Customer Reviews

One Golden Ring

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

 

 

Lady Fiona Hollingsworth needs twenty-five thousand pounds quickly to free her brother, Randy, who has been abducted by Spanish bandits in The Peninsula. However, the family fortune is depleted. When she sees Mr. Nicholas "Nick" Birmingham, the richest stockbroker in England, she gets an idea. The very next day, Fiona goes to Nick's office and offers to marry him in exchange for his help. It is fairly well known that Nick's deceased father had always hoped his son would make an aristocratic match. Even though Nick does not believe himself worthy of Fiona, he agrees. It does not take the pair long to fall totally in love with each other.

Lord Edward Warwick, the Foreign Secretary, had grown up unofficially betrothed to Fiona. Yet last year he jilted Fiona to marry another, Countess Maggie. The Crown needs the help of Nick, his brother (William), and his money. Edward goes to Nick, hoping Nick's patriotism will force his agreement. It does, but only because William has experience in stealthy dealings. If not for his loyalty to his country, Nick would have refused. Nick could not help being jealous that Fiona had once loved Edward for so long.

Fiona has truly gotten over Edward. She is deeply in love with Nick. She is even growing to adore Nick's illegitimate, eight-year-old daughter, Emmie. But she is jealous that Nick keeps disappearing at night and fears he is going to another woman. In addition to this, it is no secret that Randy frowns upon Fiona marrying so beneath their station. Yet Randy may soon be forced to eat crow.

***** You say that you want dreamy romance? Then pick up a copy of "One Golden Ring". This has got to be the most PERFECT Regency Romance that I have read this year. I actually found myself envying Fiona. You will not find any stupid characters that you will want to strangle. These characters are intelligent and realistic. I have high hopes that a couple of the secondary characters will get their own stories told someday soon. *****

Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.

I love Cheryl Bolen's marriage of convenience stories.

Marriage of convenience stories are ultimately about the death of expectation. Both parties go into the relationship with one set of expectations -- this is a marriage in name only, both parties will "behave" in society and do whatever they want in private, neither will attempt to put a hold on the other -- and end up surprised. The road to love and passion is usually long and arduous; the hero and heroine are filled with trepidation at their slowly growing feelings; a series of trials brings out the best in both and they finally see each other for who they really are.

AN IMPROPER PROPOSAL was an excellently executed marriage of convenience story in this vein, so I began reading ONE GOLDEN RING with my own feeling of trepidation. Would Ms. Bolen be able to pull off another such story? Would it pale in comparison to AN IMPROPER PROPOSAL?

I should have known better than to ask. ONE GOLDEN RING attempts a much more difficult scenario and pulls it off with grace.

Lady Fiona Hollingsworth, who was jilted by her beloved Edward in THE COUNTERFEIT COUNTESS, faces a new challenge: her brother is being held for ransom by Spanish bandits and her family's fortune has been lost. Only a desperate action can save her brother's life.

That action is to propose marriage to Nicholas Birmingham, a stockbroker rumored to be the wealthiest man in England. Nick has long admired Fiona from afar, but his common birth and shady past have prevented him from attempting to move in her circle. To say he's shocked by her offer of marriage in exchange for the twenty-five thousand pounds needed to save her brother would be to oversimplify the emotional complexity of the proposal scene.

Fiona doesn't approach Nick Birmingham as a shining star of society deigning to speak to the likes of a lesser being. Instead, she approaches him as a businesswoman. Thus, in the framing of her proposition, she speaks to Nick as an equal, regardless of their stations. Nick, on the other hand, has been raised to be a gentleman and finds himself and his brothers, as Fiona's delightful friend Trevor tells her, "Too good for women of their own class and not good enough for women of our class."

Nick is therefore acutely aware of their unequal positions and declines her offer though he hates doing so. Nick is, at heart, an acquirer of money and possessions, but his wish to acquire Fiona, whom he considers to be a model of feminine perfection, grace, and breeding, is held in check only by his strong disinclination to marry a woman who will come to hate him in a loveless marriage. Nick is a man accustomed to denying himself what he most desires, and his desire to have Fiona as his wife is no exception. And no matter how the sparks might fly between them, he believes she's still in love with Edward.

