Customer Reviews

Love Only Once (Malory Family Series)

5 star:		(51)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

First off, here is the series in sequence: 1. Love Only Once 2. Tender Rebel 3. Gentle Rogue 4. The Magic of You 5. Say You Love Me 6. The Present: The Malory Holiday Novel

Because this is the first book of the series,  naturally, it contains a lot of introductory descripstions of everyone in the Malory family especially those who will be the primary heroes on the next novel.  I'd like to add that this add ons didn't overshadow the love story of Regina & Nick.  In fact, the additional spice made this book even more intriguing.  I read this book in one sitting.  Every character that J. L created and described peaked my interest esp. Regina's uncles James & Anthony. 

I decided to finish reading the whole series before i write the reviews so i can compare it all.  This book and The gentle Rogue is my favorite of all 6 in the series.  Regina and Nick's love story is warm and touchy.  Regina is definitely my favorite of all Malory's.  She is not only soft hearted but smart, strong willed, care free & fun.  Nicholas Eden is mysterious, a total RAKE yet Gentle & loving deep down.  There are times, Nick's choices annoys me no matter what his hidden reasons or dark past was.... but this is also what makes this book so enthralling.  Different emotions all out in one.  A great introduction to the Malory Series.

Love Only Once was the very first Malory novel I read. Once I started I could not put the book down and this was the book that caused me to fall in love with the Malory's. They are funny, loyal and firmly believe that family is every thing. Although Tony and James are always at each others throats, they will go to war for each other and the family. The Malory's will steal your heart!

The rest of the family can be read as follow:

1. Love Only Once - Regina & Nicholas
2. Tender Rebel - Roslynn & Anthony
3. Gentle Rogue - Georgina & James
4. The Magic of You - Amy & Warren
5. Say You Love Me - Kelsey & Derek
6. The Present - Anastasia & Christopher, Molly & Jason
7. A Loving Scoundrel - JEREMY'S BOOK!!

_Love Only Once_ is the first in a series of books written about the Malory family. It's the story of Regina Ashton, beloved niece of the Malory brothers, whose only sister died when Regina was just a baby, leaving her in their care.

Regina and her uncles want her to find a husband, but she can't seem to find anyone that will please everyone. She's seen hundreds of men, so many that society has deemed her a cold fish, thinking she must be entirely cold-hearted and self-centered. That's not the case at all, it's just nearly impossible to please four overprotective men.

Viscount Nicholas Eden, a rakehell who has refused to ever marry owing to a secret in his past, is completely bored with his current mistress, Selena Eddington. He's started treating her badly and she's decided that it would be prudent to end things with him now, hoping to provoke a jealous reaction from him.

Finding herself in desperate need to talk to her uncle Tony, hoping he'll be able to convince her uncles that she's fed up with looking for a husband, Regina borrows Selena Eddington's conveyance. Having had too much to drink, Nicholas spots his former paramour's carriage outside Anthony Malory's home and decides to play a nasty trick on her and keep her from attending the party of the season. After her discussion with Tony, Regina bundles herself up in her cape and steps outside, only to be swept up on horseback by Nicholoas, who thinks he's kidnapped Selena!

Once home, Nicholas dumps Regina, who he still believes to be Selena, in one of his guest rooms, locks the door and leaves for the party himself. Only minutes after arriving at the party, Nicholas realizes his mistake and hurries home to see who he's actually abducted. The moment he throws open the door, he and Regina both are stunned. There's an instant attraction between them that almost crackles from the pages.

Despite careful planning on everyone's part, the story of Regina's abduction by one of London's most notorious rakes leaks out and Regina's reputation is ruined. Now, the once sought after beauty has very little chance of ever securing a good match. But, it's not the blot to her reputation that prompts Regina to have her uncles coerce Nicholas into marrying her, it's the fact that she's finally found the one man she can love completely. She's set her cap for him, and there's very little that Regina Ashton wants that she doesn't get.

