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67 of 70 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
WOW! Great sequel to Whitney, My Love!, June 22, 2000
I can surely say this is one of the very few sequels to a book that I was extremely happy with. This is the story of the Earl of Langford, Stephen Westmoreland. He is the brother of Clayton Westmoreland, the Duke of Claymore, who is the hero in the first book, "Whitney, My Love". The heroine from "Until You" is Sheridan Bromleigh, she's an American who is sent to be an escort to Charise Lancaster. Charise is to marry a Lord Burleton when she arrives in London, a match made by her father. But on the way, she elopes with a stranger. Now Sheridan is frantic with worry over the predicament she's now in. Stephen comes to the pier to meet Charise Lancaster and to tell her of the unfortunate death of Lord Burleton. Sheridan is the woman he sees coming to him off the ship, so he assumes she is Charise. He blurts out what's happened and as she turns away, a cargo net hits her in the head. She wakes up 3 days later with no memory and everyone is calling her Charise Lancaster! The story is funny and witty and romantic. Many appearances are put in by Whitney and Clayton from "Whitney, My love" and from Nicki. Stephen reminds me of Clayton alot in this story. He is commanding and sexy. The problems he runs into with Sheridan remind me of the problems Clayton had with Whitney a little, that was my only complaint. The story was like a rollar-coaster of emotions. One time you're smiling, the next time you feel heartfelt sympathy for the characters. It keeps you turing the pages. Judith McNaught is a wonderful author who is new to me. She brings heartfelt emotion to her stories like no other. Many authors strive to attain what she has, but fall short. This is a wonderful example of her work. Also try her others from this family-The Westmorelands. "Whitney, My Love" which is first, then this book "Until You", and last, "Kingdom of Dreams"; which is the story of the first Westmorelands. Also, there is a short story for those interested in what happens to Nicki. It is in a book of short stories called "A Holiday of Love", the story is called "Miracles". There are also other stories in it by Jude Deveraux. Hope this helps anyone! =)
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16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Not as memorable or as riveting as her other books..., November 22, 2005
Judith McNaught's regency romances all have one thing in common: alpha males that for some reason or other are love cynics and misogynists whose lives change the minute they meet that one special woman who defy them with their wild spirits. McNaught novels have another thing in common: misunderstandings, misunderstandings, misunderstandings. It has so far been the McNaught signature in her novels, or at least in her regencies. Until You, the sequel to Whitney, My Love, isn't an exception to that formula. In Whitney, Stephen was a charming, flirtatious fellow who helped his brother and Whitney through their obstacles. He seemed so refreshing and so unlike McNaught's signature heroes that I couldn't wait to read Until You. However, I was disappointed to see that Stephen is pretty much like the other male protagonists in this effort. In this novel, Stephen becomes a callous, cynical type after he obtains various titles and inherits several estates from an uncle. He feels women only want him for his titles and wealth, but his life changes when he accidentally kills a man with his carriage and has the unfortunate responsibility of telling the man's fiancée what happened. But the man's fiancée suffers an accident at the pier where the ship docks and she loses her memory as a result. Stephen is instantly lustful for her. However, neither he nor the American beauty knows that she is actually the fiancée's chaperone. There are various twists throughout the novel.
It would have been great if Stephen had been a nice, uncomplicated man and Sheridan was the one who gave him a hard time for a change, kind of like A Kingdom of Dreams (except that Royce was the typical McNaught alpha male), but the author had other ideas. It seems to me that she only knows how to write one type of hero. Stephen here is completely different from the way he was in Whitney, My Love. He was good in the beginning though, when he was concerned for Sherry and wanted to be as accommodating as possible, but things take an unpleasant detour when the misunderstandings reach a head and he is as nasty as the other heroes in the other novels. The author tried to convince the reader that Sheridan was a spirited, no-nonsense heroine, but aside from a few scenes in which she puts Stephen in his place, she is nothing but a ninny to me who lets Stephen treat her like a common prostitute. The whole thing about her wanting him to forget about his mistress (though he'd obviously forgotten about her) during their second love scene left a bad taste in my mouth. Why couldn't she just tell him up front that she was unhappy about the mistress? That is where the "ninny" part comes in. Sherry made me roll my eyes almost as much as Stephen did. I came to the conclusion that these two characters were simply dumb. Anyway, despite those poor points, the novel did keep me riveted from cover to cover, just like all of the other McNaught novels. They made me feel emotions and kept me wanting to know whether they'd work things out in the end. Like other readers, I was upset that Stephen never uttered "I love you" in the novel. The author made it clear that he did in fact love Sherry, but the readers want to read those three little words anyway. His uttering "until you" instead of "I love you" wasn't good enough for me. As for the secondary characters, I was glad to see that all of the couples from the previous McNaught regencies were in this one and that they were Stephen's friends. Whitney and Clayton have secondary roles here and I was happy to read about them again. But since they are only secondary characters here, they don't show that spirit and passion that characterized them in Whitney, My Love. All in all, compared to the other novels, Until You is a middling read. It wasn't as emotionally driven as Once and Always and Something Wonderful and the protagonists weren't as memorable as the ones in Whitney, My Love and A Kingdom of Dreams. This is probably the last I'll read of the Westmorelands and I shall miss them. I do look forward to reading the novelette about Nicholas DuVille, one of my favorite characters of this series. I hope McNaught hadn't turned him into another "wounded soul" as well. I love the aforementioned heroes, but a little variety wouldn't hurt. I'll miss McNaught regencies and I'll give her contemporary efforts a whirl. She is one of my favorite romance authors and I must read all of her stuff.
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Better than Whitney My Love!, August 13, 2000
I've read this book more than once and it's one of the few romances that's left an impression on me. It's my absolute favourite! I think what makes it SO good is the characters especially Stephen! He's my dream man! Judith McNaught does a wonderful job of making you fall in love with him and Sheridan. I loved every single part of the book, except when Stephen was angry with Sheridan because he thought she lied to him. By the way, that seems like kind of a trend with Judith Mcnaught, having the heroes think that the heroines are brilliant actresses who lied to them? Anyway, all I gotta say is do not pass this one up! It will make you laugh and cry, and if you like it read Whitney My Love too (although in my opinion it's not as good). However Stephen is so adorable in it!
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