Private Arrangements [Mass Market Paperback]

Sherry Thomas (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 25, 2008

Love has designs of its own.…

To all of London society, Lord and Lady Tremaine had the ideal arrangement: a marriage based on civility, courteousness, and freedom—by all accounts, a perfect marriage. The reason? For the last ten years, husband and wife have resided on separate continents.

But once upon a time, things were quite different for the Tremaines….When Gigi Rowland first laid eyes on Camden Saybrook, the attraction was immediate and overwhelming. But what began in a spark of passion ended in betrayal the morning after their wedding—and now Gigi wants to be free to marry again. When Camden returns from America with an outrageous demand in exchange for her freedom, Gigi’s decision will have consequences she never imagined, as secrets are exposed, desire is rekindled—and one of London’s most admired couples must either fall in love all over again…or let each other go forever.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Deft plotting and sparkling characters mark this superior debut historical. Camden Saybrook, Lord Tremaine, returns to late 19th-century England to confront his wife, Gigi, about her petition for divorce. Still bitter from Gigi's machinations to snare him as her husband, Camden will grant the divorce under one condition—Gigi must give him an heir within a year. Sparks fly as the two embark on heated attempts to put the bun in the oven, despite Gigi's fear that her next conquest, the insipid Lord Frederick, will discover her duplicitously lusty reunion. A captivating subplot emerges when Gigi's mother, Mrs. Rowland, sets her own plan in motion for Gigi's next nuptials. Thomas propels the plot forward with revealing repartee and gives the leads real nuance. Intelligent and forthright with honorable hidden qualities, Lady Tremaine makes an exceptional heroine, and her deceptions are believably attributed to a desire for self-preservation in a sexist society. The results are steamy and smart. (Mar.)
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Review

~ One of the Best Books of the Year (Publishers Weekly)

~ Double-nominated for the prestigious RITA Award for Best First Book and Best Historical Romance

~ Best Historical Romance of 2008 (Tie; Romance Buy the Book)

~ WINNER of the Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice Award for Best First Historical Romance

“A love story of remarkable depth…Entrancing from start to finish.”—Mary Balogh, New York Times bestselling author
 
“Exquisite, enchanting…An extraordinary, unputdownable love story.”—Jane Feather, New York Times bestselling author
 
"Ravishingly sinful, intelligent and addictive. An amazing debut."—Eloisa James, New York Times bestselling author
 
"Sherry Thomas is the most powerfully original historical romance author writing today. She is a rebel, a rule-breaker, and above all, a romantic. Searing, tender and filled with passion, her writing is nothing short of a revelation. Private Arrangements clearly heralds the beginning of a dazzling career, and I am looking forward to more brilliantly told romances from this accomplished writer."—Lisa Kleypas, New York Times bestselling author
 
“[A] superb debut, Private Arrangements…will win readers over with its elegant writing, exceptional characterization, expertly detailed late Victorian setting and exquisitely romantic love story.”—Chicago Tribune

“Deft plotting and sparkling characters mark this superior debut historical…Steamy and smart.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review
 
“Thomas tantalizes readers as she skillfully peels away the layers of Cam and Gigi's relationship in an enchanting, thought-provoking story of love lost and ultimately reclaimed. Lively banter, electric sexual tension, and an unusual premise make this stunning debut all the more refreshing. Thomas is a writer worth watching.”—Library Journal, starred review
 
"A dazzling debut...a beautifully written, sizzling, captivating love story...Her compelling tale of love betrayed and then reborn will make you sigh with pleasure." –Romantic Times, 4 1/2-star review
 
"Sherry Thomas breathes new life into the historical genre with her rich, sensual tale of estranged lovers finding the love that first brought them together….You’ll not want to be interrupted once you start."--Jane Litte, DearAuthor.com
 
"I loved every single minute I spent reading it."--Sandy Coleman, AllAboutRomance.com
 
“So if you've worried (as I have) about the future of historical romance, just remember two words: Sherry Thomas. Readers, don't miss this one. It's a keeper and be very thankful that historical romance has a new, shining star."--TheRomanceReader.com
 
“A superior historical romance….The author’s writing style is excellent throughout this book….Her characters are vividly portrayed, faults and all….Well worth a read.”—Curled Up With a Good Book
 
"This is an excellent story and one you need to pick up and experience for yourself." -- RomanceJunkies.com
 
"Sherry Thomas has woven a wonderful tale of regrets and secret desires. Her characters are realistic and complex. Private Arrangements is definitely worth reading." -- NightOwlRomance.com
 
"Captivating, a rich and luscious romantic treat."--Romance B(u)y the Book
 
"Once readers meet Gigi and Camden, they won't want to put this book down."-- Romance Reviews Today
 
“A deeply involving story….I loved the complicated plot and the subplot of Gigi’s mother and the Duke of Perrin. The author does a wonderful job of recreating the late Victorian era and her characters are vividly real. This author is definitely one to look for.”—Coffee Time Romance
 
“Private Arrangements is the best romance of the year...Sherry Thomas has made me fall in love with historical romance again.”—The Mystic Castle

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Bantam (March 25, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0440244315
• ISBN-13: 978-0440244318
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (83 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #736,755 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Sherry Thomas burst onto the scene with PRIVATE ARRANGEMENTS, a Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2008. Her sophomore book, DELICIOUS, is a Library Journal Best Romance of 2008. Her next two books, NOT QUITE A HUSBAND and HIS AT NIGHT, were back-to-back winners of Romance Writers of America's prestigious RITA Award for Best Historical Romance in 2010 and 2011. Lisa Kleypas calls her "the most powerfully original historical romance author working today."


