Customer Reviews

Once and Always

5 star:		(135)
4 star:		(19)
3 star:		(12)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(13)

 

 

Although I've read all of McNaught's books, I find this one by far one of her best. If you're like me, and enjoy story lines that contain an intense, passionate relationship with not only a strong male character but also a strong female character, then you'll fall inlove with this book the way I did. It's one of her earlier books, and in my opinion one of her most romantic, due to the fact that she focuses in on the relationship more then outside factors like other romance writers tend to do. No, you won't find a murder mystery here, but instead a lovely, intense, sweeping romance. I know, because every time I flip through those pages, I get a tight knot in my stomach and I choke up; thats the sign of a true romance writer. Read this book!

Once and Always is one of McNaught's best works. I love this book. I read this book so many times and I still can't believe the love between the two characters, Victoria and Jason. Both characters were very 3-dimensional, strong individuals. I laughed and cried. I think that out of all McNaught's books, this book outshines all the rest because she concentrated on the development of the relationship between Victoria and Jason. I recommend this book to everyone. I promise you that you won't regret reading this book. The Best!!!! I also recommend A Kingdom of Dreams, Almost Heaven, Something Wonderful, Whitney, My Love, and Paradise. Ok, I am a McNaught fan. She's a great writer. I also recommend Devereaux's Heiress and some of Garwood's works.

I've read every Judith McNaught book there is and Once and Always is my all-time favorite. I don't know what it is about this story, but it really touches me everytime I read it. I like the fact that Jason was not as controlling as some of the other leading men in her novels (I couldn't stand Clayton in Whitney, My Love, for example), although he was a very strong and commanding character. I thought Victoria was a strong heroine and had a lot of self-respect. Their story was so moving, but it was extremely funny at times too. Although I enjoyed her books Something Wonderful and Perfect, I felt that they lacked something that this book had. All in all, this book has everything you could possible want in a JM novel. I also recommend Almost Heaven and Paradise.

I loved "Kingdom of Dreams" and "Whitney, My Love," so I dove into this book expecting great things, especially since it came so highly recommended by McNaught fans. I have to say, I was sorely disappointed. To be sure, the writing was good and it contained McNaught's flair for story telling. But the characters really let me down.

I found the hero, Jason Fielding, to be far too much of a jerk for me to ever understand why the heroine would love such a man. I understand he had a tortured past, and that did much to explain his general attitude. But throughout the story he was consistently cruel and indifferent - downright mean - to Victoria. I never saw him softening or doing anything that indicated he was anything more than a hardened, cynical alpha-male. It wasn't until the very end that he expressed any indication that he cared for her at all. Too, we were not afforded enough glimpses into his thought processes to believe he was falling in love with her. I never felt that he fought against a growing attraction - from what I saw through his actions and treatment of Victoria, he really didn't love her at all until the very end.

Too, I didn't like that Jason continued his relationship with his mistress after he'd met Victoria. Perhaps that would have helped me buy into the premise that he loved Victoria - if he would have lost all desire for other women.

And since I found Jason hard to like, much less love, I didn't much respect Victoria. She was a little too perfect - a little too understanding and accepting of his cruel treatment of her. Sure, he took her in and bought her clothes, but that didn't give him the right to treat her the way he did. Their wedding night was a true horror, and I had a hard time understanding how Victoria would ever get over her fears enough to sleep with him again. Since Jason never did much to earn her love, I found Victoria's feelings for him baffling.

Also, I am getting a bit tired of some of the repeated plot contrivances McNaught uses. The young ingenue who becomes the darling of the British ton. The endless misunderstandings that cause both the hero and heroine to act in loathsome ways towards each other. In this story, especially, I was annoyed by Jason's lack of understanding of Victoria's innocence and his willingness to believe she wasn't a virgin. And in the end, when Victoria learned of her cousin Charles' treachery, she instantly condemned Jason despite Charles telling her that Jason had no hand in it.

My final complaint was the ending. All of the sudden, after one tiny argument in the scheme of their relationship, Jason does a 180 degree turn and is confessing his love for her. He'd shown her no affection for the first 7/8ths of the book but suddenly became a doting husband. I felt like McNaught was nearing her word count and realized she was running out of pages and needed to wrap things up as quickly as possible.

I did like Jason's reaction when he believed Victoria to be dead - it was the only time in the story when I got a glimpse as to the depth of his feelings for her. And I did like that Victoria didn't require pages of convincing to believe that he had no hand in the misunderstanding with Andrew.

All in all, this one was not my favorite McNaught. I'll stick with "Kingdom of Dreams".

As usual, Judith McNaught is worthy of 5 stars writing yet another awesome book! I read this in one day, truly not able to put it down once. The house could have fallen down around me and still I would have sat there with a silly grin on my face, reading away.

Victoria is thrust as a suddenly orphaned beauty into the home of a distant relative with a very frightening repuation. Though afraid and homesick, she sees through his rockhard exterior to the saddened and lonely man inside and offers him a love like no other. And oh my God... no one can tell a story like JM!!

These characters came alive before my eyes from page one. Victoria was amazing. In the midst of all the snobby London ladies, she appeared so sweet and refreshing and I just wanted to shout at Jason to open his eyes and trust her! And Jason was so afraid to love again... so hurt from his horrid past yet very protective of this young girl who could make him laugh, ingnite desire deep within him and even cause him to engage in a duel causing him to be shot by a tree (he he... very funny).