Things really start to pick up as Nicholas does his best to escape matrimony and Regina tries her hardest to make him love her. There are numerous misunderstandings, painful words and harsh feelings between them and things really get complicated when it turns out Nicholas has a very dangerous enemy. As the story unfolds, you'll find the pages nearly turn themselves.

Not only is the story of Regina and Nicholas incredible on it's own, it's the opening to a series of books about a family you'll grow to love. The Malorys are a fiercely loyal family full of rakehells, rogues and beautiful women who are all passionate and spirited. All of the characters are so well-written that you'll feel like you know them. From Anthony, the rake with a heart of gold, to James, the sometimes pirate, there's never a lack of interesting people. Not to mention, this is the first introduction of one of my very favorite characters in the series -- James' son Jeremy (who definitely needs a story of his own!).

Though written nearly 20 years ago, _Love Only Once_ is an amazingly well-written Regency romance. Even at such an early stage in her career, Ms. Lindsey reveals why she is, even today, one of the top authors in this genre. I first read this story years ago and have continued visiting it once every couple of years. I never tire of the Malorys and their exploits. If you've never been introduced to this family, what are you waiting for?

I recently re-read all the Malory books and fell in love with them all over again. This is the beginning of the family saga, and after reading it you will crave another Malory book. Regina is a particularly appealing heroine - independent, strong-willed but nevertheless loyal to her family and her husband. You will be cheering when Nicholas finally proves to himself that he is a mate worthy of her. Hurry up and read this book so that you can rush on to Tender Rebel which is even better!

The beautiful niece of Lord Edward and Lady Charlotte Malory, hot-tempered Regina Ashton is outraged over her abduction by the arrogant, golden-haired seducer Nicholas Eden. Devilishly handsome, hardened by a painful secret from his past, the rogue has besmirched Reggie's good name-and, worse still, arouses her womanly passions to an unendurable level. But her fiery beauty stirs Nicholas as no woman has before-giving rise to tragic misunderstandings and dangerous desires...and a magnificent love that can live only once in a lifetime. Great start to a wonderful series. I recommend this book to everyone.

LOVE ONLY ONCE is the first in a series of regency romances that center around the Mallory family, a family of aristocrats who in one way or another seem to be at odds with the rest of society. In this novel, the heroine, Regina (Reggie) Mallory, is a young woman who is bent on making Nicholas Eden love her, but because of a series of misunderstandings, they fight and quarrel and she soon learns to hate him, although deep down she loves him still. Because of an indiscretion, she suggests to her uncles that Nicholas marries her, and this is where everything starts!

Reggie is a character that is spirited and aggressive, and does not like to conform to the ways of her day. Nicholas Eden is a rogue, and is used to getting his way with the women, but he is damned if he is tied down to one. He in time falls for Reggie, but it takes them months before they actually get in sync and figure it all out.

There are also a number of uncles that look after Reggie, and each one is different from the other. I found the character of James Mallory, the pirate, a very interesting character indeed! And there is also tony, Reggie's favorite uncle, who is bent on making sure no one marries her (he is too picky!).

I enjoyed reading this book, and am looking forward to reading the rest of the Mallory series.

I got hooked with this book for two days. I couldn't give it up. Regina is great, all the Malories are. Nicholas is sexy and passionate,but you will fall in love with the Malory uncles, James and Anthony.

If this book were any more unbelievable it might actual be fantasy and not romance. I was so upset with the hero in this book. Some women call him a cad I think a better word to describe him is an a$$. He was horrible!

Nicholas Eden is hiding a secret, he is the illegitmate son of an Earl and the only person who knows that is his evil step-mother whose only existence is to make his life miserable. She holds the fact that she knows his secret over his head and threatens to expose him. So when he mistakenly compormises Regina by kidnapping her thereby ruining her, of course he can't marry her in good conscious because he doesn't want to attach the stigma of his bastardom to her name. No, let her be a fallen woman instead. Unfortunately for him, her uncles force him into the marraige at which point he changes his strategy, he is going to make her leave him. That is a great plan, of course he seduces her in the process and take her virginity, all while trying to make her leave him, consequently getting her with child. This fact of course makes it impossible for Regina to call of the marriage no matter how terrible he is being and they are married. He of course never learns of that fact that she is carrying his child because he leaves her as soon as they are married dropping her off at the estate where his hateful mother resides and leaves the country. After 7 months away from England he misses his wife and can't stand to be away from her. She however now "hates" him and never wants to see him again, but is comforted by the birth of her son.

