Wish List [Mass Market Paperback]

Lisa Kleypas (Author), Lisa Cach (Author), Claudia Dain (Author), Lynsay Sands (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 2003

PAPERBACK

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 390 pages
• Publisher: Leisure Books (October 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0843951028
• ISBN-13: 978-0843951028
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #590,282 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #60 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Romance > Anthologies

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Wonderful Gift to Yourself, March 21, 2002

By 

M. Rondeau (West Springfield, MA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Wish List (Hardcover)

I've said it before, I really do not like anthologies, but Look at these authors, two of my very favorites! Lisa Kleypas and Lynsay Sands! They were the two that made me buy the book and the other two were surprise bonuses!
I loved the dialog with Lisa Kleypas! I cannot tell you but the comment from Lord Andrew when he was told that he looked like an 'unmade bed' had me on the floor - you have to read the story to hear his outrageous answer - pure delight!

Lynsay Sands certainly did not disappoint either. The mischief she causes while trying to get her father to stop drinking and gambling before losing everything they owned - priceless.

Lisa Cach and Claudia Dain's offerings were every bit as delightful.

I must say this book should be at the top of everyone's list for just the pure enjoyment of full outrageous belly laughs!

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Hit and Miss Christmas Anthology, June 11, 2006

By 

B. Hom "Avid Book Reader" (In Chaos) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Wish List (Mass Market Paperback)

First, I must say, it is extremely difficult to review an anthology. Usually, there are only 1 or 2 stories worth reading, and it's hard to rate a book because of this fact. Secondly, it must be very hard for an author to write a story that pulls the reader in, has likeable characters, and carries a good plot within 100 or so pages. However, a good author can accomplish this. This anthology is no different. Kleypas and Sands deliver with their stories, the other two authors are mediocre at best. Get this book at a garage sale, or check it out at the library. It is not worth the listed retail price because of the weakness of Cach and Dain's stories.

Kleypas - "I Will" - Lord Drake, a ne'er-do-well aristocrat, finds himself disinherited from his dying father's will. He gets the title and the lands, but not the money. He must convince (blackmail) respectable Miss Caroline Hargreaves to pretend a sham courtship, fooling his father into believing he has given up his dissolute lifestyle. Kleypas' characters are likeable, especially Caroline. Drake makes a good reformed rake, and the evil character is truly evil.

Cach - "Puddings, Pastries, and Thou" - Vivian Ambrose is a poor spinster, dependent on whichever relative needs her services. When her great-aunt, who treated Vivian as a lowly unpaid servant, dies, she is passed onto her distant cousins, the Twitchens. The Twitchens spoiled daughter, Penelope, immediately takes a dislike to Vivian, thinking Vivian will cause a pall to her first Season. However, this unlikely pair form a truce and agree that Vivian must be married off before Penelope's London season. Penelope has in mind Richard Brent, who has a scandalous past, making him ineligible for marriagable young ladies. Brent could have been written as an admirable hero of the story, but he is portrayed as someone who thinks too much about what others think of him. He appears to have a low self esteem, and is very self-conscious to the point of being pathetic. The author paints Vivian and Brent as two average to below average looking people who have colorless lives. Vivian is written as a woman with an eating problem. It's not difficult for this reader to predict that Vivian will be quite obese within the next few years, Brent may want to re-think his choice.

Dain - "Union" - Union was by far the worst story ever written in an anthology that I have read. Clarissa Walingford is being pressured by her many brothers to marry. She knows she must choose a groom, but she does NOT want to marry an Englishman. She wants to marry an Irishman, or at the very least, an Englishman who owns an estate in Ireland. Even though this is repeated several times through the story, Dain continues to batter the reader with the fact that Clarissa wants to live in Ireland. Okay, we GET that. She meets Henry "Beau" Wakefield, Lord of Montwyn. Beau, himself, is on the hunt for the perfect wife. At Lindley's, (Clarissa's brother), insistence, Beau meets Clarissa and decides immediately that she is the one for him. These characters are extremely unlikeable. Clarissa comes across as a selfish, spoiled, conceited brat. Beau is painted as an egotistical, arrogant, conceited nobleman. These characters deserve each other, the reader comes to hope that there was a pre-nup signed, for the marriage will not last. There will be too many people in it: Clarissa, her ego, Beau and his ego. I don't know what the editors were thinking to add Dain in this mix. If this story is a good representation of her work, I will not be buying any books from her in the future.

Sands - "All I Want" - Prudence Prescott's father is drinking and gambling his family into the poor house. All her mother wants for Christmas is for her husband to stop gambling, and Prudence's mission is to make this wish come true. She attempts to confront her father at his favorite gambling den, Ballard's, and meets the infamous owner, Lord Stockton. Needless to say, sparks fly - leading to a fun and hilarious story. I chuckled through much of this story - Sands has a great sense of humor. Prudence and Stockton are great characters, people who the reader will be rooting for all the way to the end. There is real chemistry between the hero and heroine. Great plot, good characters, good story. I will be looking for Sands' books from now on.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars 3.5 Stars - Fun, But Forgettable Read, January 3, 2005

By 

Lighthouse Ann (Baltimore, MD USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wish List (Mass Market Paperback)

When I pick up an anthology featuring favorite romance novelists, like Lisa Kleypas, I'm just looking for some quick entertainment. Just make me smile for an hour or two.

4 stars for Lisa Kleypas - Her story starring Logan Scott's(Because You're Mine) younger brother - a dissolute alcoholic, albeit a good-looking one. Andrew, heir to a rich title, tries to convince his mean, grousing old father that he can manage the lands and wealth of the title by engaging in a courtship with a prim and proper spinster. Of course, neither Andrew nor his pretend love thought they would actually come to like each other...

5 stars - Our heroine is trying to stop her father from his drinking and gambling before he puts her whole family in the poor house. She figures her best bet is to catch her father at his favorite gambling establishment and stop him one way or another. Unfortunately, the owner of said gambling establishment does not let gently bred women in the door. Well, not willingly, but, if they sneak in some how, maybe a kiss or three. Lynsay Sands is new for me, but, this was by far the most fun, the most entertaining, the most joyful story. I may have to go read everything she has ever written. She reminds me of Julia Quinn, but with a drier sense of humor.

The middle two stories are forgettable. Lisa Cach's was downright boring. Get this book from your library. You won't want to keep it. Just read the first and last stories for some quick enjoyable romance.