Susan Wiggs' The Charm School

Author: Susan Wiggs

Genre: Historical Romance

Published: May 2008

Goodreads

Isadora Peabody is the brilliant but socially inept sibling in an otherwise perfect family. And although she struggles to fit into Boston society, her awkwardness dooms her to repeated failure. Fate intervenes when she learns that a sea captain, Ryan Calhoun, is in need of an interpreter for his next voyage to Rio. And despite Ryan's adamant opposition to hiring a female interpreter, Isadora gains a berth on his ship, thanks to a little blackmail.

Life aboard ship and away from the strict confines of Boston society finds Isadora losing weight, gaining confidence, and blooming like a rose. She befriends the motley crew of rough sailors, and in turn, they become a charm school of sorts, tutoring her in gracefulness--which comes in handy when climbing the rope rigging--dancing, and friendship. Isadora's transformation fascinates Ryan, but he is determined to stay away from her for he has secretive, dangerous plans. Unaware of Ryan's interest, Isadora struggles with her growing attraction to the reckless sea captain. But before they can resolve their feelings, prior commitments surface and endanger their chance of finding a happy future together.

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I have read several books from Susan Wiggs, and this one is by far my favorite. This book had all the elements of a romance novel that I love. The Charm School is an excellent example of why I'm so attracted to this genre. Isadora and Ryan detest eachother at the beginning of the story, which absolutely delighted me. For some reason, I find the romance to be sweeter when it's not love at first sight. Not that I don't love those stories too, but there's just something special about love birds that despise eachother. Ryan and Isadora meet when they're at their absolute worst, and they manage to forgive and move on. Really, it's the perfect romance!

Isadora truly embodies the "ugly duckling" scenario. I have never felt so much sympathy for a heroine as I did for Isadora. Poor girl. Thankfully, she manages to gather enough courage to force her way on to Ryan's ship, where she transforms into a most beautiful swan. She was always the swan to begin with, she just had to figure it out for herself. I loved that Ryan could always see that, even if he didn't necessarily want to in the beginning. Isn't that what every girl dreams of? A man that loves her for her, no matter what she looks like on the outside.

It's a tale of adventure, swash buckling heroics and a love story at sea. The Charm School is beautiful, heart warming and will leave you with a smile on your face and warm fuzzies in your heart for days.

Read it. I know you'll love it.

Mr. Cavendish, I Presume by Julia Quinn

Author: Julia Quinn

Series: Two Dukes of Wyndham

Genre: Historical Romance

Published: October 2009

Goodreads

Amelia Wiloughby has been engaged to the Duke of Wyndham for as long as she can remember. A mere six months old when the contract was made, she has been waiting for the rest of her life for the actual marriage to take place. She is now 21, old by Victorian England standards, and the Duke has yet to set the date. Thomas Cavendish enjoys the idea of having a fiance, as it keeps the marriage hungry mama's and their daughters away. Mostly. He hardly ever thinks about her though, except when required to attend social functions, where the couple do their obligatory dance to keep up appearances. At one such social function, Amelia suddenly decides that she is tired of waiting, and certainly tired of the Duke. She surprises everyone in attendance by refusing to dance with the Duke. Shocked himself, Thomas volleys back by dancing with her friend. Amelia's little rebellion has finally piqued the interest of her fiance.

 A surprisingly passionate kiss, a drunken encounter and a highway robbery later, Thomas's long lost cousin arrives on the scene. Unfortunately for Thomas, the arrival of this cousin could ultimately mean the loss of his title and his beautiful fiance, whom he has suddenly come to love.

Mr. Cavendish, I Presume is incredibly delightful and witty. Then again, all of Julia Quinn's novels are incredibly delightful and witty. Ms. Quinn constantly has me laughing out loud at the conversations and situations she gets her characters into. In this novel, there is a conversation about cupids that I am still laughing about, a day later. I love Ms. Quinn's spunky heroine's and her proud, handome heros. Amelia is adorable, the kind of girl you want to be friends with and have on your side. Thomas is everything I could hope for in a duke: tall, lordly, with a desire to be treated just as everyone else is.

Ms. Quinn delivers wonderful prose in each of her novels, and every once in awhile I crave her wit and ability to take me on a great adventure to Victorian England. If you haven't already discovered Julia Quinn, please give her a try. Mr. Cavendish, I Presume is a great place to start!

Jade Lee's Wicked Surrender

Author: Jade Lee

Publisher: Penguin Group (USA)

Publish Date: Sept 2010

Genre: Historical Romance

Goodreads

The daughter of an actress, Scher Martin feels she'll never fulfill her dreams of acquiring a good home and having a respectable family, so she agrees to be the mistress of Brandon Cates, Viscount Blackthorn.

But when Brandon's cousin proposes marriage, Scher finds herself torn between the propriety she craves and the love of a dark and troubled man.

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This is one of those random books I saw on the library shelf, liked the cover so I picked it up and gave it a try. I have never before read (or even heard of, for that mattter) this author previous to Wicked Surrender.

I have my favorite historical romance authors, and I wondered if this new-to-me voice would enter the ranks of Julie Garwood, Catherine Coulter, Julia Quinn... but Jade Lee didn't quite make the cut.

It's our typical problem with Victorian England of class issues. Society has very strict rules on who is appropriate to marry and who isn't. I actually quite like these story lines. I think highly of characters that are strong enough to love whomever they choose, regardless of what others may think. At first, I admired Scher's willingness to "flout the rules" and marry a gentlemen despite her status. And then she kept putting herself in situations where she would get ridiculed and snubbed. And again. And again. I wanted to throttle her and say "Stand up for yourself girl! You deserve better than these awful people!" I'm all for strength in character, but there is a point when it becomes ridiculous. And Jade Lee hit that point in this book. Scher was just too... too... "woe is me" for my tastes. Who keeps putting themselves in situations where they get beat down over and over again? It just wasn't real.

I did love Brandon though. I love the dark heroes with their tragic pasts and wounded souls. He was simply adorable. In fact, if he hadn't been written as well as he was, I probably would have stopped halfway through the book. But I did finish it out, and Wicked Surrender will never grace my bookshelves or be read again, but I had to start somewhere with this author.

I will give Ms. Lee another try, just in case her other books are better than this one. It wasn't terrible, but it wasn't.. great. I have so little time, and I want to fill it with great books, not so-so ones!