Customer Reviews

A Groom of One's Own

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

The reviews here and the back cover blurb made this book sound like such a fun read, but it was tedious and I ended up forcing myself to finish it. Where to start?

The hero is boring. We are told repeatedly how honorable he is. He is constantly pulling the heroine off for trysts, but would never consider breaking his betrothal. He just appears spineless rather than honorable. We are given extensive back stories for the hero, the heroine, even the hero's fiancee's mother, which are supposed to make their actions seem plausible, but instead are just annoying. The heroine is likable enough, too bad she's stuck in such a bad book. Then there is the "big secret" being hinted at, sorry, but by the time it is revealed, I just didn't care.

So many details struck me as ridiculous or just plain wrong: The hero's fiancee is the daughter of a duke, and her mother invites a "popular newspaper" to participate in wedding planning and report all the details - ridiculous. The heroine, who is a "writing girl" for the newspaper, is invited to society events - ridiculous again. The hero (a duke), his mother and prospective mother-in-law (duchesses) are referred to as Lord and Lady over and over - wrong. Ironically, the author includes a note at the end about the historical basis for "writing girls". Too bad nothing else seems correct.

I'm on the last leg of this book, and it's my first with this author. I don't normally read historicals but read the first few pages in Borders and decided to buy it. I'm enjoying it very much. It isn't great fiction, but it's nicely written, and I don't care a whit that everything isn't perfectly accurate to the time, she isn't looking for a Pulitzer and most people who read historicals are lacking in full knowledge of those eras, it's fiction not biography. It's a charming story, the characters are delightful. It doesn't have the depth of a Mary Jo Putney, or Diana Gabaldon, but for a fun light read it's fine. This appears to be only her 3rd novel and perhaps she'll develop more depth as she continues.

The storyline was predictable but very well written. It was good to read a story that showed honorable good people who believed in each other and did not simply walk away from love. I could not put this book down and read it in 1 night. It was beautifully written and I found myself rooting for the 4 main characters.

Finally, a regency romance with plot and pace! Maya Rodale has written a funny, beautiful story that drags you along at breakneck pace as the two main characters fall in love. I love that Sophie is an unusual heroine, she's someone with spirit making her own way in the world and the rest of the writing girls are gorgeous characters I can't wait to see in future books. With her hero, Rodale has taken even more of a risk: he's not the standard devilish rake and the constraints keeping him apart from Sophie are as much internally directed by a sense of honor as they are directed by external events. As a result he feels much more real and new than most regency heroes.

It's a great book to kick off a series with, long live the Writing Girls!

In 1822 at the church in Buckinghamshire, the man she is engaged to marry Matthew Fletcher breaks off their relationship saying marriage is a commitment. Stunned, Sophie Harlow writes off marriage. Thus it is ironic because one year after her disavowal of marital bliss and her fall from grace, she obtains a position as one of the four Writing Girls; her column is Miss Harlow's Marriage in High Life for the London Weekly.

For the Weekly, Sophie covers the wedding of the Duke of Hamilton Brandon to Lady Clarissa, daughter of the Duke of Richmond. She would like to beg off because she is very attracted to the groom, but must attend if she is to keep her job. To her amazement the Duke appears to want her and to both their shock, the bride seems more interested in a foreign prince. However, the quartet is all honorable people so no one will take that critical first step to disentangle the wrong pairings into the loving relationships.

The first Writing Girl's Regency romance is a screwball comedy of errors that feels like combining Sheridan's The School for Scandal with a 1930s madcap movie inside a regency romance. The story line is fast-paced throughout as the quartet dance to love but with the wrong partners. Maya Rodale provides a wonderfully zany historical with three other Writing Girls to go.

Harriet Klausner

This book had such a great premise and such a great start but it fizzled and dragged from there. The hero is an honorable man who feels responsibility for the fiancee he does not love because jilting her would be too scandalous for his family and her family needs the money the marriage will give them even though her father is a duke. The heroine loves him for being honorable but she spends the book wanting him to break his engagement. The fiancee does not love him but she will marry to save her parents. When the prince was finally introduced as the fiancee, Clarissa's love interest, he was supposed to be the wildly exciting guy but he came across as boring and wimpy to me. They all go through alot of angst and I was really tired of them halfway through but I finished the book because I kept hoping it would get better.