After an initial balk, they marry. It takes all of two paragraphs for them to realize just how sexually compatible they will be, and that promise bears out the first night of their marriage.
At this point the story could have fallen into a disheveled mess lacking any sort of tension, but Ms. Bolen skillfully plays the erotic against the emotional as she chronicles the relationship. Wonderful secondary characters play out subplots that act as foils and obstacles to the main plot. A very surprising turn of events, which I won't reveal here, creates a tiny rift between Fiona and Nick that, compounded by other rifts, grows wider with each passing page.

This novel has a couple of large surprises that further the action, but also a refreshing number of small ones peppered throughout. These small surprises are the kinds of revelations where we say, "Ah! So that's why!" whenever we encounter them. As a result, there's never a dull moment in the story, and never a time when one's attention wanders.

ONE GOLDEN RING is a rare treat: a highly sensual novel with a solid emotional foundation. A story about two people who have little in common but passion can be easily mishandled, but Cheryl Bolen has once again put her skill and intuition to the task. ONE GOLDEN RING is a terrific novel, full of emotional complexity, layered storylines, and an eye for the difficulties of people caught in the no-man's land of society's expectations.

One Golden Ring is yet another wonderful addition to the library of Historical Romances by Cheryl Bolen. Without repeating previous reviews, I'll tell you that I fell in love with these characters, found myself unable to put the book down, and found myself cheering the characters on throughout the entire journey.

Don't miss this one!

This has not been a good year for Lady Fiona Hollingsworth. Her father died, foreign secretary Lord Edward Warwick ended their long time unofficial betrothal to marry someone else (see THE COUNTERFEIT COUNTESS); and her brother Randy is being held for ransom in the Peninsular. To rescue him, she needs 25,000 pounds, which she not only does not have but could not raise in a decade let alone the week she has.

Her best friend Trevor Simpson convinces Lady Fiona Hollingsworth to attend the theater though she feels guilty that she goes out for entertainment while Randy remains imprisoned. Fiona notices in a nearby box is wealthy stockbroker Nicholas Birmingham, Fiona decides to strike a devil's bargain with the commoner by offering her only asset in exchange for the money. However Nicholas rejects her proposal of marriage until Edward insisted England needs his help in the matter. Rather quickly, Fiona falls in love with her husband and his illegitimate preadolescent daughter, but Nick cannot believe that his spouse no longer pines for Edward while she is jealous that he goes out every night, assuming he sees his lover.

This is a golden historical romance starring two fabulous lead protagonists who love one another but do not trust the other to reciprocate. The story line is fast-paced from the moment Fiona offers the deal until the final confrontation. Interestingly in spite of the marriage saving his life, Randy is upset that his sister married beneath her station. The support cast is fabulous whether enhancing the situation in the Peninsular or causing further suspicion between the newly married lead couple. Cheryl Bolen has written a fascinating tale.

Harriet Klausner

If you're looking for a book to put a smile on your face - from beginning until the end - of a truly heart-warming romance, then give yourself a treat and gift yourself with this latest offering from Cheryl Bolen.

In an attempt to cheer up his best friend the very effeminate Trevor Simpson convinced, Lady Fiona Hollingsworth to attend the theater with him. Feeling somewhat guilty enjoying herself while her brother's life was being threatened she couldn't help admiring the beautiful actress on stage. Trevor, in his usual informative way of `being in the know' pointed out that across the theater from their box sat her protector - the fabulously wealthy and extremely handsome Nicholas Birmingham a powerful stockbroker. Birmingham was not unknown to her as her brother had reluctantly introduced her to him a year ago. While she'd been impressed by the more than pleasant and handsome man, due to the difference in their stations, he a Cit and she a member of the ton, a friendship could never be condoned.

