Customer Reviews

A Lady Never Tells

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

[1824, London and the Lake District]
This is my third Candace Camp book in recent memory and I am coming to realize that she will probably never be one of my favorite historical romance authors. To sum up my complaints of this book: it basically lacked spark. The main characters were inaccessible (hero), or even worse, annoying (heroine); the chemistry between them was nonexistent; the mystery subplot was contrived, hard to believe, and not well done. The lighter moments between the three brothers brought some humor and the supporting character of Lady Vivian was very interesting, but neither of these aspects could by any means save A LADY NEVER TELLS.

WILLOWMERE SISTER SERIES:
Other people have summarized the book's plot, so I won't repeat it. This is the first book in the Willowmere series and will be followed next month by A Gentleman Always Remembers, starring Fitzhugh, the Earl and Royce's half-brother, as the hero.

CAMP'S WRITING STYLE:
I read The Marriage Wager (3 stars) and The Bridal Quest (4 stars) last year, Books 1 and 2 of her Matchmaker Series, and though I enjoyed the latter, I could not get beyond one aspect of her writing style: she always writes almost solely from the heroine's POV. Before reading THE MARRIAGE WAGER, I'd never read a book by an author who does that and it drove me absolutely nuts! It leaves the hero a complete enigma and definitely stops you from being able to fully understand or appreciate either him or the developing romantic relationship.

Another thing that drove me crazy in this book is that you never know anyone's ages - it's more annoying than it sounds. We find out on page 176 that Mary is 25 years old (at least, that's what I'm assuming from what she says there), and we know the evil Lady Sabrina is in her early 30s; other than that, nothing! I thought that Lily was in her pre-teens or early teens (more on that later), but in one section of the book she says that she was 14 "ages ago."

THE SISTERS:
I was not extremely fond of the Bascombe sisters - Mary, Rose, Camellia, and Lily. I found Mary to be too hot-headed, rash, emotional, and stubborn, and all of them could be extremely immature (them constantly being referred to as "the girls" probably didn't help). Throughout the first part of the book I enjoyed Lily and Camellia's antics, thinking that they were both in their pre-teens or early teens. When I found out they were much older, however, their actions quickly took on a new light; their shenanigans and over-the-top reactions border on the ridiculous sometimes (the encounter from which they acquire their dog, Pirate, comes to mind).

THE ROMANCE:
As previously said, writing almost solely from the heroine's POV leaves the hero inaccessible to the reader, so Royce remained a mystery to me for much of the book. I also felt his relationship with and feelings towards Oliver were not fully explored - as they could have been if we knew his thoughts!!

I'm always wary of romance books that feature an instant attraction, and so was disappointed when that seemed to be the direction the book was heading in with the first interaction between Mary and Royce. Not only that, but throughout the book I just did not feel any chemistry between these two characters, as I think another reviewer mentioned. We are told about their attraction, but we aren't shown it.

When Royce kisses Mary for the first time on page 20 and they are both full of wonder and amazement, I knew that this was just not going to be my cup of tea. They don't even know each other and have just met for the first time an hour ago, yet she's already all aquiver (I'm telling you, if I have to read one more time about Royce's "broad shoulders and muscular thighs" I'm going to shoot someone). Mary experienced so much quivering, trembling and tingling that I worried for her health and Royce's eyes darken and burn so often that I wanted to tell him to go see an optometrist.

FINAL CRITICISMS:
As I mentioned at the beginning, the mystery subplot left much to be desired. The added story of Royce's history with Lady Sabrina ended up just annoying me, because why would Mary so completely believe whatever this woman tells her? Also, when Royce explains that it all happened 12 years ago, Mary is still hung-up on it (12 years is a LONG time). Then, that she reads the old private correspondence between the two was completely despicable - and something she sadly never has to answer for. Finally, although historical romances are not known for their stellar titles, they're usually at least relevant; here I'm not even sure what the book's title refers to.
[This review is of an advanced copy format of the book]

RECOMMENDATIONS:
Here are a list of enjoyable books whose heroine is the oldest sister of orphaned siblings:
- The Perfect Rake by Anne Gracie (Merridew Series, Book 1), 5 stars
- Scandalous by Karen Robards (Banning Sisters Trilogy, Book 1), 5 stars
- A Notorious Love by Sabrina Jeffries (Swanlea Spinsters, Book 2), 4 stars
- At Last Comes Love by Mary Balogh (Huxtable Quintet, Book 3), 4 stars
- Mine Till Midnight by Lisa Kleypas (The Hathaways, Book 1), 4 stars

