Customer Reviews

Where Roses Grow Wild

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I have read all of Patricia Cabot's books and this one is by far her best one. The characters are lively, the conversation is witty, and the heroine is not some wimpy miss. The hero shows vulnerability in his actions as he falls in love with her despite her connections to his brother's death. They make a great couple and kept me up till 3:00 in the morning since I could not put the book down. I also recommend her other book--An Improper Proposal--although the hero is somewhat lacking in terms of emotion in this book.

This was a very good book. I have read only two of Ms. Cabot's books but I have liked both very much. Where I enjoyed Lady of Skye better than this one, Where Roses Grow Wild delivered the humor and witty conversations (not to mention love scenes) I enjoyed with the first book. So much so I know I will be picking up her other books. We can't all have romances where everyone smooches all of the time and never argues. One it would not be true to life and two it would be very boring. This was a very refreshing and enjoyable read for me and I would highly recommend the book and also the author.

My first book by Patricia Cabot and after finishing this one I immediately bought all her other books. Her style is a delightful blend of wit, sex and insights into human nature, sometimes a little far-fetched but always engaging and rewarding. It is one of those books with few wasted passages covering details that are not essential to the storyline and I found I couldn't put the book down for long.

What a pleasure to read such a marvelously fresh romance novel. Filled with adventure, wit, good strong, likeable characters. Bravo for a fine debut of a very promising author.

I hope my title line does not sound condescending, because it is exactly what I mean. I have been reading Jilly Cooper for years, and Patricia Cabot's first novel seems to me to be full of the same potential. I loved the tongue-in-cheek humor, and the way the two major characters developed so well. As other reader reviewers have stated, it seems a pity when the book finishes, for I would love to know how life progressed for them. Surely Lord Edward got over his first rapt adoration of new wife and new daughter, and started eyeing the local scene (perhaps from the back of a restive stallion in the hunt) -- and I would really enjoy reading about how the initimitable Pegreen foils the potential rival for his affections!

This is the second Cabot book that I've read. While I enjoyed it, Pegeen at times irrated me. She was a little to self-righteous. I mean after the second time she reponse to a kiss from Edward you woudl she would get off her soap box. This is the only real criticism I have of the book. I liked Jeremy, he reminds me of my brother and nephew (probably boys in general). I also like that Edward wasn't a so greedy as to take the title of himself. It showed alot of character that Pegeen always seems to overlook. I think most romance readers would enjoy this book.

This is a wonderful book! A very funny, touching, romantic, original and well written story! Looking forward to more from Patricia Cabot!!

This was my first Patricia Cabot book and I fell in love! I have read this author as Jenny Carroll, Meg Cabot and Meggin Cabot and just recently discovered that she is also Patricia Cabot. Needless to say I love her writing style. While I enjoy her young adult books, I always want that little more...thus putting it more into the adult genre which is where I should be anyway since I am in my mid 30s;-) This book delivers it all. I love historical romances and this is one of the best I have read in a long time. The characters are very likeable and I truly wanted these two to find their way. I enjoy reading about strong-minded women and Pegeen fits the bill. I admit I am not into the womanizing male that is so prominent in the historical romances, but Edward cleans up his act in a hurry. This was fun, witty and just a pure joy to read. The only reason I didn't give it a 5 is that Cabot wraps up most of her books too quickly for me and I guess I would like to linger more on the happy ending.

I've read the sequel to Where Roses grow Wild, Portrait Of My Heart, and was very disappointed with it. So I was a bit trepidatious to read this book. The story was surprisingly good, if not with a few minor faults.

This Victorian romance features a moderately dissolute Earl, Edward, searching for his dead brothers son-whom he never knew about for 10 years, to take his rightful place as Duke of Rawlings. What he finds, besides the 10 year old Jeremy (who is the hero in the sequel), is the child's maiden Aunt, Pegeen. Pegeen is a refreshingly independent, clever, and spirited heroine. A "liberal" who doesn't mind voicing her opinions on the inequalities of class and sex, she proves herself to be a intellectual match for Edward, who is a bit backwards in his thoughts on "womens lib" as most of his dealings with women have been either lightskirts, doxies or mistresses.

While I enjoyed the book, I did take exception with the author having the heroine repeatedly slap the hero in the face. Besides the Earl not realistically putting up with it after the first time, what was more disturbing was that this is somehow "OK" because the woman is hitting the man. Abuse is abuse, and I think the heroine should have been seen at the very least apologizing for hitting the hero.

All in all though, an enjoyable, sensuous Victorian Romance that's worth reading. Not the best I've read but much better than the sequel.
3.5 stars

Before Meg Cabot and the Princess Diaries, Cabot was a romance author, and her debut obviously sowed the seeds of the marvelous writer she continues to be this day. For the best rendering of the Victorian era(1860s), this book is perfect. Cabot gets the nuances correct without losing the importance of the romance between the witty and wonderfully drawn Edward and Pegeen. While the plot falls occasionally into standard romance fare, Cabot's delightful prose more than makes up for any defenciency or inconsistency. In this current market of tepid and bland, and most importantly, inaccurate, historical romances, reading Where Roses Grow Wild is refreshing and causes me to wonder what happened to books like these?