Customer Reviews

Return to Summerhouse (Thorndike Core)

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Jude Deveraux wrote such a wonderful surprise of a novel in "Summerhouse" that I was eagerly awaiting a sequel. But if you're hoping for a sequel that is as good as the original, this is not it. The only thing similar is that the characters go to the summerhouse. There is some time travel, but there are no characters that are as loveable as in the original story and a lot more casual love-making. This sequel was a big disappointment to me.

They say there are only so many stories to be told. Certainly in the romance genre, one expects an author as prolific as Jude Deveraux to return to the same well more than once.

Deveraux has set up CAMP next to the well, with a stand selling bottled well water.

Here are two things I wish she'd stop already:

1. Mystery plots. Deveraux is a romance novelist--period. She cannot construct a solid mystery, and the solution always involves some garbage she makes up in the end that no one ever could have surmised from the story. That's like playing Hangman where you make up your own words. She likes to drop coy mentions via her "writer" heroines about how novelists usually don't know what will happen to their characters ahead of time. Yeah, obviously, Jude.

2. Time travel. This really has not worked since "Knight in Shining Armor" and "Wishes," where the plot was linear. This convoluted mess where the heroine goes back in time and lives the reality of someone else who IS her, but ISN'T her, but may be RELATED to her, is a headache.

Does anyone else remember when her books actually had sex scenes? And whole plots about falling in love? That's what I want to read, and not this midlife crisis wish fulfillment that I suspect is the author practicing self-therapy. (A third thing I wish she'd stop is intrusively injecting herself into her books.)

Deveraux borrows liberally and shamelessly not only from her other books, but among storylines within the same series. Two of six heroines in Summerhouse nursed a chronically ill husband while being abused by his thankless parents. Three hooked up with men who were too rich to be an "appropriate" match. (Not just rich. Unbelievably, shockingly rich, with access to limitless funds.) Two played the obsessively devoted wife and mother. Most of them discover that they are talented--prodigiously so--in artistic endeavors they have never tried before, and for which there's no precedent.

The author does attempt to break the mold with the "Goth girl," Zoe, but then fails to flesh out the character and follow through. In fact, all of her characters talk and act the same way once she's introduced them by way of a few stereotypes. Occasionally she'll remind you of their archetype by having them bake muffins or something.

**Spoilers ahead.**

Then there are all the dropped plot threads. How did Amy resolve her personal tragedy that was introduced in Chapter One? Why didn't Faith and Zoe ever get business cards after the significance was underscored? (And couldn't Deveraux have been a little more...writerly about the complicity of Jeanne and Madame Zoya, instead of lobbing it at the reader in one contrived lump?) Madame Zoya's "rules for time travel" are all over the place, and Deveraux does a clumsy job of blending them into the dialogue.

Another reviewer mentioned that the characters tend to interrupt each others' stories and turn the subject to themselves. They sure do, and it makes them all annoying. Not *all* the exposition has to happen as a conversation over various lobster salads and blueberry desserts.

Here's what Jude Deveraux still does well: Picturesque descriptions of other time periods. Clothes, food, shopping, and decor, all of which appeal to women's fantasies. The woman who sweeps in and capably "fixes it all," winning her hero's adoration.

For those reasons, I probably could have forgiven her, until I read that trite stink-bomb of an ending. Once again she does a crash conclusion and crams 50 percent of the story into the final chapters, leaving the reader dazed and betrayed. How the hell did all THAT happen?

A good friend tells you what you need to hear, even when you don't want to hear it. So does a good editor, and Jude Deveraux needs one--that is, if she wants to be great again and not keep banking on her (decidedly) former glory.

Give us back to the Montgomerys and the historical romance formula. It's what made you.

I finished the book in one day and I love it! After a few not-so-great books, it seems that Jude Deveraux finally got her groove back. The book included lots of elements from her previous stories told, which made her a household name.

If you enjoyed the first book, "The Summerhouse," then you would most probably love "Return to Summerhouse." The book kept the original theme from "Summerhouse", which were three women who needed a good change in their present lives. This time though, Jude Deveraux mixed in some elements from her novel, "A Knight in Shining Armor," and the book flowed.