Except desperate times called for desperate measures, and after the last year of having, lost her father; been jilted by the man she'd been in love with half her life, Lord Warwick; and with her brother being held for ransom and his life hanging in the balance, Fiona announced to Trevor that she had a plan. She needed money, lots of it - to free her brother held for ransom - and with only a week to do it, she would enlist the help of Mr. Birmingham. She would simply go to Mr. Nicholas Birmingham and strike a bargain asking him for the money needed to pay the ransom. Astonished, Trev asked what she planned to use for collateral since her estate was nearly bankrupt and all the land entailed. Fiona calmly answered `herself'! Although, the next morning when face - to face with the handsome financier - she wasn't quite so calm, especially when after she asked, if he would accept as collateral, herself, as his bride - he turned her down - flat!

--- Ah, well as the story proceeds, our devastatingly handsome hero, does end up taking the beauteous Fiona as his bride in this totally delightful, beautifully sensual, and endearingly romantic love story. These two leads were simply made for one another with both sharing a sensual passionate nature that made their physical relationship a dream come true [totally hot!]. Naturally, they would have some misunderstandings, but the author crafts these two as such loving and caring people that the angst they face on the road to happiness was not without some bumps. The secondary love story with the pompous Randolph and Nicholas' sister Verity was a lovely bonus as well as the secondary characters who filled the pages with love, camaraderie, and humor (Trevor was a hoot!) - A quick read, it is nothing short of a fresh breath of spring air - and deeply satisfying! I so totally loved this! --- Marilyn (...)

I would give this book 5 stars, except for 2 things:

1. The words "devilishly" and "beastly" were used wwwaaayyy too much; 2. The wonderful main characters were dragged down by spending too much time worrying about 'cheating' issues -- he believed she still loved her former fiance, and she believed he was still seeing his mistress & possibly one of her friends. This got so old & bogged the story down greatly.

Now, those things aside, the secondary characters were wonderful!!! I loved Trevor, Emmie, Verity, and Randolph. The secondary romance between Randolph & Verity was excellent. I loved this part of the book, and was anxious for every chapter that talked about these two love birds. Emmie was just a darling little girl, and I loved her relationship with Fiona. Trevor was a dear soul, despite his occassional mouthy moods.

4 1/2 stars for the book. On the 1-10 scale, I'd give the book
a 9.7.

One Golden Ring is the best romance (historical or otherwise) I have read in a long time. I loved the main characters as well as the supporting cast (especially Trevor and Verity). Effective balance with action, character development and romance. Some of the negative comments here must be from people who want their romances to read like history books. I prefer mine to have interesting characters and an involving romantic relationship.

Make a bargin with the devil and hope for the best: Only its not the devil as much as a devilish handsome gentlemen with plans of his own. This was my first Cheryl Bolen book and it was quite good.

There are several plot summaries here in other reviews, so I will just give me review. The book was cute. I enjoyed the characters and finding out what happened to Fiona from "The Counterfeit Countess." The main characters, Fiona and Nicholas, were fairly well developed individually as were most of the secondary characters and the book is a very quick read. What I felt it lacked was something to really pull me into the story. There wasn't much dialogue between Fiona and Nick. I couldn't really figure out what they loved about each other except romantically. I thought the secondary romance plot was pretty thin. As someone else pointed out there were several grammar errors and, indeed, the daughter of a Viscount is never referred to as "my lady." It is funny that it is mentioned over and over again that she is a lady...much more than the average romance novel...when she really wouldn't be one. Even Nick's daughter calls her "My Lady" and not her name - but I can overlook these things. I just had trouble getting into the story and kept waiting for a climax that, I felt, never came. I assume there will be a third book at least that will tie up some of the loose ends left with this book - and Miss Peabody still needs a mate! I do look forward to reading it. I cannot say I disliked this book, but cannot really recommend it like some of Bolen's other works. I feel "The Counterfit Countess" was much better.

1 star for effort. This book turned me off from the first. I hate authors who have not even done enough research to know that the daughter of a Viscount is addressed as the Honourable Miss .... NOT Lady ... The second strike aginst this book was poor grammar from someone who purports to have been an English teacher. Strike three was the out of period behaviour of the female protaganist. Please, Ms. Bolen, if you want to write about a 21st century overgrown teenager set the book in modern dress.