Her story is all the more interesting given that English is Sherry's second language--she has come a long way from the days when she made her laborious way through Rosemary Roger's Sweet Savage Love with an English-Chinese dictionary. She enjoys creating stories. And when she is not writing, she thinks about the zen and zaniness of her profession, plays computer games with her sons, and reads as many fabulous books as she can find.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

72 of 85 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Unlikeable characters do not equal a "breakthrough" book, April 18, 2008

By 

Aislinn Jones (Atlanta, GA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Private Arrangements (Mass Market Paperback)

I'm so glad I did not buy this book but instead got it from the library. I was eager to read it after the reviews on All About Romance and the Romantic Times Book Review: "Groundbreaking!" "Desert Island Keeper!" "Not Your Ordinary Romance!" I must disagree with the reviewers. Okay, the last superlative is true - it isn't an ordinary romance. Thank goodness, too, otherwise I would never read romance novels.

Set in late Victorian times Gigi, Lady Tremaine, seeks a divorce from Camden after 10 years of marriage. Their marriage actually ended after the wedding night and the two have been living entirely separate lives on separate continents since then. The story is bisected chapter by chapter between their courtship ten years ago and "current" times of 1893. In essence, Gigi was a scheming young woman hungry for a title. After meeting Camden, she fell in "love" and turned her scheming to get him to marry him despite his expressed love in another woman. After some trickery, she gets her wish but the plan unravels on the wedding day and Camden departs swearing vengeance upon her.

Ten years later, Gigi is now in "love" with the talented but dim Freddy and wishes to end her farce of a marriage. Camden arrives in answer to her divorce petition and says he will allow it ... so long as she gives him a year-long opportunity to get an heir off of her. Gigi agrees and now these two people are forced to deal with one another and ten year's worth of lies, deceptions, and hurt feelings.

The first two chapters were excellent - I was immediately sucked into Gigi and Camden's story. Things began to go downhill as Gigi's character was shown to be relentlessly selfish. Camden was likeable in the courtship chapters, but his cruel coldness in the other chapters soon made that initial impression a distant memory. Both Gigi and Camden are amazingly good at self-deception. A bone is tossed toward redeeming Gigi's character a little through her charity work, but this does not evidence itself in her daily dealings. I kept waiting for these characters to develop beyond amorality, but it never occurred. The "love" between the characters came across as twisted lust with no deeper emotion. Bottom line: these are not good nor nice people. I never found myself wanting to cheer for them. I only thought they deserved each other in the sense of "good riddance."

I enjoy reading novels with complex and flawed characters, but this was not it. The love scenes were uncomfortable and as dysfunctional as the characters. There weren't even redeeming secondary characters - the romance between Gigi's mother and a duke was just as deceitful as the main storyline. The storyline of past loves finding redemption again - with complex characters and everything - has been done better by other authors (see Eloisa James, Mary Balogh, Mary Jo Putney). I think Ms. Thomas has potential as an author, but this book did not display it well.

My recommendation: pass on this one.

30 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Yes, a great book, but just a reminder about a few problems, April 2, 2008

By 

Kathy Kaiser - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Private Arrangements (Mass Market Paperback)

I'm definitely not going to give 'Private Arrangements' low marks because it is a very well-written debut. I agree with the other reviewers in regard to the positive points of this book: great dialogue, wonderful period details, involving story, in-depth character development. But, here are a few of the bothersome aspects for me as a quick reminder before you plunge into this story - and the reason I didn't give this five stars. Thomas jumps back and forth between past and present too much...especially the first 100 pages. I quickly got tired of having to re-orient myself at the beginning of every chapter. I would get into the story and then be ripped out of it to try to remember the details of each time period. Very exhausting. Thomas should have stuck with one time frame for more than a chapter. And, here's another nit-picking detail. Maybe it only bothers me. But, Gigi has "torrid" affairs (Thomas' word, not mine) with other men during the ten years of her marriage to Camden. Yes, they are living apart, and Thomas wants to give Gigi equal-opportunity sexual adventures like she gives Camden, but it seemed that there was no remorse, no sadness about this, no apology at all for these affairs. While Camden also has sexual encounters with women, he feels badly about them and expresses that. I don't think there is one time in the book when Gigi feels badly about her infidelity. That bothered me. Made me not respect her as a character as much. But, I tried to ignore those details, and when I did, thoroughly enjoyed this impressive debut.

22 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars good writing style, unlikeable characters, April 21, 2008

By 

Sri Carapiet "bookworm" (NoVa) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Private Arrangements (Mass Market Paperback)

I would give high marks for Sherry Thomas' writing ability & style, unfortunately her main characters were truly unlikeable, they completely ruined the book for me.

I like flawed characters as much as the next reader who appreciates a good book, but these two characters have no redeeming qualities whatsoever in my eyes. Sure, Gigi makes a BIG mistake by lying in order to get Camden to marry her. She was a spoiled rich 19 year old with a pushy mother who will make beauty pageant stage mothers weep. So I get where she's from. Plus Gigi humbles herself repeatedly in front of Camden in order to beg for his forgiveness, and suffers humiliation and pain everytime Camden rejects her efforts cruelly out of spite. Camden, well... is another story. He holds on to a grudge for 10 years, then when she finally gets tired of their sham marriage and wants to move on, he comes back huffing and puffing, dropping cruel insults to her every chance he gets, and expects her to start melting the moment he shows up and touches her. Sounds pretty immature and childish, doesn't it? But even a child knows how to move on quick enough.

It was SHE who pursues him all through the end and basically drops everything to prove her love for him, while he hasn't shown anything whatsoever about his so-called love for her. But then again, I was just too relieved that I reached the end by then, I couldn't care less about the two of them anymore.

Having said all of that, I will most likely pick up Sherry Thomas' next book, because I do like her writing style. Hopefully she gets better at characterization next time.