I'm beginning to suspect that romance novelists have a finite number of good books in them and once they've reached that certain number, they offer us readers books like this one or like the latest Kat Martin Brides trilogy or like Mary Jo Putney's Lost Lords series. These books have nothing new in them, and, worse, the authors make no attempt to present the re-hashed plots in entertaining or unusual ways. In this book we have 4 orphaned, impoverished sisters coming from America to England to find their grandfather, the Earl of Stewkesbury, who had disowned their mother years ago. He is deceased and the new Earl, their cousin, takes them on as his responsibility. The girls, ranging in age from mid 20s to teen-aged, are unsophisticated, badly dressed and in need of training in the ways of society. We are introduced, along the way, to many characters, some of whom will obviously have their romances in books to follow. In this one we manage to marry off Mary, the eldest, and Rose, who had left her heart in the U.S.A. There is a heavy-handed mystery, with attempted abductions of Rose, that only manage to exasperate, because of the silly, illogical way the girls react to everything. They expose themselves to danger stupidly, and think they are safe because they are knife- and pistol-packin' mamas. And as for the romances, oh, yuck. Mary and "dashing" Sir Royce Winslow are so attracted to each other they can't get within a foot of each other before they start kissing passionately. And then what does good ol' Royce do each time but blow hot and cold, abruptly and brusquely pulling away, saying things like, "I beg your pardon. My behavior was inexcusable" or, my personal favorite, "Bloody hell! Get dressed." Then the next time they are alone together he's grabbing and groping again. Until they finally do the deed, after which he says to our poor deflowered Mary, "Bloody hell. What have I done?" At about that time I was wishing Mary would use either the pistol or knife on him. Finally, by the end of the book, Royce manages to say something halfway romantic to Mary and she agrees to marry him. So the romance fell flat for me, the mystery was uninspired and the characters pretty run-of-the-mill. If, in a future book, there is a romance between Oliver, the new Earl, and Lady Vivian, that might be interesting because they were the only characters in this book that appealed to me.

I really wanted to like this book, but I finally gave up and put it down. It lacked realism. The romance wasn't believable and the girls just annoyed me. I agree with the other reviewer who said that their antics seemed appropriate for 15 year olds, but when you realize they are much older, they are just immature. I tried to tell myself that the story was set in a different time than what I'm living in, but I still can't imagine this was acceptable behavior for women in their late 20's. If anything, I would have expected them to be more prim and proper. So, I finally put the book down when I realized I really didn't care how it ended. There are way too many great books out there for me to waste my time on something I'm not enjoying. But, with that said, historical romance is not typically my favorite genre. I have read a few, but most of those were by authors known for their paranormal romance books (i.e. Kresley Cole) so I'm left wondering if the style of what I considered historical romance may be skewed from what is common in these types of books. Therefore, I gave it three stars since my issues with the book may not be 100% with the book itself but instead with the genre.

Candace Camp is a consistently good romance writer, and I do not think I have ever read a "bad" book by her. That said, this book is not very good. It is primarily worth reading because it's Candace Camp and it's the first book of her new series. It is about four American sisters - the Bascombes - who arrive in London in search of their grandfather, an English earl. Their late mother had eloped against his objections over 25 years ago, and there has been no contact since the - the earl did not even know his daughter moved to America or had any children.

Unfortunately, the earl has passed away but his heir, the girls' straight-laced cousin Oliver, agrees to take them in. The sisters are a bit wild and outspoken and need of some refining before they are introduced into society. Oliver enlists the aid of his cousin Charlotte and his stepbrother Sir Royce Winslow to help turn them into proper English ladies. From the start, Royce and the eldest sister Mary have a sort of animal attraction to each other that is difficult for them to control. Alas, nothing can come of it because Royce is dead set against marriage...or is he?

Although Ms. Camp's writing style is good, the chemistry between the leads is weak and Mary's behavior is often irritating. There is not much going on between Royce and Mary other than physical attraction. Royce is fine as the hero (brave, thoughtful and wealthy), but Mary grates as the heroine. She is stubborn and unreasonable and is reckless in the face of danger. It is hard to understand what Royce sees in her. At times I had to push myself through the story, because Mary's annoying behavior made me want to just give up. I was particularly bothered by how purposely obtuse she was about the threat facing the Bascombe sisters - she consistently ignored obvious warnings and clues. Finally, the sisters were entirely too modern in their attitude, outlook and behavior, as well as over-the-top wild in their behavior. They were like caricatures of "ugly Americans".

A weak three stars, and then only because of the writing quality...certainly not the content!