There is romance, humor, and even a bit of history in this. ALMOST a historical romance. And I found that I liked most of the characters in this story: Amy, Zoe, Faith, Russell, Tristan, and ESPECIALLY Stephen. (I mean, every women in the story swooned at the sight of Stephen's picture, right? *joke*)

Anyhow, give the book a read. It has been years since Jude Deveraux came out with such an entertaining book. Glad she got her groove back!

I'm blown away by all the five star ratings this book has received. There are certain authors I can usually count on to give me a good read. Jude Deveraux, Judith McNaught, Lavyrle Spencer, Lesa Kleypas, Teresa Medeiros, and Julie Garwood are a few. It's true that I haven't had much time to read lately, so maybe when I picked up a new book from a "favorite," my expectations were too high. Or maybe I haven't read any Jude Deveraux books lately and my tastes have changed. The biggest surprise was that I didn't feel drawn in during ANY part of the book.

I was annoyed by the way the three women would talk about each of their lives in response to something one of the other women would say. It made it hard to follow. I understand that the author was giving the reader more background, but it reminded me of a person who always make another person's tragedy about herself, or a person who always turns a conversation to her own life when it's not appropriate. This made the characters less likeable. Although, I suppose this self-involvement trend did kind of continue in the 18th century when each wasn't exactly caring how the other two were doing.

The reason I'm compelled to write a lukewarm review about this book (I've never written a review before) is because I didn't feel drawn-in during ANY part of it, and I'm not used to that from an author I can usually count on. I may need to revisit one of Jude Deveraux's books that I enjoyed to see if she has changed or I have changed.

Lena

SPOILER ALERT:

I also agree with a review another person wrote that said we weren't able to get to know any of the male characters. And they all end up with different men in the end than those we did get to know?!? Sorry, but the fact that each of the men they end up with is a descendant of those we got to know (at least, for Amy and Zoe) does not count. They are different people. And did anyone else have a problem with the fact that Amy and Zoe changed things so that they were distantly related to their husbands by setting up their 18th century men with their own ancestors? I guess it was supposed to give us comfort in the fact that the men they left behind weren't left completely heartbroken. It added ick factor, if anything.

The other thing I found incongruous is the way everyone seemed to "know" things. Amy just knew there was more to Faith's relationship with Ty. She knew that Faith and Zoe were supposed to come with her. She knew how to run the house. Everyone in the 18th century knew they'd be leaving soon. Tristan knew he and Amy were meant to be together (even though they don't end up together). Russell knew he and Zoe were meant to be together (even though they don't end up together). It was annoying, who likes a know-it-all?

Loved the book. Also read it within the day. Couldn't put it down. I wanted to find out what happened to the heroines. It's about three woman who's lives are " off the rails" and they need to find a way to get them back on track. A great and easy read. Classic Jude

This magical story involves three women given a chance to change their lives, if they suspend "common sense" and step out of their patterned existence. They each have a chance to go back and make different choices, if they choose to. And the three women who were once so different learn what happens when they reach out and help each other. A very satisfying read. For something different and unique, my new favorite: ARROWS THROUGH TIME: A Time Travel Tale of Adventure, Courage, and Faith.

Jude has done it again! I love her books and each one leaves me thirsting for the next. I had to remind myself several times that I was reading a fiction, not a non-fiction book. She is that believing in the way she writes.

I read Summerhouse and I really didn't believe that Ms. Deveraux could top it, but Return to Summerhouse is even better. This book made me laugh and cry and I couldn't wait to see what Amy would do next and how Faith and Zoe would respond to her. To add to the joy of reading this book, were the three-dimensional male characters.

While reading, I grew more emotionally involved in the plot and Amy's quest to save Tristan, who lived in another century. When Amy, Faith, and Zoe were transported back in time by Madame Zoya to save Tristan, I was too.

I'm a huge fan of Jude Deveraux, I found the first novel "The Summerhouse" enjoyable, but I was floored with this novel. I personally love Time-Travel books and I feel that Deveraux does an exceptional job.
I like that in this novel they return to the 16th century. I like how she connects everything together, she did the same thing with her novel "Rememberance", which is by far my favorite of all her novels. So if you are looking for next great read, I recommend that you read this novel and "Remberance".

I enjoyed this book, but myonly critique would be is that Jude continues to write in the time travel mode. Why doesn't she return to her roots back to the family who made a household name. I would also like more in the story regarding the other two ladies who are written about in the book.