Customer Reviews

It's Always Been You (York)

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

 

 

Aidan York has loved deeply. Ten years ago he found the woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. Katie Tremont owned his heart and soul, but because he felt he didn't have enough to offer her, he let her go. After a horrible fight between the two, where he broke her heart, she left and boarded a ship to Ceylon. Aidan planned on chasing Katie and bringing her back, but he was told by the people he trusted that her ship was wrecked at sea and she died. Aidan is haunted daily by Katie's memory. Over the past decade he has jumped in and out of the beds of many married women, never finding true relief and happiness. The only way he can be complete is to have his Katie back. Then one day he spots a woman who looks exactly like his Katie. When he confronts her, he's shocked to see that it's indeed Katie and she's alive and well but married.

Kate Hamilton isn't dead. Her parents told Aidan that she was to her dismay. She never forgets Aidan although she moved on and married an older man, taking care of his plantation and learning about coffee beans. Kate is now back in England and has started her own coffee shop. When Aidan walks into her shop, she is just as shocked as he is. He wants answers, which she's not willing to give because of a dark secret she's hiding. She a widow in truth, although she lets the world think she's still married. Aidan figures out she's keeping something from him, but he doesn't want to lose her by forcing her to tell him. Instead he asks to be her friend, which she accepts. But their passion for one another can't be denied and soon they're having an illicit affair. Aidan wants Katie as his wife and for her to divorce her husband. Katie refuses. She thinks she's just one of many women Aidan has seduced. And then someone from Kate's past arrives in London claiming to be Mr. Hamilton, who can ruin all of Katie's plans and freedom. Aidan won't let Katie go without a fight even if it means her own downfall and possibly life in prison for murdering her actual husband.

It's Always Been You is a passionate romance about former lovers reuniting. Both Kate and Aidan love each other deeply, but I felt the reasons for their separation weak, including the mystery surrounding Kate and her marriage. I also found the love scenes pretty mundane, which may be my own problem because I expect so much more when it comes to a Victoria Dahl romance. This is a pretty run of the mill historical romance that may be soon forgotten once you finish reading. Overall a ho-um and at times tepid reading, but otherwise should give readers a few hours of enjoyment, but nothing more.

Katiebabs

IT'S ALWAYS BEEN YOU is a historical romance that's light on history and plot. It's got one significant strength: Adrian, the hero. He's absolutely besotted with the heroine, Katie, head-over-heels, no-shame, follow-her-to-the-ends-of-the-earth in love with her, but never seems weak or pathetic. That's a tough tightrope to walk; most guys who ooze depthless devotion the way that Adrian does end up seeming spineless, on the page, but Adrian is tough, no-nonsense, masculine, determined, organized...he's a convincing alpha male who has a weakness for this one girl, who means the world to him. That's sweet and touching and lovely.

I quite liked the heroine, as well. Her fear of being swallowed by her old life was palpable, her strength and determination to persevere on a new path believable. She managed to do some very foolish things without making me think less of her for it.

But, alas, I'm going to return to the original point: light on history and plot. Scenes where Katie does her own cooking and burns her sausages or where Adrian stops by to chat over a glass of wine felt too modern to me. Mostly, though, the plotting was weak; Katie is a widow who fled Ceylon, the scene of her unhappy marriage, before her husband's body was cold. She is constantly, deeply terrified of being held responsible for her husband's death and lives under a false name just in case a hint of suspicion followed her to England - but, despite her fear, we have to wait until the book is halfway over for her to seek out news from Ceylon to find out if she's actually in trouble or not. She doesn't turn to friends, family, or Adrian to avert disaster, once she sees it coming.

The whole murder/Gerard subplot really only existed to keep Katie frightened and give her an excuse to tell a lot of lies. The thing is, it's a pretty thin excuse & by the end it didn't hold water for me...and that's around when Gerard shows up to twirl his mustache.

Adrian is a total dreamboat and makes IT'S ALWAYS BEEN YOU a fun read, but if I were going to pick up another Victoria Dahl (and I'd be happy to), I'd probably look for a contemporary rather than a historical setting, having now read one of each from her pen.

It's Always Been You by Victoria Dahl

Historical Romance -Aug. 2nd, 2011

3 ½ stars

This is a realistic historical about love lost and second chances.

Aidan is haunted by his past. Although he is now wealthy and successful he mourns the lost of his first love and he is ashamed of his wild behavior after her death. But while on the streets England he spies a woman that looks eerily familiar and follows her. Only to discover to his shock it is his lost love Katie! However, she is married. But Aidan isn't going let a little thing like marriage get in the way of what he wants!

Katie is fleeing her past and hoping for a bright future in her coffee store. But her newfound peacefulness is shattered by her first love. A man who never came for her and caused her life untold misery. Although she is still attracted to Aidan she is determined to forget those memories and keep him out of her life. But will she be able to keep her resolve or will their past keep them apart yet again?

