Customer Reviews

Portrait Of My Heart

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I will definitely buy any book written by Patricia Cabot. This sequel to her first book is marvelous. I love Jeremy and Maggie. Childhood sweethearts. It was so romantic. I remember reading in the first book how Maggie was the bane of Jeremy's existence. How he couldn't retaliate against her because she was a "girl". Now he is taller than her and stronger. I read this book twice. Oh to have someone like Jeremy. He is so funny. He just wouldn't let Maggie go. The way he assumed she would say yes when he first asked her to marry him and she laughed in his face. I love it. I can't wait until Patricia comes out with another book!!! I hope it's another sequel because I so love seeing Pegeen and Edward again. And Pegeen and Edward are still romantic. Pegeen is pregnant again with her seventh child indicating Edward still cannot keep his hands off her as in the first book. I hope if she writes a sequel we will still see Jeremy and Maggie as well as Edward and Pegeen.

It was their fight scenes that got me....no it was Maggie's fierce temper and complete panic at the thought of being a duchess....no no it was Jeremy's adorable singleminded determination to have Maggie period...no it was the dog she named after him because she missed him so much. It was all of those things and more such as great dialogue and even better love scenes. Jeremy's happy resignation at the thought of having to wed a compromised Mags was topped in comedic effect only by his dismay at the idea that Edward wasn't going to force them to be married. Maggie's attempts to disuade Jeremy's pursuit were very entertaining to see. Ms.Cabot has a real talent for creating stories that are a delight read and cause an appetite for more of the same.

To the author's credit, the book's part one has the feel of adolescence. Two childhood adversaries fantasize. Maggie Herbert dreams of studying art in Paris, where she will be a famous painter. Jeremy Rawlings dreams of mystical India, where he will be a first-rate soldier in the queen's Horse Guards. An embarrassing situation turns fantasy into reality.

Years pass and our two visionaries achieved their dreams. Maggie is an accepted artist and Jeremy is a decorated military hero. Simultaneously, they come back to England, and discover they can no longer deny their denied passion.

First introduced in Cabot's WHERE ROSES GROW WILD, "Mags" and "Jerry" evolve from childhood rivals into sultry lovers. Patricia Cabot paves the road to love using gentle humor, thus rescuing her story. Jeremy Rawlings, the Duke of Rawlings' personality is taxing - the world revolves around him. Maggie is a little dense - HE can't possibly love me. Nevertheless, Cabot fills the pages with effective comedy, and the reader will enjoy the lighter moments.

Problem areas:
* Jeremy's insane obsession to get Maggie into his bed.
* Maggie's inability to accept Jeremy's surrender.
* The entire business surrounding the mistaken "Jewel of Jaipur".

MaryGrace Meloche.

This wonderful story picks up some characters from a previous story, Where the Roses Grow Wild. I almost didn't read it because of the other reviews, but they are wrong! The characters are fully developed, and there are innocent misunderstandings that cause all kinds of mayhem (naturally), there's some great humor; just a charming and delightful story as delicious as her others. (I did think the Star of Jaipur subplot was a little dopey, but hey, the rest of the book was great!)

I found this book a delightful read. I, myself, am not at all fond of the tearjerker, cliche, or otherwise tasteless romance novels, which is why I typically steer clear of them. But this is a light-hearted novel that really fills a reader with a poignanat, sweet, and lamentful feeling(lamentful because romance can't really be like that). I suppose today's society has taken it's toll and fills oneself with a cynical attitude, but I literally laughed out loud of some of the ridiculous measures taken by the characters and the strange situations they found themselves in. Anyone who says this book has no substance but a laugh has little appreciation for the substance of humor. People are often very much like the two characters: impatient, "rushy", and very very stubborn. But when reading about characters like that, they tend to ridicule and say, "Now that's not believable. Why dont' they just. . . .It could be over so much quicker if. . ." Human being are not perfect(GASP). Our imperfections make a wonderful read. It's easy to guess the ending (they get married), but just to see them get there is hilarious. The characters are very believable and Cabot's humor is witty and charming. I recomend this book to anyone who wants to read about the whims of the human heart.

This book is silly fun. That's it really. Two immature people circling each other, both crazy about each other but just couldn't say the three words for no particular reason. It's fun, breezy to read, and there are many laugh-out-loud scenes.

If only there is more substance to the fun. *sigh*

Maggie and Jeremy are the best. I only hope that they have some children or that Ms. Cabot has thought about writing something with little Elizabeth. I could not believe that Maggie thought that Jeremy was going to let her go without a fight. If you are considering buying only one book this month one should be it.

This book was such a good read---I'll buy anything she writes now without even looking at the back cover.

In 1871 England, Oxford tosses out Jeremy Ralwings for dueling. His being removed from the university should not surprise anyone since Eton and Harrow previously threw him out of their schools too. When Jeremy sees his childhood pal Maggie Herbert for the first time in years, he ends up compromising her. Though she has always loved Jeremy, Maggie wants nothing to do with the rascal he currently is. Instead of accepting his proposal, she leaves for Paris to study painting. Jeremy joins the military and serves in India.

Five years later, Jeremy returns to England with one objective in mind: to win the heart of Maggie, who already has a fiancé. An Indian princess also arrives in England, claiming to be Jeremy's intended. Her portrait of him, which she used as a catharsis to free herself, appears in a gallery. Scandal and a love rectangle ensues which shocks prim and proper Victorian England. However, Jeremy is not in the least perturbed as he continues his bull headed campaign to win back the heart of his beloved.

The sequel to the warm WHERE ROSES GROW WILD, PORTRAIT OF MY HEART, is a charming, witty, and complex Victorian romance that will thrill sub-genre readers. The jocular story line is filled with fun and authenticity. However, it is the motives and actions of the fully developed characters that make Patricia Cabot's novel an entertaining tale that will bring much deserved acclaim to the author.

Harriet Klausner

Jeremy, the young and rakish Duke of Rawlings has just been sent down for the final time from Oxford for killing a man in a duel. (Granted, the dead man in question was a cad and hanger-on who deserved his fate, but we digress.) Dueling is illegal and Jeremy must leave the country after being berated and lectured, of course, by his Uncle Edward and saying goodbye to his Aunt Pegeen. Before he leaves, he takes a ride and runs into his old childhood chum, Maggie Herbert. As children, Maggie and Jeremy had been unseparable. His pal Maggie had been a gangly, awkward child. The Maggie he meets has blossomed in all the right places and before you know it, youthful hormones flare and the two end up in the barn. Just as things start getting really heated up, the pair are interrupted, but the ensuing scandal banishes the pair to separate corners of the world: Jeremy in India and Maggie in Paris.

Five years pass and Jeremy is back from India, a decorated soldier whose exploits have titillated Victorian England. Maggie is now a portrait painter engaged to another man. Jeremy's back, he's mad and he wants his Maggie back. This time for good. What follows is a story that is hysterically funny, clever and tender. The interaction between these two stubborn characters is a joy to read. Add to the mix a cast of secondary characters from the devious Indian Princess Usha to Maggie's long suffering fiancé, Augustin, to Jeremy's wonderful family, and you end up with a book that is sure to remain in your keeper shelf!

TheSchemer