Rating: 
Summary: Huge Disappointment
Review: Kathleen Woodiwiss has always been one of my favorite authors. I can't tell you how many times I have reread Shanna and Ashes in the Winds. There is no story here until the last twenty or so pages. Three chapters to get out of the front hall?!? I finished the book but will not be rereading it. I think that Ms. Woodiwiss missed many opportunities to turn this into at least an interesting story. Save your money if you feel you must make up your own mind--go to your library.
Rating:
Summary: Reluctant to Believe it is by Woodiwiss
Review: The Flame and the Flower is my all time favorite romance novel. I've purchased at least 6 copies over the years - due to loaning it out and not getting it back. I'm always eager to get her new works, but from the very first page of this one, I knew it just wasn't right. I felt that Woodiwiss was grasping for something to say. The story was good, but the endless flow of useless, flowery passages made it difficult to enjoy. The whole book was as if she didn't have enough words in the draft and someone else came in and added all the nonsense. Very disappointing.
Rating:
Summary: I was SO disappointed!
Review: Kathleen Woodiwiss was the author who introduced me to the historical romance genre and I have loved her books...until The Reluctuant Suitor. As one person asked and I agree, has she lost all respect for her readers' intelligence? Her sentences ramble and become confusing and her use of pronouns has one constantly attempting just to whom she is referring. The story line is similar to her others and that in itself is enough to deem it boring but the writing makes it even more so...and her characters could be plucked from so many other historical romances that there was nothing about them that held my interest. It was all I could do to finish the book and after I had I was angry with myself that I had wasted my valuable time.
Rating:
Summary: What a waste of time
Review: I truly wonder how this book ever made it through the editing process. From the first page to the last, two otherwise intelligent people spend an inordinate amount of time obsessing about a stupid marriage contract. The title suggests that the suitor may be reluctant, but as far as I can tell, that was really not the case. And why in the world would the author throw in a dangerous murderer?? Maybe to liven up this dull story.
Also, use of words such as "portal" and "winsome" began to irritate me about the second chapter. Felicity had such a "winsome" smile, nose, manner, face, backside, ....find another word!!
If you still plan to buy and read this book, I would suggest buying it from the used section of Amazon.com or checking it out from the library so you don't waste [$$] on the hardback like I did.
Rating:
Summary: Not her finest work...
Review: I've been reading Woodiwiss novels for years and was eager to read her latest offering. So eager that I didn't even wait for it to come out in paperback. I wish I had. The story was slow and a chore to get through. As another reviewer so eloquently put it, what a dud.
Rating: 
Summary: Below Woodiwiss Standard
Review: Kathleen Woodiwiss took too long to develop her plot in her latest novel. It is not up to the standard of The Flame and The Flower, The Wolf and the Dove or Shanna. Numerous times Ms. Woodiwiss repeated herself and the book seemed to drag. I always wait for her latest edition, but I was really disappointed with this one.
Rating: 
Summary: Waiting
Review: I have waited a long time for Kathleen next book. This one is pretty good, except that Adienne is kind of self-fish and stuck in the past. It takes most of the book to get past that, nearly everyother page has her whinning about her heartbreaking. They refered the Lady has being stronger., yet gentle. But her living in the Past and they way she kind of treats Roger like a lap dog in the Begining. and then the usually chip on his shoulder. I just felt the chartakers were a little flat. If this is your first book with her I would read this one first, then work my way to her 2 best "The flower and the flame" or "Ashes in the Wind." I think the editer she let Kathleen Woodiwiss write the stories we have come to love no matter whither short or long
Rating:
Summary: I am the BIGGEST fan of Woodiwiss, BUT-
Review: I was alittle disappointed. I'm still waiting for her to turn out something as good as Shanna, but it hasn't happened yet.
This book seems to drag a bit, and some issues are debated over and over again. Still, I eagerly gobble up her books because she seems to be the only author today that actually knows the difference between romance and porn. If you want sex, get a Kleypas book. If you want romance, buy Woodiwiss or Jane Austen.
I would still recommend this book, but it's not her best work.Keep writing, KW, and I'll still read!!
Rating: 
Summary: An elegant period piece
Review: If you want to read a 19th century story with edgy dialog from 2003, this is not your best choice. However, if you want to immerse yourself in another time and enjoy a great love story, you will love this book. Like all Woodiwiss books, this one actually transports you there, with thorough research and attention to detail. Sure, the sentences are cumbersome at times, but a lot of old period literature is like that. Unlike many of today's fakey historicals that have 5-word sentences, an elementary school vocabulary, and dialog that could be on "Friends," this one has an authentic feel and no, it doesn't resolve within a few sound bites. You have to participate a little, but it's a rich experience and well worth every page. I loved it.
Rating:
Summary: When did KW lose all respect for her readers' intelligence?
Review: I have read this author since the 70's (THE FLAME AND THE FLOWER and THE WOLF AND THE DOVE). I was crushingly disappointed in this new offering. Does she not have an editor to tell her that she has had so many of characters musing over the SAME THINGS ad naseum? Does she think her readers cannot hold onto those thoughts for more than a few pages? The story plods along with our characters standing around talking. I kept thinking, something will happen soon, nope, they're just going talk some more and muse again on the same ideas that were introduced in Chapter 1. I have always picked her new books up faithfully on the strength of her early works. Well, from now on, maybe I'll just read THE WOLF AND THE DOVE again.
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