Courting Constance [Paperback]

Teryl Cartwright (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 31, 2010

If marriage was an occupation, Constance was determined to enjoy her search for employment. Men, after all, made it easy to fall in love. Sadly, though, they also made it just as difficult to stay in love. Constance was not going to settle for an ordinary life as a wife. She just had to convince a certain someone as well as herself that a wedding could be the beginning of some adventures instead of the end of them.

Editorial Reviews

Review

This inspirational novel shows that true love can conquer all and that people can change their thought processes and, in turn, their lives. A perfect blend of humor, romance and a little conspiracy make this a charming story, indeed. --Fresh Fiction Review by Viki Ferrell

Blue Ribbon Rating: 4 COURTING CONSTANCE is a wonderful tale of learning what it truly means to love someone, even if it requires letting them go. Through humorous and entertaining debacles, Cartwright takes her readers on a fun but instructive tale about the many demands true love places upon individuals. The reader feels Constance's longing for Sir Geoffrey and her frustration when her actions only seem to result in pushing him further away. COURTING CONSTANCE is a calming, amusing read that portrays the important lesson that you can't force love upon someone and that what's meant to be will be, despite what you may wish." --Romance Junkies by Audrey Johnson

Product Details

• Paperback: 282 pages
• Publisher: Vintage Romance Publishing (July 31, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0981989691
• ISBN-13: 978-0981989693
• Product Dimensions: 5 x 8 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,368,544 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Teryl Cartwright was born in Texas, raised in Pennsylvania and has been published in the curriculum, drama, novel and newspaper markets. Her lone magazine credit from Birds and Blooms could be considered her first big break into national media. Ironically, it was actually a rejected article that somehow got published just after the rejection letter came in the mail. It earned her a suncatcher as payment for her submission.

While Teryl has a degree in Elementary Education, her first job out of college was as a local newspaper reporter. Being flexible and creative across several writing disciplines has been a focus of her career in various occupations since then. To her, being an authentic teacher means always learning to improve personally as well or forget being able to ask others to do the same.

"It's important to have a sense of humor as you write and even more importantly as you try to find a home for what you write. Never give up! My first two novels are Nano books (National Novel in a Month contest 50k winners), but I still have some more Nano books to get accepted and I still have to prove the rejection letters wrong. Write what you know AND what you like and you'll succeed. In other words, if I can, you can too."

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars A Delightful Light Romance, August 9, 2011

By 

Pegg Thomas "twinwillows2" (Ossineke, MI United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Courting Constance (Paperback)

A delightful romp through the season in Bath with the unpredictable Constance in full pursuit of Sir Geoffrey. Gleefully breaking the bonds of propriety, Constance tries her hand at courting the gentleman in question. Nothing goes smoothly as the story twists and turns through one painful life lesson after another. I highly recommend this book to anyone of any age looking for a fun, light romance.

2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing, April 21, 2011

By 

Helen Hancox "Auntie Helen" (Essex, England) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Courting Constance (Paperback)

I really wanted to like this book. Firstly, the cover image of the heroine has her with almost exactly the same hair as me, which is cool. Secondly, the author sent me a copy to review and put a lovely card with it, plus signed the book. These are two good things (at least one of them is, if you have hair like me), but sadly weren't enough to make me like this book once I'd read it.

It's a historical romance set in the Regency period in the city of Bath. It starts with a highwayman holding up a carriage in which our heroine is travelling - and the highwayman happens to be her former Fiancé (not that she realises). This was a good start, but unfortunately from here onward the book went downhill.

The heroine, Constance, seems a bit erratic in her behaviour. I couldn't decide whether I liked her or not - I think, by the end, not. Her best friend Harriet (`Harry') went from being virtually mute to being... not so mute. The Fiancé, Sir Geoffrey Thornhill (often referred to in the book erroneously as `Sir Thornhill', he would be `Sir Geoffrey'), seemed a strangely indistinct character. I knew very little about him by the end of the book except that he and Constance probably deserved each other.

The middle part of the book seemed to be about Constance trying to court Geoffrey with supposedly comedic results. I didn't find these scenes funny, just weird - almost slapstick in nature. Constance then seems to suddenly, without any apparent reason, give up completely and the action has to shift to Geoffrey who continues as impenetrable as ever.

The book also touched on the `inspirational' genre with various religious thoughts but these weren't over-strong so fitted reasonably. The end of the story had echoes of Georgette Heyer's "The Grand Sophy" but in a rather half-hearted manner.

The author has probably tried to make the book seem authentic but this English reader came across a great many Americanisms whilst reading it which disturbed the flow of the story.

What I did like was the occasional turn of phrase of the author which was well written and good to read. Sadly most of the story was dull to this reader with unconvincing characters who I didn't really care for.

Originally published for Curled Up With A Good Book © Helen Hancox 2011

5.0 out of 5 stars Funny Regency-- 4 1/2 Stars, March 25, 2011

By 

elm - See all my reviews

This review is from: Courting Constance (Paperback)

Constance Afford has just lost her chance with Sir Geoffrey Thornhill. She heads to Bath with one of her dearest friends.

I enjoyed this book and found a few parts quite humerous. Loved the bagpipe scene as well as the gun scence toward the end. Nice, clean and entertaining cast. I would have liked a little more character development regarding Sir Geoffrey(age, appearance, financial status etc..)So if I had a choice of half ratings, I would give this book 4 1/2 Stars.

I hope to read more from this author. Highly recommended