Rating: 
Summary: An EXCELLENT love story!!!!!
Review: "Once and Always" was the first novel I've read by Ms. McNaught! Once I opened the novel, I couldn't put it down! Finished it in one day! Ever since then, I've continue to purchase more of her work, and LOVED it!! Ms. McNaught, love all your Westmoreland characters!!! Please continue to produce more work based on these type of characters and love stories.
Rating:
Summary: TEARJERKER!
Review: Judith McNaught knows how to make you cry! This one surely made me cry!
Rating:
Summary: Another Winner!
Review: I have read four of Judith McNaught's books, including this one. It is hard for me to decide which one I liked best, because they were all very interesting and quite different stories. I have enjoyed Ms. McNaught's characters and their emotional struggles. One gets a sense of the characters' internal and external struggles as they are so vividly explained. I can't wait to read other books by the author.
Rating:
Summary: Superb ... A Must ...
Review: I read almost all of Ms McNaught's books and this one I consider to be the best. I have bought it in late 1992 and I have been re-reading it ever since and whenever I have time for a superb historical romance. Every historical romance reader should have at least one copy !
Rating:
Summary: The perfect book to curl up with...
Review: This is truly one of Judiths best works, sweet and heartwarming it makes you laugh and cry in the same breath. You fall in love with Jason Feilding at first description and throughout the book are torn between cheering for him and Victoria or keeping him for yourself. The heroin is smart and independent, standing up for herself and feircly protecting everything she holds dear. Yes, this is a definite read for anyone who loves to watch two people fight their love the entire way, but in the end give in the their deepest desires
Rating:
Summary: We Should All Live This Way
Review: By this point in Judith McNaught's career, one would think she had developed a story line she's comfortable with and simply modify it a tad from novel to novel. Nope. McNaught just keeps on creating, though retaining her hallmark of flawed, endearing principal and supporting characters and beautifully scripted plots.
The lovers this time around are Jason Fielding and Victoria Seaton. The chief trouble is: they don't know they're supposed to be lovers. Uncharming, impenetrable Jason feels incapable of love, while Victoria is all too capable--with another man. The two dance around each other and Charles Fielding, convinced his son and distant cousin belong together.
By the end of the novel, you will be convinced, too.
Rating:
Summary: poignant...painful
Review: It enthralls me to the story from start to end. Actually, all Judith Mcnaught books are good.
But this is as good as Almost Heaven.
JM has contributed to the deterioration of my eyesight. Nonstop reading from morning to night, resting only when I take a bath!
Rating: 
Summary: 4.5 really because its McNaught
Review: Great story as always by Judith McNaught. I only gave 4.5 stars because I read Almost Heaven before this which was definately a 5. I had a hard time getting past the kissing cousins in this book, but once I did it was great. Victoria was too perfect for me. It made her seem unreal.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic! 4++ stars
Review: Victoria Elizabeth Seaton grew up in a small cottage in America. When she loses her parents in a tragic accident, she and her sister find out that their mother was in fact a Countess and their great-grandmother is the Dowager Duchess of Claremont. However, when the Dowager refused to take Victoria in, she and Dorothy were separated - Dorothy goes to live with the Dowager, while Victoria finds herself at the doorstep of Jason Fielding, the Marquess of Wakefield, whose father, Charles Fielding, was her mother's one true love (and vice versa), and who has the 'romantic notions' of pulling off the wedding of the decade by announcing the engagement of Jason and Victoria without their knowledge or consent.
Once and Always basically has the same elements as Something Wonderful, minus the murder plot. Both introduce the heroine as a child with the same characterizations: naïve, sweet, witty and so full of life. Both are your typical ingénues, who rise from an unremarkable upbringing to become the darling of the ton. Then we have the typical alpha-males as heroes, disenchanted with life, cold and reserved, and distrustful of women. Both also feature the meddling grandmothers - as cold and sour as they can get. But similar elements aside, this book is fantastic. One cannot help but be captivated with this love story. True, Jason is domineering, sometimes cruel and seemingly unfeeling, but as you learn more about his past, how his ex-wife betrayed him and how tragic his childhood was, you cannot help but sympathize and feel for him. And although Victoria may come across as overly nice, she pretty much puts Jason in his place when he's really crossed the line. But the greatest thing is seeing Jason's defences finally breakdown and accept the love and happiness that Victoria is offering him.
Now, as fantastic as the book is, I have to point out some issues that left me a little dissatisfied. First is the lack of Dorothy's involvement. She seems to just pop up as quickly as she disappears. Considering the ending, her part (or rather lack thereof) doesn't really pave the way to a good sequel (that is if there will be one). Then there's the fact that we're not really given much chance to glimpse Jason's thoughts. And the last thing is the ending that seemed rather rushed. With everything that's happened between the two, I expected a bit more. Nevertheless, I really liked it and look forward to reading other books by JM.
Rating: 
Summary: A LONG SERIES OF BIG MISUNDERSTANDINGS, UGH
Review: The heroine is too perfect, except when it comes to common sense. The hero is so tortured that his intelligence is impaired, which makes him jump to wrong conclusions time after time after time. Ms. McNaught jumps from misunderstanding to misunderstanding, which frustrated me because the main characters did not seem to learn from their past mistakes regarding each other. Finally, after spending so much time on melodramatic nonsense, there is not an epilogue that shows how the protagonists managed to overcome their lack of effective communication to understand each other and live happily ever after. Not recommended.
|
