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13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
No Endearing Heroine Here, January 30, 2005
This review is from: Lady in Waiting (Warner Forever) (Mass Market Paperback)
Setting - Bath, England 1817 --- Working as a lady's maid for the Featherton sisters, Jenny Penny, the illegitimate daughter of an English baron had no idea that a `face cream' she'd concocted for her ladies would be used and gaining untold popularity as a `tingle' cream used in the lower extremities. This same cream was very much sought by the highborn ladies and gentlemen of the ton. Never did she ever realize that while modeling a gown for her employers she'd be mistaken for, and caught up into a scheme of impersonating a highborn lady. Jenny's life had certainly taking an odd turn, though after attracting the attention and admiration of the Scottish Viscount, Lord Callum Argyll, she was more than willing to continue the masquerade.
Naturally, playing the part of a lady required dressing like one and luckily the sale of her homemade facial cream, now the infamous "tingle" cream, was the means to an end in affording her passion of paying for her shopping sprees in Bath's most exclusive shops. With the ladies Featherton encouraging her romance with Lord Argyll, it seemed like a dream come true but, it would be only a matter of time before someone slipped and the truth be known - that Jenny Penny was only a `lady in waiting'!
*** While there were some humorous moments... I have to say, I did not like the characterization of the heroine at all. Told in her voice, the reader is exposed to only Jenny's views and motivations, which to me were so very shallow. She was admittedly a shop-aholic, who spent far more than she could ever have earned as a maid, had she not chanced upon her face cream a.k.a. an erotic enhancer. If her employers had been aware of her overdue accounts, she'd have probably been sacked! As a heroine she just was too materialistic, and it was just so hard to warm up to her at all. Additionally, I found very little depth to Callum as well and he came across as rather flat and lifeless, although in the end he finally did redeem himself.
The author does get points for research though and coming up with good historic detail. Unfortunately, the twin Featherton sisters, who were such a total hoot in RULES OF ENGAGEMENT, just didn't draw the laughs I expected and I felt just a tad cheated because of that. --- Marilyn, for www.romancedesigns.com ---
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17 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Not again!, March 24, 2005
This review is from: Lady in Waiting (Warner Forever) (Mass Market Paperback)
Kathryn Caskie won't get me again. I slogged through her first novel and really didn't like it, but, shame on me, I gave in and bought her second. To my horror, I thought it was even worse than her first. This heroine, Jenny Penny (lovely name), had no redeeming qualities. She reminded me of someone and, halfway through the book, I realized who it was. Elizabeth Bennett's harebrained, selfish sister, Lydia, in Pride and Prejudice. Like Lydia, Jenny thought of no one but herself. I have to say her shopping antics wore real thin, real fast. She could be in the midst of a crisis, but see some pretty in a shop and she had to have it. That is not an endearing trait in a heroine. I have to doubt her intelligence because she certainly seemed like she wasn't too blessed in the brains department. I also don't think she was very honest, witness her deception with Callum (and he's another story). She never really owned up to who she really was until she was forced to. I really, really didn't like this character. The dotty aunts were not as annoying as the last time around, but they were still too eager to go along with the deception. As for Callum, I question why he was there. We never really got to know him. I love to hear what's going on in the hero's head as he is falling in love with the heroine. I felt that Callum was trotted out when Caskie needed a stud and then trotted back to his stable, wherever that was. How he could put up with Jenny Penny, I'll never know. Probably because we were never given the opportunity to get his POV. If I sound upset, I am. I agree with the other reviewer who thought Caskie was writing down to romance readers. I get the feeling that she is. If she wants to write some other genre, then go do that. You are doing readers a disservice by publishing books of this ilk. Let the historical romance category to the pros like Lisa Kleypas, Karen Marie Moning, Sabrina Jeffries, and Pamela Britton. Caskie won't get me again!!
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Well written but..., January 10, 2005
This review is from: Lady in Waiting (Warner Forever) (Mass Market Paperback)
I just finished K.C.'s "Rules of Engagement" which I thoroughly enjoyed, so I rushed out and bought "Lady in Waiting". The book was very well written with a story line that hasn't been over-used, however, I couldn't finish it. The book was all from Jenny's point-of-view. I never knew what Collum was thinking or feeling unless he happened to be in the scene.
If you don't mind reading a book from only one angle, than this book would be great. I, personally, like to know what the hero is feeling towards the heroine. It adds the spice I need in a romance novel.
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