I'm not a historical nitpicker, but I knew I was in trouble with this book when all of the sisters have birth certificates, save one, who does not have hers because 'the courthouse burned down'. Really? As my family's designated historian I thought how much easier my life would be if everyone running around in 1874 had documentation of that nature. Another bad sign for me was in the heroine's nationality - I'm generally not a fan of American Heroine / English Nobility books because there is a tendency toward 'spunkiness' when those loose and life loving girls show the Brits how to whoop it up. Sure enough, we're just a few pages in when a knife is being pulled from a leg holster and lies about 'chasing off the Indians' are not far behind. Another sibling is guarding the family luggage with a rifle across her lap - hardly an effective weapon on London's docks, or really the docks the sisters hailed from. Add to this the stupefying coincidence of the sisters just happening to run into a member of their own family on said docks, and we've gone way beyond what I can easily accept in the service of a good story. Oh! And let's not forget that despite owning a business themselves, when placed in an inn they neither inquire as to the price of their rooms nor figure out they're going to need domestic currency to pay for it.

I stuck with it because I've heard excellent things about Candace Camp and I know my own bias was playing to picturing every one of the sisters as some version of Jesse The Yodeling Cowgirl from Toy Story 3. By the time Mary, the lead of this book, is tearfully confronting her relations over a conversation she wasn't even supposed to be listening to I knew I'd had enough. Look, I wouldn't expect to show up on the doorstep of any wildly wealthy person as their long lost family and fit right in. Even less would I expect them to be overjoyed at the new responsibility. Declaring I and my penniless siblings will leave at first light because we haven't been embraced as prodigals despite being taken in and given comfortable situations? That's just stupid. And I can't abide spunky and stupid in the same heroine.

It's entirely possibly Mary wises up and the book takes a turn for the better. I'm freely admitting that I don't know if that's the case. I do know that despite three tries I wasn't able to finish the book and find out. These characters didn't make me root for them, they made me wish they were the spunky and intrepid family from outer Mongolia or southern Spain. I hate when American heroines are women I really wouldn't want to spend five minutes with. You'd think these ladies, given their backstory, would have more experience with interpersonal dynamics than they do. Unfortunately they're as quick to take offense as Yosemite Sam and twice as clueless.

Unfortunately, like a lot of other reviewers here, I found this one to be very bland. It had potential, it just never lived up to it. I never felt any kind of connection to the characters. For me, for a romance to really have that spark that really keeps me reading, I have to very clearly see what both the heroine and the hero have at stake. What could they both potentially either win or lose if they pursue the relationship? I got some sense of that with Mary, but never got any sense of what Royce wins or loses. I felt like it didn't matter either way if Royce pursued Mary. And I want it to matter. I want to root for them, but, there was nothing really to root for.

BUT, I think Camp has created some interesting characters, and maybe in the future, one of them will make for a better story.

I got this book from a second hand book store. I have other books from this author and love them, but this book left me thinking that Ms. Camp is in a slump. Could someone please tell romance authors, editors, and publishers that to have a heroine tell the hero that she loves him deeply but won't marry him because he does't love her but she will have a lot of sex with him is stupid. I am sick of reading about heroines who refuse to marry the man they love after he proposes to them because he doesn't love them. Then the heroines decides that the fact that the hero doesn't love them is not enough to stop them from having sex with him - please even today the ladies have more sense than that. Please can the authors come up with a better ploy than that. Well I did get this book from a second hand shop.

Or at least she shouldn't. Generally I like everything that Ms. Camp writes but I found this book difficult to get through. I'm unsure how to articulate why. I think it's because there was a bit too much going on, if that makes sense. It felt too much like a book that sets up other books rather than a romance stand alone.

I had never read anything by this author before and must admit I really liked this book. I have recently finished some other series by Jo Beverly, Karen Robards and Mary Balough, which I read based on generally high recommendations but sadly I found them all very boring. So I am glad I took a chance on this book without any recommendation or bias. While I found one major subplot a little annoying, I hate when something is dragged out, that could be solved in one conversation, ***Spoiler alert*** specifically the girls had a fairly good idea of who was trying to kidnap Rose, but kept it to themselves. Other than that I thought the book kept a good, pace and the heroine was honest, both with herself and her love interest and together they had a fantastic chemistry.

I am a big fan of Stephanie Laurens and Lisa Kleypas, so I would recommend this book to other readers who enjoy their work.

I've been a fan of Candace Camp's books in the past and her writing is still good, if lacking some of the humor of earlier books. What bothered me was the sense of deja vu. She must have read Stephanie Laurens' FOUR IN HAND, also about four beautiful sisters taken in hand by a distant male artistocratic relative and decided to do her own version. I guess that it's standard to re-do stories [see Julia Quinn's copy of the movie "Sabrina"] but I wish for more originality.

One thing I found irritating was that these four Americans remained so foolish about their differences from British society, even after repeated demonstrations of problems. Naievete is understandable; willful stupidity is just annoying. Another was the drawn-out nature of the plot - everything seemed to take place twice as slowly as necessary so that the book could be longer.

Please, Ms. Camp, more originality and more tight writing.