Love, Louisa [Hardcover]

Barbara Metzger (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 2004

Louisa wrecks her fiancé’s car on the night of their engagement party and he stands her up at the wedding. She goes on the honeymoon, and ends up in a hospital, sunburned. Back home, she has no lover, no job, no apartment, and no money. She retreats to her mother’s seaside summer cottage, where she mistakes a wealthy landowner for a handyman. The last thing Dante needs in his life is another weak woman, despite the physical attraction. He is already burdened with an aging aunt, a needy cousin, and an ex-wife. Still, he has to come to Louisa’s defense when a bully and later a drunken date threaten her. They become closer, and she proves her strength by helping to rescue his cousin from her jerk of an ex-husband, by sicking him on her own ex-fiancé, Howard. Dante thinks Louisa is using him to make Howard jealous, so backs off. Then a hurricane threatens the village and they find themselves in the dark, making love. In love, which is, of course, the best revenge.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

After Louisa's fiance insists on a wedding so extravagant that it depletes her resources, he stands her up at the altar. Since she works at the same office as he, she quits her job and moves into her parents' deserted summer cottage. Wealthy, divorced Dante thinks Louisa is just a spoiled rich girl; he doesn't know that she's selling her belongings just to get by. Louisa sees Dante working on the property next door and thinks he's a handyman, a cranky one at that. Gradually, Dante's opinion of the beautiful Manhattanite-turned-library-aide begins to change, and she starts to think he's not so bad, either. Metzger has created a humorous, heartwarming story with a struggling heroine readers can root for, a skeptical hero, a canine companion with as much personality as most people, and a small beach community where everyone knows everyone else's business. Renowned for her top-of-the-line Regencies, including A Debt to Delia (2002), Metzger has made a graceful transition to contemporary romance. Shelley Mosley
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

From the Publisher

A New York Times Bestselling Author and a Rita Award–winning Author

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 285 pages
• Publisher: Five Star (ME) (June 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1410401987
• ISBN-13: 978-1410401984
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.7 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #247,235 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Love, Louisa, June 18, 2004

By 

Ratmammy "The Ratmammy" (Ratmammy's Town, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Love, Louisa (Hardcover)

Courtesy of WWW.Loveromances.com

LOVE, LOUISA by Barbara Metzger

RITA Award winning author Barbara Metzger takes the reader to the fictional beachside town of Paumonok Harbor, located at the eastern end of the South Fork Hamptons of Long Island, where a young woman named Louisa tries to forget the embarrassment and shame of being left at the altar. It sounds tragic, but LOVE, LOUISA is anything but tragic. Instead, it's an often funny, often lighthearted story of one woman who does her best to get back on her feet, get over the loser of a fiancé that decided not to show up at their wedding, and recover the dignity she knew she once had.

The story starts in New York --- to be precise, Manhattan. It is the eve of their engagement party, and Louisa has just crashed Howard's "beloved" Porsche. As they argue over the accident and the money that is involved, the conversation moves to finances and even worse, pre-nuptial agreements. Louisa is appalled that the man she loves is worried about what could happen in the event of a divorce! This was surely a bad omen, but Louisa fails to see it as such. When Howard and his entire set of friends and family members fail to show up at the wedding, it's pretty obvious that he's changed his mind and Louisa carries on at the wedding reception as if nothing is wrong, and goes on the honeymoon by herself. She paid for it, so she might as well enjoy it!

Things couldn't get worse, but they do. She returns from the Bahamas with the worst sunburn ever, ending up in the emergency room. That's not the end of it. It's one thing after another, from the wedding to the end of her honeymoon, written in the style that is quite popular with today's chick lit and comedic-romances. This reviewer had a difficult time keeping from laughing out loud. Although we do want to sympathize with Louisa, it is still pretty funny. She is definitely not having any luck!

Louisa then has to figure out where she is going to live. She has to retrieve her belongings from Howard's apartment (which used to be theirs, but he has thoughtfully changed the lock) and figure out where she is going to work (she and Howard were employed for the same company, so she gladly stepped down for her future husband). Her life is a mess.

Remembering the family cottage near the South Hamptons, Louisa decides to go there and set up camp for a while, at least until she can figure out what to do next. As she buries herself in housework and tries to fix up the place, she finds herself getting acquainted with the handyman, Dante. It takes Louisa a long time to figure out, but Dante actually owns many of the dwellings in the area, and so Louisa in the mean time treats him like the hired help. He's actually one of the wealthiest men around. It is one funny scene after another, as always caused by misunderstandings. And through all of this, Louisa finds herself wildly attracted to him, which causes her to panic. The feelings are mutual, of course.

LOVE, LOUISA is one of the funniest contemporary romances this reviewer has read in a long time. It does not quite fit the chick lit category of romances that have glutted the book shelves lately, but follows a more conventional style of writing, yet has plenty of light-hearted humor that will keep the reader chuckling. It is no surprise that Barbara Metzger has been awarded two Romantic Times Career Achievement Awards. Highly recommended!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars You'll fall in love with Louisa too, April 14, 2005

By 

Tracy Vest (Northern California) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Love, Louisa (Hardcover)

Left at the altar (by her fiance Howard and his share of the guests), and out of a job and home, and returning from the solo honeymoon from hell, Louisa escapes to the family vacation home on Long Island during off season to hang out and contemplate her future (and spar with the local surly handyman).

Dante is sexy, but he is more than just a handyman, he is actually quite wealthy, and he has his share of woman troubles - namely a dependent aging aunt, needy sister, and ex-wife who deserted him for another woman. All the early interactions with Dante and Louisa are hysterical, as she continually assumes he is the hired help and treats him as such, despite her growing attraction.

After a stormy night, they fall into each other's arms. This is a cute story with two great protagonists who are too wounded to think that they are ready to take a chance on love. Makes for great escapism!

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars warm contemporary romance, July 15, 2004

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Love, Louisa (Hardcover)

In Manhattan, as an omen to her upcoming nuptials twenty-seven years old Louisa Walden wrecks the Porsche owned by her fiancé Howard on their engagement night party. Not long afterward, Howard fails to show up at their wedding. Alone she goes on her honeymoon. Since she had no job or place to live, having given up both to marry Howard and needing to escape New York, Louisa moves in the family summer home in Paumonck Harbor.

Louisa meets hunk Dante Rivera who is working on the property next door and lets her believe he is a handyman. To his chagrin, Dante is attracted to Louisa, but does not want anther helpless woman in his life as he has his aunt, cousin and ex wife to wreck his well being. As he realizes that Louisa is strong and independent especially during a nasty storm, he falls in love with her, but still feels she holds the torch for Howard. Louisa has to find a way to let Dante know he is not a rebound, but the slam dunk real love of her life.

Though you don't want to lend even a clinker of a car to Louisa (she wrecks a second one), fans will enjoy this warm contemporary romance starring two wonderful protagonists dealing with emotional setbacks. While Louisa wonders why Howard chickened out, Dante's first wife left him for a woman and now wants him to provide the seed for artificial insemination so that the lesbian couple can raise a baby. Fans will enjoy this fine modern day tale of a second chance to find real love.

Harriet Klausner