When he returns he finds out he has a son, much to his shock, and accuses Regina of having a son that isn't his. To make matters worse he screams he carries on and acts like words I can't even write in a review and everytime he touches her she is putty in his hands...REALLY!?

I had such hope for Regina she seemed like such a strong woman. Sure I expected them to get back together, it wouldn't be a romance novel if they didn't, but I did not expect for her that to happen in a span of 1 page. I expected that he would have to woe her, turn her affections back towards him, no he simply explains he was afraid she would be ashamed he was a bastard and she falls into his arms forgiving all. Honestly, she was falling into his arms without the courtesy of an explanation...

I am also angry at Johanna Lindsey for insulting the intelligence of her readers by constructing the book in such a way as to make it so unbelievable!!! Develop a plot Lindsey, develop characters! At least don't attempt to induce feelings of sympathy for someone who is just flat out horrible by idiotic, misplaced, noble principles. At the VERY least don't write a book in such a manner as to make one believe it's only purpose is to serve as the start of a series. The book should be able to stand on it's own and I am sorry this one really does not. I would also like to mention that I was tricked into reading this book by the third book in this series Gentle Rogue which was excellent! Johahna Lindsey is a very incosistent writer...

Nicholas Eden, a notorious but handsome rake, kidnaps Lady Regina Ashton by mistake. He returns her to her Uncle unharmed but rumor of the incident gets out, thus ruining Regina's reputation in society. Nicholas is forced to marry her, but he abandons her immediately after their wedding because he is convinced that once she learns of his background, Regina will despise him. What he doesn't realize is that Regina doesn't care that he's illegitimate and is determined that he would eventually return her love.

I love Regina's character. She is all fire, spirit and courage. I also loved the storyline. It's simple, predictable, and easy to follow. However, the story seemed rushed. There was not a lot of time spent on developing each of the characters and that problem spills into other issues. For example, I found it hard to believe that Regina and Nicholas would fall in love so easily, nor believe the Mallory brothers' fierce devotion to their niece. Why the ardent fervor for Regina? Also, Regina mentions that she fell in love with Nicholas because he reminded her of her Uncle Jason and this is after meeting Nicholas for only a few moments, and this is also after she mentions several times in her dialogue that she's tired of husband-hunting. So which is it? Is she marrying Nicholas because she's tired of being single or is she really in love? Hmmm...

Nicholas's love for Regina starts off as this undeniable physical attraction that eventually turns into love. There's no mention of when he finally realizes he loves her, but yet they rarely spend time together because Nicholas spends most of it avoiding Regina. Also, not much time is spent on Regina's cousins either, such as Derek. It's mentioned that Derek is illegitimate and that he's also very close to Regina, but not much else. I would've liked to learn more about him. Something else I found hard to believe is that the book mentions that Derek and Nicholas are very close friends. However, there is hardly a reaction from Derek after he finds out about Nicholas' abominable treatment of Regina. Considering the Uncles' strong reaction to Nicholas' ill-treatment of Regina, Derek's reaction is just not convincing enough for me. It's too inconsistent and there's no explanation why that is.

I recommend this book but only if you can't find anything else better on which to spend your time.

This book was very disappointing. I have read other books by this author and they have been passable, but this particular book was awful. The story is that a girl desperately wants a husband, so she has her uncles force a man (who doesn't want her) into marriage. After he reluctantly marries her, he dumps her off with his step mother and leaves the country. When the girl's uncles drag him back to England, he finds her pregnant, but accuses her of infidelity and denies that the child could be his. How could anyone find this romantic? In the last 5 or 10 pages of the book the guy admits that he simply wished to protect the girl from being his wife because he is a bastard, and then she easily forgives him for all of his sins. Whatever.