The plot was amazing and the characters deep, complex people you could care about. Jason had thought Victoria to be a gentle, courageous, spirited angel... and he was oh so right. She was the perfect heroine and the perfect match for a man such as Jason... and though he was difficult and arrogant throughout much of the book it was plain to see the hurt and need for love inside him. Not to mention the fact that he was just plain *yummy*. Strong yet gentle leading men are definetely the best.

If you haven't read this book, I recommend it highly. And then do yourself a favour and read the rest of Judith McNaught's books, starting with A Kingdom of Dreams (breathtaking). I bought her entire collection and they are reserved a permanent spot on my bookshelf.

Judith Mcnaught's novel Once & Always has sent me on a quest to find all of her novels!!!! I fell in love and am still in love with Jason Fielding!!! If you have not read the book, then you have certainly missed out on sheer pleasure!!!I only wish I had read her books earlier in my life!!! I am on a quest to find all of her books especially since she reintroduces many of her characters throughout her novels.Mcnaught is an exceptional writer;she shares her talent in a way that enables you to dream again!!!

put in one part young, innocent, and beautiful heroine, one part emotionally tortured hero, and one part sensual love scenes and it's the making of one of the more moving romantic novels you'll ever read.

judith mcnaught is quickly becoming my favorite romantic novelist and here's why: she is one of the best authors when it comes to character development, her heroes are alpha male (which is my favorite kind of hero, frankly), and there is always deep emotional depiction within her books. NONE of her heroes fall lightly. they might start off as cold and emotionally distant but that guarantees that when the hero falls, he's gonna fall so hard that he can't ever get up.

and so it goes with "once and always". victoria seaton is the innocent beauty sent to england from america after her parents are killed. she is to stay with her "uncle" charles. turns out, charles has a plan. he has announced her betrothal to his nephew, Jason Fielding before she has even gotten there.

Jason Fielding, Marquess of Wakefield, is about as emotionally distant as a hero can get. By this time he has already lost a wife and son when the ship she stole the son away to as she was running away with her lover, crashes at sea. can you see why he isn't willing to love anyone? need more reason? he had the kind of emotionally tormented childhood that will make you cry when you read about it. he's not just mean because he's a man and is supposed to be mean. he's mean because he thinks himself unworthy of love and incapable of giving it. it is for this reason why the story of this romance was so compelling and moving. jason is one of the most emotionally vulnerable alpha hero i've read about. while much of what he did initially to victoria wasn't all that nice, mcnaught writes of him in such a way that the reader can see his vulnerability right through his actions.

victoria is a wonderful heroine. she is kind and spirited and is definitely not a door mat. she doesn't just let jason take advantage of her, which is always important when the hero is so dominating. of course she's beautiful, but that's just one of her many attributes.

he goes on with his emotional distance through most of the book, but there are cracks in his emotional facade, albeit small ones. however, one of the highlights of the book is actually the SECOND time victoria and jason are sexually intimate. BIG CRACK. then, for those who have read "kingdom of dreams" there is a de ja vu moment during another intimate moment between victoria and jason. i won't give it away, but i'll say that it's probably even MORE moving in this story, and that's saying ALOT. his emotional barrier shatters after that, a really satisfying moment for me.

by the time we get near the end where jason finally shows he has a heart, i was in tears. what a moving moment.

the only downside is that there was no epilogue. i would have loved to see if victoria had a son so that jason could again know the fatherly love he had stripped from him when his son was killed.

other than that, this book was damn near perfect. i HIGHLY recommend it.

I am not too familiar with McNaught's work, but this novel proves to me that she is not the typical romance writer. She incorperates within her female characters a sense of strength and courage. This particular story wasn't merely romantic but contained some comedy as well. Victoria is fun character, and Jason is well developed in a way unlike most male characters within romances. The reader is given the opportunity to understand with depth the history of Jason in a manner that isn't fleeting or irrelevent. I haven't read many of McNaught's books but this has definitely made me a fan.

i love this book. it was the one that got me hooked on judith mcnaught. it's perfect. jason's a jerk, but can't help but love him. victoria's naive and innocent, but can't help but love her too. i love that you can pinpoint the exact moments when these two fall in love with each other. i fell in love with them too. no spoilers here, if you love pure romance, then, this is the book for you! i read this book 10 years ago and it still haunts me!

This was a fantastic book! When I first bought it I put in on my bookshelf to read it later, well, that later turned out to be about 5 months later. I picked it up yesterday because I was bored I needed something to read. This book totally took me by surprise! Once I started reading I HATED to put it down. The characters are IMPOSSIBLE to not love. I'm not going to explain what this book is about because the other reviews do a great job at that, but I am going to say this: I loved the parts of this book are when the servents are gossiping about their lord and lady's relationship (when jason SPECIFICALLY forbid them to do any gossiping what-so-ever) It is hillarious listening to them whisper to one another, then have a maid hear, and tell another maid and then it reaches the grooms and so on. I laughed my head off listening to them! Oh, and might I add that besides the servents, Tory's great-grandmother was great! (and don't you dare call her otherwise!) Now, I know she seems like an old hag at the beginning, but you're going to love her at the end, I promise! Once and Always was beautifully written and I loved ever second I spent on this book. You're crazy to let this one slip through your fingers!