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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great Continuing Harte Family Saga, December 23, 2006
I really did enjoy this continuing saga of the Harte family and their ever-thriving Harte-empire. Evan Hughes is preparing to marry her cousin Gideon Harte, and is pregnant expecting twin boys. India Standish is going to marry the artist Dusty Rhodes, and she is also pregnant with their first child. And Tessa, Linnet's sister and true rival in the Harte business is deeply in love with the famous Jean-Claude. They just become engaged in the book when Jean has to travel to Afghanistan to fight in the war, and Tessa is worried sick when he is suddenly reported missing over there. Johnathan Ainsley is still after revenge for Paula for cutting him out of the family will. On the day of Evan's wedding he sets a bomb in the church and blows a big hole in the wall. Paula had a feeling that Johnathan would find a way for revenge at the wedding, so they wisely moved the time or the whole family would have been killed. Linnet wants to modernize Harte Enterprises with many new exciting ideas, however her mother Paula, of whom is the boss of course, doesn't fall for this at all. Paula has never wanted to change the business from her grandmother Emma Harte's foundation. And Linnet was still trying to push these ideas on her mother in the office one day when Paula has a sudden aneurysm and is taken to the hospital very quickly. Paula has a very long recovery after this and may not be able to work again. And to make all matters worse, Angharad Hughes, Evan's sister is engaged to the evil Johnathan Ainsley. No one can trust Angharad as she is a malicious person and has a jealousy that is awful in the family. Elayne, Evan's other sister is directly the opposite, and a very nice person. The only thing preventing me from giving the book five stars is the author's singling out of Angharad and Elayne because they were adopted. They were not even included in the family tree at the beginning of the book, AND called "The Adoptees," very often when mentioned which I thought was prejudiced. Bradford also used the word "fondlings" when she spoke of them at one point in the story, and that seriously made me angry. But other than that, it was a wonderful story and Bradford did an overall great job.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
I hope this is the last Harte saga, April 21, 2006
I absolutely loved Woman of Substance and others that followed. So I eagerly bought this book to follow the saga of the Harte women especially. However, even though I had read the first books, I found this one was much too confusing with the constant reference to the past relationships. Much too much time was spent on the past relatives and not enough story line.And there are far too many past relatives. I think Bradford is still an awesome writer and I will continue to read other books by her. But I do believe it's time to put the Harte family to rest and start something new. And it was a great ride. What a family----truly wish they were real and alive today. They would have been fun to know.I'm a shopaholic---and would love to shop in their store. But it's time to move on. I had a hard time finishing this one------a sign to me that it's a worn out story. Sorry.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Disappointing End (Yeah Right!) to the Series, June 26, 2006
With Just Rewards, BTB has managed to write the worst book of Woman of Substance series! Emma's Secret and Unexpected Blessings lacked a certain punch and certainly rewrote the history of the first 3 books. However, the characters in those 2 books were at least likable. In this book, Linnet appears to be a unbelievable snob - pretty much turning up her nose at Evan's sisters because they're adopted (People without the noble Harte/Oneil/Kallinski) blood aren't as good as everyone else. Evan's mother, father, and grandmother love Evan much more than her adopted sisters. Apparently, Evan's sister was a 'foundling' and has no chance of being as good as a Harte. Evan is shocked that her father would feel that he is cut out of her life! However, she allows her 'in-laws' to plan her whole wedding, ends up having a secret ceremony in which she is more concerned that Paula and Shane attend than her own parents. Paula, who used to be one of the smartest business women in the last 30 years, has all of sudden become one of the dumbest. In the past, BTB made her heroines a bit too perfect - but at least down to earth. Now, we're supposed like people that seem to be insensitive snobs. Also, this certainlly doesn't appear to be the LAST book of the series...
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