This story made me wish that these two characters had been able to marry when they were young. There is a feeling of sadness for the time they lost when they were cruelly separated. It is a well-written story, but for some reason I was never quite able to become fully engaged in the main characters as much as I hoped. I liked how the author demonstrates how fragile a woman's position in society was and in many cases they had no power over themselves. I especially liked how she demonstrated how woman were easily threatened in the male dominated society such that it `diminished' their dreams and spirits. But she also shows the strength that woman have to recover. The story also has some drama that includes Katie's missing years that seemed a bit tacked on to add tension to the story.

A strong and enduring heroine and a thoughtful story make for an original read.

Reviewed by Steph from the Bookaholics Romance Book Club

I'm not a big fan of the long separation plot normally. Plus, the first review I read on Amazon made it sound like the couple spends the whole book bickering, which I would despise. But I AM a big fan of Dahl, so I bought the book regardless and trusted her talent to see me through.

I wasn't sorry.

For one thing, through the first 70% of the book, Aiden and Kate **are** together. The book begins AT their reunion, and a beautiful one it is (taking into account a day or so of shock - he thought her dead!) Not a spoiler, you learn it in the first pages. No, Kate does not trust him with her secrets immediately, but it's not like her distrust makes no sense. After all she has been through, she wouldn't be ready to spill them at once. Life has not been kind to her. Aiden, too, was keeping some secrets - and believe me, I wouldn't have told Kate those either. Of course, just at the point when Kate is ready to trust again, the plot explodes and prevents it... for a bit, at least. But of course, we are guaranteed our HEA.

This was a book about choices, but it was not a book of particular sorrow and regret. It was a book about a woman who had lived a hard life but was determined to find happiness, and a man who'd lost his self-respect but then found his heart. His heart was Kate, and it was missing as long as she was. When he had her back again, we get to experience his joy with him. Ms. Dahl wrote Aiden marvelously and Kate sympathetically.

I loved it.

I could not put this book down. I even had my Kindle read to me while I did stuff around the house. It is a wonderful HR. I adored the Hero and I understood the Heroine. Reading this book was a wonderful way to spend a day.

Kate and Aiden fell madly in love when they were younger, but circumstances and misunderstandings tore them apart and sent her to another country, and then Kate's family told Aiden she had drowned at sea. Years later Kate has returned to England and a chance encounter throws the lovers back together. The attraction between them is stronger than ever, but can they overcome the past... and the secrets that stand between them now?

God, this book was a frustration.

I just had a hard time being drawn in for the fist half of the story. The premise was difficult to start with, not because it was unbelievable - I'm excellent as suspending belief - but because it was heartbreaking. It's hard when you start off with the heartbreak without getting attached to the characters first. I think that that held my emotions back from getting fully engaged for a long time. Add to that the fact that while Aiden was pretty well done, Kate was less appealing, though it's hard to put my finger on why, exactly.

About two thirds of the way through, a dramatic separation of hero and heroine occurs, and here the author quite stabs the reader in the heart. This part was pretty well written, but so painful, and at this point I just wanted to steam through the book and be done with it.

Next Kate proceeds to act like an imbecile. Even as she is vowing to make better choices, she puts them off for no discernible reason other than to stretch the plot out. Respect for and attachment to the heroine receive a death blow.

Commence with the ridiculously easy resolution that provides little satisfaction and that even I found unbelievable.

Top it off with the tidy wrap-up ending and another flaming bit of idiocy (not to worry, we'll just tell everyone she's some different Kate, even though Aiden's mom couldn't hold a secret to save her life!) and there you have it.

If you're trying Dahl for the first time, I suggest you put this one off and start with the story that came before this one, A Little Bit Wild or one of her contemporaries, like Talk Me Down.

Looking at my past reviews, you'd think that I am hard to please but this is not so! I have been known to rate other books 5 stars in my mind -- just not on Amazon. Anyway, on with the review:

Thanks to the other reviewers, I am spared reiterating the summary of the book. This book was an easy read, I finished it in 2.5 hours with minimal skimming so there is nothing wrong with Dahl's writing or the editing. The main problem in this book (and other reviewers have mentioned it) is the plot ... or should I say the lack of plot.....?

Before I go on about the plot, here's my main point for those who don't want to read the whole review: I don't regret wasting a few hours of my life reading this book but I would suggest you to skip this book unless you have time to kill. Go and read Dahl's contemporary romances instead -- They're better. I would suggest Start Me Up.