The hero fantasized alot about kissing the heroine but they not even kiss each other until more than halfway through the book. Then when they finally did have sex, it was a boring scene.

The final scene where most of the book is resolved was supposed to a heart pounding, scandalous, epic event but all I could think was "eh".

There were alot of issues and secondary characters dropped into the book and not fully explored such as the newspaper owner who hired the girls. I would have been great to know more about him. One of the girls was in love with him yhet we do not know much more than his name.

One reviewer commented on the inaccuracies in the titles and regency matters. I noticed this as well. First, both the hero's mother and the fiancee's mother were duchesses but noone ever called them "Your Grace"- just Lady Whomever. I am not a stickler about these details and this was a minor observance so I did not take away any stars for that. But, the fiancee's mother was portrayed as a social climbing name dropper. Why?? She is a duchess. The only rank higher is royalty. She is at the pinnacle of society and the one everyone else would want to get close to so why did she have to social climb? The book explained why she fougt so hard to keep with the norms of society but there really was no reason to make her a social climber or a name dropper.

Also, there was a secret alluded to throughout the book. I guessed it early on. Also, when it came out, it was not the high drama story changer that I was hoping for. It was just another "eh" moment.

I was really hoping to enjoy this book and it dragged on interminably. I have three other books by this author in my wishlist but I may be getting them from the library instead.

Not sure what the bad reviews are all about, but this book was a perfect love story. Maya is definitely going on my favorite authors list. This was written so realistically. I guess I love this story because I can relate to Sophie to easily, in love with someone who has to be with someone else, whom he doesn't even want to be with. Men feel very responsible in these situations, and Brandon was written so perfectly real. The ending had a nice twist that was wrapped up together quite wonderfully.

I was excited when I read the previews for this book since I enjoy historical romances. Plus the storyline seemed charming. Having just finished the book I must admit I wished that I had enjoyed it more. The author is a good writer but the story line gets boring and drags on and on. You don't even have to flip to the last pages to guess the ending. There seems to be no spark or sizzle between the main characters. Ms Rodale seems to be a big fan of my favorite author, Eloisa James, in the genre. The writing seems to even start out heading in the same direction as some of Ms. James' previous novels. But this book fell short for me.

gosh. everyone is so lame and unromantic. the whole book is kind of boring and it's hard to read on. the guy who is supposed to be the hero is a loser who's wishwashy. he waits until the absolutly last moment to think about his feelings. he's not passionate at all and seems to be stringing the heroine along when he's engaged to another woman. the heroine shows all the classic denile and justification signs of the 'other woman' eventhough she has been on the receiving line of a cheating fiance. i would not recommend you to spend money on this book.

I am usually very picky with my historic romances, and surprised myself by picking up this novel for being simply drawn in by the cover. The description on the back was interesting, a woman writing about a wedding of a man she loves, but not hers. Immediately, I am intrigued, and wondering how the happily ever after will take place. I open the book, see the author has written a book on my wishlist, and, before I know it, I've bought the book and am glowing in the bliss of sheer giddy-happiness that fills me after a satisfying read.

First of all, the writing is wonderful and easy to follow. I was intrigued, laughing, and occasionally tense throughout the story, eagerly turning the page to see what would happen next. The main characters of Brandon and Sophie were wonderful. The secondary romance was sweet, as well, and different than the first (which made for a lovely comparison of the two). The prince was one of my favorite characters (especially when seen through the eyes of Brandon). Other secondary characters were also very animated and fun, setting up potential stories and plots from both Brandon's family and those in Sophie's Writing Girls group.

The idea of having four women write for a paper was part of what drew me into the story. I love the idea of independent women, and the author does an excellent job of making their existence seem probable to the time period. I did not once feel the characters were out of place in the setting, and loved how well the author weaved the characters together in the story.

Full of fun, laughter, and emotions (and a bit of writing), this novel met every expectation I have for a good historical romance. For a few hours, I was taken away on a journey to a different time and setting, where love seemed impossible, but would triumph in the end with a grand finale (including a theatrical swooning and rush to a wedding!). It was a breath-taking ride that left me smiling.