Rating: 
Summary: Pedantic dialogue was the high point of this awful book.
Review: This is without a doubt the worst book I have ever read. The characters were all annoying. The interaction between the two main characters was stilted and unbelieveable. The hero focused on the heroine's appearance rather than her inner self. I would have given this book zero stars if I could have.
Rating: 
Summary: Completely enthralling.
Review: I am glad I didn't read any reviews before I started the book because I may have been influenced in my enjoyment looking for all the things supposedly wrong. If you have not read the book, don't be influenced and read it for yourself. This is the first book I've ready by Kathleen Woodiwiss and I plan to look for more by this author. I loved the story of Colton and Adriana. It was well worth the delightful hours I spent in Regency England.
Rating:
Summary: Clone Gone Bad?
Review: This couldn't be the same Kathleen E. Woodwiss who introduced me to romance novals with The Flame and The Flower and Wolf and the Dove. Although none of her later books measured up to those two, this one is a total loss. I couldn't take it after 50 pages. What a disappointment.
Rating:
Summary: Trying To Be Jane Austen
Review: This book is truly awful. I just wish I had read the reviews before I spent $7.99 plus tax on it. I have loved many of this author's previous works, so I assumed it would be safe to spend my money. I was wrong. I wish I could get my money back plus damages for having to read this muck. It seems to me she is trying for the style of Jane Austen, but failing miserably. Note to the editors of the book: Just strike every other word from the text and this book will make more sense than it does now.
Rating:
Summary: Waste of Time and Paper
Review: I read pages 1-118, and was still reading a story about events taking place on THE FIRST DAY the protagonists are reunited.I flipped back to look where day 2 begins, it's not until Chapter 5 on page 140. I threw the book in the trash. The first romance novel I ever read was Shanna, and that compelled me to read The Flame and the Flower and The Wolf and the Dove. I can't believe this was written by the same Kathleen Woodiwiss. What everyone else has said here is true; the book is interminable.
Rating:
Summary: could be a textbook for poor writing
Review: I remember reading The Flame and the Flower as a girl. I don't know what has happened to this author since then, but the prose could be an advertisement for poor writing. Every verb had an adverb, every noun an adjective(or two), and the sentences are not merely "run-on" -- they gallop in a writing style so embellished it is ludicrous. But far from enjoyable. Don't buy this book, you'll never get through it.
Rating:
Summary: Lesson Learned
Review: So much for impulse buying. I needed a new book to read, and saw this. I have never read a Woodiwiss book, but thought I remembered good ratings on Amazon. So many words to say so little. I can only echo what others have written about the book. It is good to know I am not so far off the mark in my estimation of the quality of the writing. Many reviewers say her other books are much better, but I doubt I will ever find out.
Rating:
Summary: I'm "relunctant" to ever read anything by this author again
Review: This was perhaps one of the worst books I have ever read. I finished it solely out of a sense of duty (for I hate to leave something I started unfinished). The plot was thin and the characters abrasive -- especially considering that their "love" seems forged out of an obsession with the superficial. The reluctant Colton only considers pursuing Adriana because of her pulchritude and throughout the novel her beauty and his handsomeness stands as the only foundation of their relationship. In my opinion, neither have redeemable qualities except token scenes where Adriana conveniently demonstrates maternal "instincts" with local orphan children. It seems not a page goes by without Colton praising Adriana for beauty that is ostensibly not only second to none but practically rivals Venus. (...)
Rating:
Summary: Was Kathleen E. Woodiwiss body snatched?
Review: My all-time favorite romance novel is _Shanna_. I actually reread that book perhaps once every year because I love Woodiwiss' prose and her characters. I was so excited when I saw this book that I bought it immediately, but when I was on page 5, I was instantly confused. Did Kathleen E. Woodiwiss die and her family sell her name to someone else to write under? Or worse, did she hire a ghostwriter to write this novel? Whatever the explanation, this novel is awful. I actually took out _Shanna_ to compare the prose and just can't believe that the same person wrote these two books. How could someone who wrote "The sight of a threadbare blouse beneath a waistcoat or a rumpled and empty purse hanging from a belt abruptly cooled her to offers of marriage" have also written "If not for the man's sterling good looks, she'd still be struggling to drag her musings away from his loins." And how could a Woodiwiss hero ever say "My goodness"! Or, her heroine "warble cheerily"? Worst of all, the editing is atrocious!
Rating:
Summary: heavy going
Review: WOW, how many words can you take to describe one scene. The authoress has tried to imitate an old style of writing and ended up with text as heavy as molasses. You keep waiting for something. . .anything to happen and when it does (first real scene takes place in a bathtub of all things) it is totally unbelievable as a set up and the dialogue inappropriate for everyone in any era.
It got so bad that about page 114 I put the book in the recycle box. final judgement. unfinishable.
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