Plot: There was absolutely no driving force behind this story other than the H&H's past romance. IMO, I think this problem stems from the flatness of the characters. They were two dimensional at best. I was surprised to hear from other reviewers how they liked Katie/Aiden's character so much. Yes, Katie is more independent, tougher, and wiser than when she was younger but what else? Yes, Aiden is handsome, rich, smart, commanding, intimidating, devoted to Katie, and grieved for her by being a man-hoe for 10 years....yet why am I not attracted to him? These attributes (except for the devotion and grieving) are pretty generic and you can often find them in most H&H because readers find them appealing. Who wants to read about H&Hs who are dependent, wimpy, TSTL, ugly, poor, dumb, and easily intimidated? That's why I assume that these attributes are staples in H&Hs and that's why I expect the authors to make the characters a little more complex and interesting. In this instance, I was not invested in the main characters at all.

In fact, is it shameful to admit that I was more intrigued with Gerard? He's physically present in the book for only a few chapters but he left me wanting to know more about his situation. He's portrayed as the bad guy in this book but I really don't think he is. [**SPOILER***] I don't want to give spoilers away but I will say that he got screwed over by his dad and he's obsessed in love with Katie who doesn't love him back and he's stuck in Ceylon with a mortgaged plantation. Poor baby, no wonder you're a little crazy. Speaking of which, I was not happy with how they dealt with Gerard. Gerard's character mainly served as the hoovering danger over Katie's shoulders but when he finally showed up, all they did was just punched the lights out of him, locked him up in a cabin, and shipped him back to Ceylon, the last place he wants to be. Again I say, poor baby. [**END of SPOILER] The way they dealt with him was too anti-climatic and abrupt. I was a little confused why that action would solve anything since Gerard could still cause problems for Katie from afar. V.Dahl, is it because you're going to give Gerard a book of his own? He deserves someone and I'm a willing volunteer.

Review by Valerie: Gorgeous cover.

Review: Oh, the lost love of youth! This book had me hooked from the very beginning...I wondered to myself...was it because it started with Aidan's glimpse of a woman that reminded him of someone he lost or was it because both Aidan and Kate were fated to be together? Regardless, this is one I devoured in a few hours.

Aidan and Kate were young lovers but when she told her father she wanted to marry him, and could marry no one else since she was ruined, a horrible hand was dealt to them both. She was sent away to a tropical island, sold to a man who didn't want her so her father could collect her dowry. Aidan spent his days and nights mourning her death since her family shared the story of how she died tragically at such a young age. Ten years later (be still, my beating heart), he STILL stops each and every time he thinks he might be spotting someone that reminds him of Kate...

Kate's version is a tad bit different than her family's. She was sold to a man who didn't want her but also tormented by his stepson who did want her, badly. Trying to make a new life for herself, yet stay safe and away from anyone who might know her, she has opened up a coffee shop using her knowledge from the decade she spent on the island.

Watching these two characters reconnect was sizzling and incredibly heartbreaking. While she feels that he betrayed her by never rescuing her, he can't believe she's alive. The biggest twist of all though is that both are hiding a secret. Once the secrets are exposed, how they work through the repercussions kept me flipping the pages as quickly as I could read.

Advice: From the very first page I was hooked!

Quote: There. A woman walked far ahead, her dark green skirt kicking out slightly with each step she took...Aidan frowned at the way his pulse leapt. Page 2

When Aidan York and Kate Tremont parted ten years ago during a lover's quarrel, neither expected circumstance to turn it into such a dramatic parting. Kate has escaped from a forced marriage in Ceylon to become a businesswoman in England. Aidan, told Kate died all those years ago, has used work, alcohol and women to fill the space losing Kate has left. After a chance reconnection, Aidan knows that his feelings are as strong as ever. Yet Kate insists there can be nothing between them. What is Kate hiding, and how will Aidan handle when her past comes to confront them?

Beyond the incredible "of all the coffee shops in all the coastal towns of England we run into each other here" point of meeting, Kate and Aidan's story is romance at its core. Torn away by fights and family, presumed dead, a past to hide from and secrets to be discovered. All of this wound around two people jaded by their last ten years of life, wanting to believe in love but having to overcome the walls of hurt.

It's Always Been You is a light historical romance with a dash of intrigue. Those who are familiar with Victoria Dahl's contemporary titles will find this a change of pace, but a nice addition to the York Family series.

What happens when young lovers are pulled apart by the girl's family and she's forced to marry someone else? When her family pretends that she died in order to keep them apart? They change, they make choices (including some bad ones) in order to survive without each other -- and when they have the opportunity to be reunited, those choices become obstacles that could keep them apart, despite the fact that they never stopped loving each other. I loved how brave Kate was in this book, determined to control her own destiny after years of marriage to the man her father basically sold her to. I admired how both she and Aidan struggled to overcome mistakes they made, and how they took strength from each other to be together, whatever it took. I really wanted them to get their happy ending, in spite of everything, and I literally cried when they took the risk of trusting each other enough to move ahead together.