30 of 32 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Lady Whistledown is a Diamond, February 2, 2003
This review is from: The Further Observations of Lady Whistledown (Mass Market Paperback)
I read this anthology in just 4 hours, it was that good (well, I speed read, unfortunately). I have loved the mysterious Lady Whistledown all through the Bridgerton series. I was so disappointed with the loss of this wittiest of columnists society's foibles when she 'retired'. Then she popped back up to narrate these 4 stories - each with it's own flavor and just enough sensuality. Using Lady Whistledown to introduce chapters of stories by Suzanne Enoch, Karen Hawkins, Mia Ryan and Julia Quinn was genious. Each story is centered around Valentine's Day - the best time of year for romantics. The stories have intriguing characters who appear in each story briefly; their own stories entertwined. Suzanne Enoch has a betrothed-from-birth groom rushing to London to claim his bride when Lady Whistledown's column reports some rather indiscreet behaviour on the lady's part - I can only say that the story was very romantic. Karen Hawkins adds to the humor with her story of a rogue who begins to be disturbed when his life-long friend decides to marry, well, according to Lady Whistledown, someone comfortable. Mia Ryan's heroine kept me laughing with her habit of blurting out really odd observations - obviously says exactly what she is thinking at any given time. And her thoughts are chaotic as it is! But, finally, we have Julia Quinn's story, which can only be the best of the book. I can't spoil the surprise in this one, but it is one of my absolute favorite story lines, done in the way that only Julia Quinn can do to make it new, fresh and funny. This book is a must for your collection of keepers of the observations of Lady Whistledown and the 5* books she has narrated.
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23 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
just the pick-me-up for a dreary day..., January 29, 2003
This review is from: The Further Observations of Lady Whistledown (Mass Market Paperback)
Just the thing for a gray, dull weekend: four delightful short stories, all interrelated via Lady Whistledown's column in the SOCIETY PAPERS, a few characters, and three events -- a night at the theatre, a skating party and a Valentine's Day Ball -- and all quite engaging and charming!
The anthology opens with Suzanne Enoch's "One True Love." Maximilian, the Marquis of Halfurst, and Lady Anne Bishop have been betrothed to each other since infancy. But the pair have scarcely spent any time with each other at all, esp since Maximilian has spent the last few years ensconced in Yorkshire, taking care of his estate and fulfilling his responsibilities as landlord and chief magistrate. But when he reads Lady Whistledown's column and realises that Lady Anne is not behaving in a circumspect manner at all, he rushes up to London in order to confront his errant fiancee. What follows is a rousing tale in which both Maximilian and Anne must decide if they want to spend the rest of their lives together or if they should go their separate ways in spite of the attraction that they feel for each other...
With Karen Hawkins's offering ("Two Hearts"), you can almost hear that old standard playing in background: the one where Ella Fitzgerald sings about making two lovers of friends. When Sir Royce Pemberly (a hardened flirt and rogue) learns that his best friend (who is also 'almost-like-a-sister') Elizabeth Pritchard is seriously considering marriage, Sir Royce must reexamine the exact nature of his friendship with Elizabeth and decide once and for all exactly what kind of relationship he wants to have with her...
In Mia Ryans's offering, "A Dozen Hearts," Lady Caroline Starling realises to her horror that she has fallen for the very man who is at the root of all her troubles -- her distant cousin, Terrance Grayson, who had inherited her father's title and estate and who had summarily evicted both her mother and her from the family home as soon as he had inherited everything! Can Lady Caroline overlook all the heartache that Terrance has caused her? And what of her mother's plans to marry her off to the rich but elderly Earl of Pellering?
The last thing that Miss Susannah Ballister expected, in Julia Quinn's short story "Thirty-Six Valentines," was for the 'staid' and enigmatic Earl of Renminster to pay court to her after the very public rejection that she had suffered at his younger brother's (Clive Formsby-Mann) hands. And yet that is exactly what happens! But while, to Susannah's surprise, being courted by the earl is exactly what she craves, she cannot help but wonder if she can afford to trust another member of the Mann-Formsby family?
All four stories were charming and enjoyable light reads, and exactly the kind of thing to indulge in while on a 'plane, train, etc. Julia Quinn's short story, however, was my favourite and was (I thought) the best of the bunch. And while Mia Ryan's offering was good, I did think that it needed some elaboration and elucidation. The one I was least enamoured with was Suzanne Enoch's short story as Lady Anne rather exasperated me. For goodness sake, Yorkshire was hardly the moon for all her whinnings about the place and Max's occupation as a sheep farmer. (You'd have thought that he was a serial killer the way she kept on carping about his source of income!) Another niggle was the order in which the stories were presented could have been better. For example, some information presented in Karen Hawkins's short story gives away what will happen in Julia Quinn's offering. However, all the stories unfolded smoothly and were engagingly enough, even if the language was a tad modern in all four. But, while this was at times a little jarring, it did not detract too much. All in all, "The Further Observations of Lady Whistledown" was a fun read.
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12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Lady Whistledown triumphs - again!, February 7, 2003
This review is from: The Further Observations of Lady Whistledown (Mass Market Paperback)
This Regency romance gem of an anthology orchestrated by New York Times bestseller Julia Quinn comes timely in the schmaltzy Valentine season. These four interconnected romance tied by a skating event and Lady Shelbourne's grand Valentine ball are consistently engaging through the observations of Quinn's popular gossip columnist Lady Whistledown that opens every chapter of each story. These four leading ladies gamely joins in the season of scandals and romance starting with the meltingly romantic One True Love by Suzanne Enoch where Lady Anne Bishop is surprised by a sudden visit from her nonchalant childhood betrothed - the Marquis of Halfurst who is determined to pursue her and claim her surrendering heart from his rival Lord Howard. Karen Hawkins fashions her story with timeless chemistry in a conventional tale of how the gauche Liz Pritchard finally gets her friend Royce Pemberley to confront his feelings towards her when she intends to marry the bland rancher Lord Durham in Two Hearts. Ingenue Mia Ryans throws in a delightful fluff A Dozen Kisses where the simpering Caroline Starling attracts the dashing Lord Darington - the man who evicted her mother and her from the house.
Just when you thought the enjoyment was too good to be true, the always- reliable Julia Quinn waltzes in with the most refreshing tale out of the quartet - Thirty-six Valentines with her splendid acumen of wits, humour and passion. Susannah Ballister, after suffering a humiliating thwarted proposal from Clive Mann-Formsby finds a second chance in his reclusive brother Earl of Reminister, David. Ms. Quinn weaves her saccharine romance through a memorable skating affair, a seductive theatrical evening at Theatre Royal and the denouement of feelings between the brothers. The consistency of the four simultaneous romance is a rarity and the pleasure derived from the read is positively infectious from the chutzpah and energy of the four writers. Who ever said Regency Romance was a bore?
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