Customer Reviews

To Love and to Cherish (Victorian Trilogy)

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

 

 

TO LOVE & TO CHERISH is artistic, analytic, and adult. Simply put it is the story of two people SLOWLY falling in love. It is beautifully written and very complex.

Anne Verlaine fascinated the Reverend Christian Morrell. As a minister, he could sense the soul-sinking desperation in her life - a life gone out of control. As a man of God, he studied her - a prelude to his spiritual guidance. As a man . . . as a man . . . he loved her. It was unjust; it was sinful! She was married - wed to his boyhood friend. "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife." Confused and desperate, he prayed. Bewildered and forlorn, he mediated! Yet nothing changed . . . he loved her.

And then her husband died! Now she was available and lonely. She was a vision of solitary grief. Was this the work of evil? Was this the devil at play? It was wicked! Reverend Christian Morrell, loved a woman whose husband had been a friend - his best friend. His sinful feelings were dishonorable and improper. They were wrong. The temptation, the desire, the need - were wrong! And still . . . he loved her.

Anne Verlaine believed with all her heart that she was an atheist. Her feelings for the country vicar were impossible; they were absurd. They could never be together; they could never share a life. His God was hateful, cruel and vengeful. In his God's eyes they had sinned - they had dared to love each other. There was no hope for them; their love was a dream - a macabre joke. Hopelessly, she had fallen in love with the vicar of All Saints . . . fallen in love . . . with all her heart.

TO LOVE & TO CHERISH is heavy-duty and full credit should go to author Patricia Gaffney for turning out a very thought-provoking story. The author takes her reader inside and relentlessly forces reading contemplation. Usually a rating of 9 or 10 indicates this reviewer would consider a reread. I doubt, very much, if I would ever read this again, yet it is definitely worth the 9 rating. Patricia Gaffney made me think, she made me feel, Gaffney made me appreciate her intense work. If you get a chance, pick up a copy and savor this author's remarkable skill as she unravels a wonderfully conceived love story.
Grade: A

MaryGrace Meloche.

Another very fine read, which is what I've come to expect from Gaffney. What was most intriguing about this book was the heroine, Anne's, somewhat jaded, cynical and self-deprecating outlook on life(usually that's the man's role in a romance novel). The hero was noble and good, sexy and romantic, and the romance between Christian, "Christy," and Anne is divine.

The anti-hero is not your typical brutish lout - a bit more interesting and well-defined than the outragiously monstrous, errant husbands in novels with similar plots.

In "To Love and To Cherish," Gaffney respects the vicar's Protestant beliefs. Rich in textured descriptions of characters and the quaint village of Wyckerly, one never feels Gaffney is just filling up page space; rather, you are transported to another place and time.

Highly recommended.

Well I actually read this one after I had read "To Have and To Hold" and I think I preferred the story of the 2nd book better. Gaffney does seem to have a knack of unusual storylines for romances.

Anne is a very "hard to like" heroine IMO. Her views on life, religion, marriage is a bit jaded and cynical. Christy is very likable, being the Honest-to-the-bone Vicar. Be prepared for a book that does not fit the honey sweetness of your typical romance novels. Anne is a married woman, married to Christy's long time best friend (although he and Christy have not spoken for years). There are some strange circumstances around their marriage which is revealed in the book but it is left up to the reader how such a condition came about......

I like the fact that Anne eventually becomes less cynical and I love the fact that Christy didn't betray his beliefs to have her. That all ways works out better in romance if this can be achieved. I would recommend reading these books in order though, this being the first. So you can see how Ms. Gaffney sets up the different people in this cozy village.

Happy Reading

Who would ever imagine that a do-good vicar could make a wonderful romance hero? Well, Gaffney has made this so in TO LOVE AND TO CHERISH. The genuinely good hero of this book discovers he has feet of clay. Something of a fall-from-grace theme. Wonderfully human. The female -- I hesitate to use the word "heroine" because she is more an anti-heroine -- is so wonderfully cynical that SHE is more the rakehell of this book. So many delightful inversions and embellishments on old romance themes here. In Gaffney's hands, all the stuff that can be so stale comes alive anew. A truly fine writer that demonstrates why romance is rapidly becoming more a more respected genre.

A keeper on a shelf of few keepers!

Respectfully submitted,

Judy Cuevas

What a wonderful book hiding out as just another paperback romance! Except for CROOKED HEARTS (which is as dumb as your typical paperback romance), Gaffney's books are all quite readable--but this one is REALLY superior, well written, romantic, even moving. There certainly should be a hardcover "real literature" edition!--E.P

This is the first book of a wonderful series. Patricia Gaffney has created a beautiful English village and an incredible love story between the local vicar and a married woman. I loved it!

This book has everything I could hope for in a romance. It's a beautifully written love story, is intensely moving, and has deep, layered and completely developed characters. I enjoyed everything about it.

It's a story about forbidden love and also one about faith. Geoffrey D'Aubrey returns as Lord to the home he ran from as a child. With him he brings his wife. His beautiful, cynical, lonely and battered wife Anne. War and soldiering are the only things Geoffrey truly loves. Before they've barely moved in he leaves Anne to fight another senseless battle. He leaves his horse and her (and in that order) in the care of his childhood friend Christy - a minister.

Christy is gentle, kind, caring, loving and he and Anne become fast friends despite their differences in faith (she's an atheist). They have a great time joking about their differences and are open and honest with each other. Despite their attempts to avoid and deny it they fall in love but are both such! honorable people they refuse to do anything about it - until Geoffrey is reported dead. But before they can live happily ever after they must struggle through some horribly bleak times.

I ached for this couple as they suffered through so much darkness and pain. This book is so good that it haunts me still. I don't say this often, and haven't said it in a long while, but if you haven't read this already go find it immediately.