Customer Reviews

Lady Sarah's Son (Harlequin Historicals #483)

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

 

 

a life that revolved around the future she planned to build with her fiance, Justin Tolbert. But when she leaves home, returns with a baby and sends her fiance a "Dear Justin," letter, that life she envisioned is forever changed. Four years later, Justin is the new Earl of Wynfield, a title that carries more debt than anything else. And Lady Sarah has an offer -- marry her, provide a role model for her four year old, Drew, and she'll pay off the estate's debt. Their marriage could put an end to their problems, but can it be the beginning of something rare and wonderful as well?

LSS is a definite skip-to-the-top-of-the-TBR-pile read. Sarah and Justin's rediscovery of a love that never truly died, and their love for one small boy is a heartwarming read that won't let go of you for some time to come!

It's no big surprise that Gayle Wilson should have a way with words. With her teaching background, her work with gifted children, one would expect finely crafted, vivid prose. But Ms. Wilson is far more than a wordsmith: she is an artist, conveying a sense of time and place, making her readers empathize with her finely drawn characters, balancing historical accuracy with contemporary sensibilities in ways that prove that romance novels can be far more than simply escapist fare.

LADY SARAH'S SON is not your ordinary marriage-of-convenience story. This is a story about forgiveness and honor and loyalty, about a love strong enough to rise to the surface of a veritable ocean of fear and doubt. These are not perfect people; they are REAL people, people we care about and root for, and, in the end, rejoice with. Ms. Wilson captures the period for us naturally and unobtrusively, the mark of a truly talented historical writer.

Gayle Wilson has done it again -- great story!
Loved the emotional and mental growth of Lady Sarah in the four years that she takes sole care of her "child" not to mention her father.

Justin Tolbert, the new Earl of Wynfield, has nothing but debts and a wounded body to offer anyone. His greatest fear, would Lady Sarah be tolerant of his being less of a man? It takes the child, Andrew to soften up Justin's emotions that he can tolerate a marriage of convenience. But the worst fear happens as he realizes he has not lost his love for Sarah over the past four years.

The threat from the natural father of Andrew really ties up the story -- and what a way to end -- couldn't help but grin.

Cant't help it -------- but dahh! N.Y, something tells me that you have no understanding of the emotions or morality of the regency period. They didn't think like the general public of this day and age.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED -- a story that should be enjoyed by all.

Description from the back of the book:

Justin Tolbert was a war hero and the new Earl of Wynfield, but he was not the same man Lady Sarah Spenser once knew...

Suddenly, too vividly, Sarah remembered the night he had first asked her to dance. The London ballroom had been overcrowded, its heat stifling. Justin had been wearing his uniform, the handsome regimentals setting off the perfection of his strong body and his still-boyish face. She had thought then that there was no man more handsome in the room. She had stepped willingly into his arms, and when the music had begun, she had drifted, following his lead. They had moved together without conscious thought. As if the two of them had been created to dance together...

Would they ever do that again...?

* This book was just o.k. for me. The characters never really grew on me & I didn't understand why Sarah thought she had to keep her secret of Drew's parentage from Justin. I can't say I recommend this book.

For the most part Gayle Wilson is generally an author I enjoy, but sadly in LADY SARA'S SON, Ms. Wilson conked out.

Mini Synopsis:
Ireland 1809, Lady Sarah (daughter of a marquess) vowed to her sister, on their dear mother's grave, she would never, never tell anyone that her little sister had given birth to an illegitimate baby. And she promised she would always take care of baby Andrew. Of course, upon Sarah's return to England, society believes the worse and thinks little Drew is hers. With her reputation in shreds, Sarah remorsefully sends a "Dear John" letter to her beloved fiancé, Justin, who is serving on the Iberian Peninsula.

England 1813, regretfully Colonel Justin Tolbert is the new Earl of Wynfield and his deceased father and brother have scandalously ruined the title and the inheritance. For years, Justin cherished his dream of returning to England, but now his homecoming is agony. He doesn't know what is worse -- the sympathy regarding his financially ruined lands or the pity surrounding his crippled presence. And it seems the effects of war also have a far-reaching implication on Justin Tolbert's life. He has returned to England wielding an artificial foot.

Life's cruelties have changed both Justin and Sarah. Sarah knows Andrew needs a father figure and Justin needs her money, so a bargain is secured. Justin and Sarah wed. Happily-ever-after? Hardly! That sacred vow and war savagery stand in the way of a smooth friendship. Nevertheless, life moves on -- Andrew has his father figure, Justin has his money, and Sarah has disappointment. And to make matters worse, Andrew's real father is now making parental threats.

