Customer Reviews

A Cousinly Connexion (G. K. Hall Nightingale Series Edition)

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If you enjoyed "The Unknown Ajax" by Georgette Heyer, I think you will like this book too. Like Hugo, Julian (our hero) has been ignored and forgotten by his family, having grown up in his maternal grandfather's household. Badly injured at Waterloo he returns to find himself head of a dysfunctional family, a family he has never been a part of and does not know. The story is a gentle tale of how he gains the trust and acceptance of his relatives. There are no riding officers banging on the door at midnight, but trust is earned with a generous and thoughtful approach to dealing with problems both real and imagined, problems acknowledged by the family or deliberately ignored by them. Julian, with the help and support of Jane, his step-mother's niece, manages to bring order to chaos and replaces suspicion and melodrama with love and acceptance. And of course there is the requisite HEA for Julian and Jane.

The strongest asset of this book was Ms. Simonson's writing skill: She gave such a powerful and touching portrayal of the friendship between Lord Meriden and his military friend, William Tarrant. She also had a way of putting such a complicated story with a lot of emotions all in these 192 pages; Granted, the fonts were in the smaller print, but the whole scenario was laid out so smoothly on the pages, with engaging narrative, and accurate period language usage. I really enjoyed Ms. Simonson's writing ability.

However, the last 1/4 of book was very slow going, and I particularly disliked how hero and heroine (although it was the direct-speaking hero and sharp-tongued heroine that they initially attracted to each other) kept avoid and misunderstood one another; with Aunt Louise always feigned ill-health left bunch unruly, ill-mannered kids with no one to discipline them--all made a frustrating end. A promising beginning, but a deflated finish.

I do have to compliment the book cover, it was a beautifully-drawn picture with good taste, eventhough the scene was nowhere to be found in the book still did not dimmer the shine of it.

This is a superb example of historical fiction, it is almost impossible to tell that it was not written in the time it took place, right down to the spellings of the time.

it is a love story but it shows a picture of how death and mairrage and inheritance were veiwed and handeled at the time.

It is impossible to read this book without sypathizing with Julian Stretton or admiring Jane Ash's common sense.