Customer Reviews

Roses and Champagne (Ulverscroft Large Print Series)

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

 

 

Back Cover: "WILL HE EVER SEE HOW SHE REALLY FEELS?....Katrina Gibson has known Lucius Massey all her life, and her childish hero worship has grown into a comfortable, warm friendship.
They're so at ease in their friendship that a pretend engagement to each other to teach Katrina's selfish (spoiled) sister Virginia a lesson strikes both as a worthwhile but harmless idea.
Yet as more and more people congratulate Katrina on her match, a mysterious sadness begins to creep into her heart...."

This book is especially pleasing because it is like a breath of fresh air while still being a satisfying example of Ms. Neels' artful formulaic writing. The heroine in the story is the familiar older sibling who has taken on responsibility beyond her years, and who has done so without hesitation or complaint and with grace, courage, warmth and humility. This heroine, however, comes from a family with sufficient money and has a longtime best friend who is the hero....and the hero ISN'T A DOCTOR ! :) The hero has of course seen her great heart and worth and uses his wits and his patience to await her awakening to her true feelings for him.
Though deviating substantially from her more familiar formulas, the book is completely charming and fun.

The reviewer from GA has the plot description. In this book Lucius is a businessman and Katrina is a book illustrator. I find that I dislike Ms. Neels' stories when the nasty, and in this one the sister is nasty, relatives are catered to. Not only that but Katrina loves her despite the sister's selfishness. When I read Betty Neels' books with this type of relative I just want to scream. If that doesn't bother you, give it another star.

In the OED beside the definition of the word "spineless", there should be a picture of the heroine of this book. Actually, it seems inappropriate to call her a heroine because she does nothing at all positive or active. She is always the one acted upon. However, I can't remember her name although I've just read it so she is "heroine."

Let's see, she is twenty-seven (but looks ten years younger). The hero is thirty-four (but looks younger). Her sister, Virginia, is twenty (how old does she look, ten?) She raised Virginia after their parents death and made a complete hash of it. Of course no one ever acknowledges that the person who would have had the most influence on Virginia's character is her only sister. Virginia is spoiled, ill tempered, and without morals or manners. She is verbally and psychologically abusive to her sister, rude to her neighbors and we are asked to believe that because she is beautiful everyone puts up with it. Her sister responds by giving her money to buy things.

At some point before the story starts the heroine asks her neighbor and childhood friend, Lucian, to squire Virginia around and try to pry off some social barnacles. Lucian, obligingly does. Then the heroine gets upset because Lucian does what she asks. Lucian after a while indicates that he does not intend to marry Virginia. When the story opens the heroine is furious at Lucian because he has broken Virginia heart-- as if the little baggage had one! She seems to have forgotten that he ws only taking Virginia around because she asked him to do so.

The hero also has his problems though. His interest is in the sister that he can mould to his tastes. He is extremely manipulative as he manipulates the heroine into a "fake" engagement. This requires him to take her to London to pick out clothes-- indeed he guides her toward what he wants her to wear. He is possessive when another man comes around and manipulates the situation so that she is not home when the other man is to call. He manipulates her into a Greek holidy. He does everything but sit down and have a heart to heart talk about feelings. Probably it would have been no use though since the heroine is such a dimbulb.

Of course there is a Big Misunderstanding, that fortunately lasts only a few pages. It is precipitated by Virginia, back from her honeymoon just in time to try to rain on her sister's parade.

I wanted to grab the whole lot of the characters in this book and shake some sense into them-- hard.

I have fallen in love with Betty Neels' books just recently. Lucius reminds me of a precursor to the alpha males we read about in the Harlequin Presents series. He is bossy and pretty good at planning how to keep Katrina in his sight. I don't see Katrina as spineless, but just like most of Ms. Neels ' heroines, simply clueless to what is going on around her. Sometimes, I do wish these people would just open up and get to the point, but then, we wouldn't have a book to read. I enjoyed the story very much and am looking forward to reading her other books.

I love every book that I have read so far by this lady. The theme is mostly the same in each book, doctor with a nurse or a plain Jane, but the story is very good and just so pure and simple that it give the reader a good feeling for having read it. Just wish that they were all on Kindle.

This is my very favorite Betty Neels book. I have read it many many times.