Reviewer's Comments:
When I saw all those 5 star reviews, I couldn't believe it. Did I miss something? Maybe! My criticism? Pesky flaws! (1) - Sarah's pledge to keep Drew's true parenthood a secret IS disastrously overplayed! Overplayed to the point of being stupid! (2) - the threat the daughter of a marquess and an English earl feel from an Irishman is exaggerated. Early 1800's England - would an Irishman have legal rights in an English court against the combined efforts of an English marquess and an earl? If my history lessons serve me correctly - probably not! (3) - the level of maturity little four-year Drew expresses is totally unbelievable. Like I said, I felt Gayle Wilson conked out on this one!

Grade: D+
Sensuality: lukewarm

MaryGrace Meloche.

My God,
I suffered with the hero in the book, she is just so mean to him.
I know she thinks she has a good reason, but is a death bed promise a good reason to repeatedly hurt the man you apparently love?
I just could not feel any of the love, she is just not at all open and honest with him through most of the book, and hurts him terribly with this, and I did not feel a real justification for it.
He is great but I would not recommend the book.

I started buying Gayle Wilson on the recommendation of Amazon reviewers. I like her depth, her understanding of human nature . . . but is this a five star book? I think not. There is not much in the way of plot development - one single premise, a secret of Lady Sarah's . . . and since we are already privvy to the secret in the beginning of the book - not much to read for, is there?

As for the writing - I've seen it said that this book is exceptionally well written. Well, maybe compared to other Harlequins - I don't know. But, has anyone actually read this? I mean, sentence by sentence, word by word? Gayle Wilson has a lot to say, with a lot of depth, and she uses alot of big words, long sentences to say it. But after the tenth time where I found myself trying to re-arrange the sentence to make the writing flow more smoothly and to make her meaning clearer, I just gave up. I think this book needed some more editing. I found it very hard going when I'm constantly trying to figure out - what exactly is she trying to say, and why doesn't she say it more clearly? Or how would I say this to make the sentence flow more smoothly? This sort of ruined the experience for me. Don't get me wrong, this is not a bad book by any means, and there are many, many good parts - but not much plot, convulated writing. . . that sort of makes it hard to give it five stars.

Someone mentioned earlier that they didn't understand why Lady Sarah kept her secret, and that the marriage of convenience was not believable. Did she actually read the book? Firstly, Lady Sarah swore on her mother's grave that she would never tell anyone. Maybe today that doesn't mean anything, but let me assure you, in those days it meant quite a bit. And the marriage of convenience - the book explains - in detail - why they both agreed to it. The book actually explains both issues in major detail - in many, many pages.

In short, a good book, complex characters, parts of it are well-written - but by no means five stars.

This was my second Gayle Wilson book, I'm so glad I found this author! You will love the story, its so different then your typical romance. And that sweet little blue eyed Drew, I wanted to keep him myself! If you can find this one, grab it!

I have to admit that I HATED the character of the little son, Drew. His speeches (and that's what they are) are just way too advanced for such a little boy; even in 1815 or thereabouts. This totally unrealistic child's character definitely subtracted a full star from my rating.

The whole setup for this story was so, well, impractical. From the beginning I disliked Sarah's (the heroine) failure to confess to the hero that little Drew is really her sister's son. After all, Julian is her beloved fiance; surely he would have understood her sister's predicament, and he would have helped Sarah conceal Drew's parentage. Didn't she THINK she would break Julian's heart by dumping him that way --letting him think there was another man in her life while he's off fighting in the war? Julian's feelings should have been more important than saving her dead sister's reputation.

The plot would have made more sense if, perhaps, there had been another suitor for Sarah before she became engaged to Julian, and Julian might have had some reason to doubt her faithfulness. The author could then have had Sarah withhold the information about her sister due to her anger about Julian's doubts over her faithfulness. Immature behavior, sure, yet a plot like that makes more sense than a woman in love, dumping her fiance and breaking his heart when she didn't even need to.

Another reason I didn't like the heroine, aside from her martyred silence about her sister's fall from grace -- I had the impression that Sarah thought she could make it "all right" just too damned easily after breaking Julian's heart, just by rescuing him later from financial ruin with her money. One plus is that the author really makes Sarah wait for Julian to forgive her. As well she should!

*sigh* What can I say except this woman hasn't had a bad book yet. Gayle Wilson's books, whether Historicals or Intriques are keepers.