Once a Dreamer (Ladies Fashionable Cabinet) [Kindle Edition]

Candice Hern (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Can a realist and a romantic fall in love? This is the central question in Hern's (The Bride Sale; etc.) atypical and often frustrating early 19th-century romance. Cynical widow Eleanor Tennant doesn't believe in love, so when her niece, Belinda, falls for a reformed rake, Eleanor urges her to choose someone with more wealth and status. Instead, Belinda follows the advice of the Busybody, a columnist for the Ladies' Fashionable Cabinet, and remains steadfast in her devotion. Enraged, Eleanor tracks down the Busybody, only to find that the "sentimental old biddy" is Simon Westover, a bookish romantic who will do anything to keep his identity concealed. In return for Eleanor's silence, Simon agrees to set things right by her niece, but their arrangement becomes far more complicated when they learn that Belinda has run away to elope. Determined to rescue Belinda, Eleanor blackmails Simon into helping her track down the couple. A strong physical attraction develops between Eleanor and Simon, despite her venomous attitude and appalling behavior (she smacks him twice and betrays his trust). By the end, readers will root for the adorable beta male to leave rather than love Eleanor. Though Hern has a firm understanding of the period, her narrow-minded heroine is unlikely to earn the reader's favor or empathy.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Furious when her impressionable young niece, Belinda, follows the outrageous advice of the Busybody, a columnist in a popular women's magazine, and runs off with a noted rake, Eleanor Tennant tracks down the columnist and finds not a woman but a man-and an extremely attractive one at that. Undaunted, Eleanor demands retribution, and together she and Simon Westover take to the road, determined to stop the fleeing pair before Belinda's reputation is damaged beyond repair. Although the novel employs a tried-and-true classic "hot pursuit" plot, the beautifully rendered characters, the depth of their conflicts, and the intriguing twist that the hero is a true romantic and the heroine is anything but make this Regency just short of brilliant. Lighter but no less enjoyable than Hern's The Bride Sale, this will appeal to historical and Regency readers alike. Hern lives in San Francisco.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 238 KB
• Print Length: 388 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 0060505621
• Publisher: HarperCollins e-books (March 17, 2009)
• Sold by: HarperCollins Publishers
• Language: English
• ASIN: B000VYX98U
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #42,087 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

More About the Author

Candice Hern is the award-winning author of historical romance novels set during the English Regency, a period she knows well through years of collecting antiques and fashion prints of the era. She travels to England regularly, always in search of more historical and local color to help bring her books to life, and prides herself on the detailed research that goes into each novel. Her books have won praise for their "intelligence and elegant romantic sensibility" (Romantic Times) as well as "delicious wit and luscious sensuality" (Booklist). Candice's award-winning website (www.candicehern.com) is often cited for its Regency World pages, where readers interested in the era will find an illustrated glossary, a detailed timeline, illustrated digests of Regency people and places, articles on Regency fashion, research links, and much more. The website also provides readers with more information on all Candice's books, including excerpts and a look "behind the scenes" of each novel. You can also find Candice on FaceBook and Twitter.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Horrid Heroine, June 24, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Once a Dreamer (Mass Market Paperback)

I bought this book because of the great reviews it received.

I have to admit the hero, Simon, is a great guy, sensitive, romantic (sigh), kind, generous, etc who happens to love beautiful women. He wrote for a ladies magazine and didn't want anybody to know his secret identity.

The heroine, Eleanor, who is of course beautiful (surprise, surprise), is the complete opposite. She's very cynical about love and thought Simon was a stupid and irresponsible fool. I understand her being upset and angry about her runaway niece, I even cheered her for having the guts to resort to blackmail. But the more I read the more I don't understand how he can stomach her. She blamed him for everything and even after he apologised, paid for the whole trip to find the niece, she kept throwing it on his face that it was his fault and would not let go. He tried to cheer her up but she kept going back to the same subject over and over again.

She started to admire him when he succesfully lifted a turned over carriage (talk about being shallow) and got into a bar room brawl over her.

I got so bored with all her harping I scanned most of the pages trying to find what happened with the niece, and finally found Eleanor calling Simon an idiot right on his face, accidentally announced his secret for all to hear, and had the gall to be angry at him for getting into a duel. I still don't know why he forgave her in the end. What rubbish!!!

This is the worst heroine ever. She's stubborn as a mule, hard to please, demanding, and absolutely ungrateful. The 2stars I gave is all for Simon who definitely has a nerve of iron.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A bit boring, August 2, 2004

By 

Just a Dreamer "[e-mail]" (Texas) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Once a Dreamer (Mass Market Paperback)

Took me weeks to get through this book, It is the kind you want to finish, but it lacked, what ever it takes, to get you going.

Simon was wonderful, but Eleanor was boring, and never changing. The ending was dreadful, I mean a romantic ending of course. But I wanted to tear out Eleanor's hair by the end of the book. I hated how she was such a blabbermouth. The one deep secret she had ..I don't think a soul in the book didn't know by the end. I would have tossed on her ear myself.... if I was Simon.
Candice Hern, is a very gifted writer..and I know somewhere among her books, (this was my second) I will find a keeper, just not the two I have read so far. They lack what makes me not put a book down, to eat... or sleep... or clean my house. If my house is dirty, it means I am reading a good book.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Delightful Encounter, April 15, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Once a Dreamer (Mass Market Paperback)

I'm a sucker for road stories -- I love all that forced seclusion in an enclosed vehicle, especially if the two secluded souls aren't sure whether they find each other irresistable or unbearable. In "Almost a Dreamer," the growing attraction between Simon and Eleanor isn't simply a coming together of two charmingly disparate personalities -- it's a delightfully feisty encounter between prudence and exuberance, experience and innocence, and (dare I add) sense and sensibility.

Galloping through a lovingly envisioned English Regency countryside that's rich in historical detail, this story is a thoughtful and honest portrayal of the dangers imperilling a woman in pursuit of her own desires.

Candice Hern's passionate sympathy for her subject -- lovers and setting both -- demands to be shared and savored.