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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Well-written, but strains credulity somewhat,
By
This review is from: Miss Chartley's Guided Tour (Paperback)
Miss Omega Chartley, a schoolmistress, is changing jobs and has several weeks in which to make the journey from the south-west to the north, where her new school is located. So she embarks on a guided tour, something which she has promised herself for some time to do. Unfortunately, her plans are very soon disrupted when she helps a young boy to escape from a Bow Street Runner and finds herself penniless and on the run. She and the boy fall in with a wounded former soldier and his adopted daughter, and the four of them go in search of the boy's uncle, a viscount.
The viscount turns out to be Matthew Bering, Omega's former fiancé and the man who ditched her at the altar eight years ago. She never knew why he had failed to turn up for their wedding; he never explained, nor replied to any correspondence subsequently. She has told herself for years that she hates him. Yet when she sees him again she falls in love with him all over again. What was his reason for abandoning her at the altar? How does he feel about her now? Is there any possibility of a second chance for the two of them? As is her usual habit, Carla Kelly creates convincing and likeable characters, and this is as true of her secondary characters as much as the hero and heroine. I found myself at times warming to Omega's soldier companion, Hugh, even more so than to Matthew, and hoping at one point that Omega would marry Hugh. My main problem with Miss Chartley's Guided Tour is that Matthew's explanation for his jilting of Omega, when we finally hear it, sounds very far-fetched - and Matthew's own reaction to the events of eight years ago, the way he has closed himself off from the world, just sounds like the behaviour of a coward and an idiot. Did he question nothing? Was he so wrapped up in his own feelings that he never gave a single thought to how he had hurt Omega? When he heard about her father's death and *knew* that she was left penniless, did he have no feelings at all? The way he lives, cloistered in his country estate and with an entire wardrobe of clothes ordered especially for Omega kept in his closets, reminds me somewhat of Miss Havisham in Dickens' Great Expectations: this is a man who is shutting himself off from reality and living in some sort of cobwebby fantasy of the past. To me, that's not a romantic hero. However, the writing itself and the other characters merit three stars; Matthew is simply one of Kelly's less successful heroes. wmr-uk
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Regency with dark undertones,
By C.B. (California) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Miss Chartley's Guided Tour (Paperback)
I liked the main subjects of this novel, Omega Chartley and Matthew Bering, in terms of their character and intelligence. I also agree with another reviewer that the side characters of Hugh, Timothy, Jamie, and Angela, are well written and enjoyable. In some ways I found myself caring more about the peripheral characters than the protagonist. What's unusual about this novel is how despicable the villain is (blackmail, child abuse, rape, and murder.) The storyline involving Matthew's past has very serious undertones which distracted me from the developing love story. It was also disconcerting that the character of Hugh seems somewhat disgarded in the end.
2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Delightful,
By Love a good book (Meridian, ID USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Miss Chartley's Guided Tour (Paperback)
First Carla Kelly book I've read in quite a while. I found it delightful.
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