wolf successfully straddles the line between the mystery and romance genres.
Harriet Klausner
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
one of the very few regencies that i loved, December 25, 2004
This review is from: The Arrangement (Mass Market Paperback)
I usually hate regencies - I find that the 'heroes' are too egocentric to be likable, I can't abide all the references to former mistresses made just to embarass the heroine, and the heroines are usually too naive to be true. Well, this book is completely different - the hero is a very lovable man, we are spared information on his love life, and the heroine is a very real woman, a widow who has already been married, and to a man she loved. The story was very very good, and I am going to read as many books by Joan Wolf as I can find
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