Rating: 
Summary: Passionate Regency England
Review: Lady Adriana Sutton couldn't remember a time when she didn't love Colton Wyndham, the boy who totally broke her heart when she was but a child of six. She adored him as a big brother and a friend, but when his father told him that the skinny, big eyed waif who tagged along behind him was his betrothed, he totally rebelled. At the age of 16 Colton was too proud and too stubborn to accept a future not of his own choosing, so he fled from his home for a life of adventure and danger as an officer in the British army and now after an absence of 16 years he has returned, to find that the Lady Adriana has indeed changed from the plain, thin tomboy Colton had spurned, to an exquisite incomparable and much desired beauty. Adriana finds that he is still the only man she has ever desired, but she is older, wiser - overcame having her heart broke at six but not quite ready to let him break it again. Colton is still as arrogant, and stubborn as before and when he learns that their betrothal still stands, is just as mad. It doesn't matter that Adriana has stirred lust in his heart that he has never before felt so strongly in any one woman, he still does not want to be forced into a marriage not of his own choosing. Colton does agree to court Lady Adriana for ninety days, after which time he will be allowed to keep his precious freedom if he so wishes. Adriana, goes along with the courtship feeling that he is only doing it to please their parents but in the end knows that he will break her heart again in spite of all the charm he extends towards her. Forced into a courtship Colton soon loses his heart but continues to fight losing his bachelorhood. There is a lot to love about this book, although the prose and dialogs as the central characters battle and bait one another is delightful, I did feel that this could have been played out as a one act play on a single stage that seemed to go on and on. However, the second half action picked this up considerably as the secondary characters became more deeply involved in the sinister and treacherous plots that threatened to keep Adriana and Colton apart. Even with the slow start I most definitely can recommend this book as Woodiwiss delivers the passion and spectacles of Regency England. The love story is wonderful and the bath scene is an absolute thrill - not to be missed!
Rating: 
Summary: God it pains me to say, but I couldn't even finish it.
Review: I love Kathleen Woodiwiss of old - books like A Rose in Winter, Shanna, and Come Love A Stranger are some of the best in romance out there, I believe. She had passion, strength and the ability to craft a story so incredible...This novel, I struggled through the first few chapters and couldn't force myself to continue it. I really wanted to get into the story, but the overdone language was a huge barrier. The characters were a bit flighty and I couldn't seem to muster up enough emotion to care about them. As sad as it is, this is not the Kathleen Woodiwiss of old and I will think twice before automatically picking up another of her books. :(
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Summary: Former Reader of Kathleen Woodiwiss
Review: I read Kathleen Woodiwiss's earlier books -- Wolf and the Dove, Flame and the Flower, Shanna. Those were her best. The last two books that she has put out have been horrible, and this book was the worst. I thought after her last book, this would be much better. I could not get over the fact that she kept going over how "Colton acted when he left home and how horrible Adrianna felt." That line went on throughout half the book." "Adrianna couldn't have been that devastated -- she couldn't wait to marry him. If it was that bad -- she should have married someone else." After reading this book, which I took out from the library (Thank God), I have given up reading anything that Ms. Woodiwiss puts out.
Rating:
Summary: more fun reading the reviews than the book
Review: When I saw this at the library I couldn't believe
I had missed the latest. Not that it mattered! The previous reviews here are so funny and true.
This book is awful. I didn't finish it and
It made me downright mad! How could this author have written Ashes in the Wind? A Rose in Winter? My personal favorites, but I love Shanna and The Flame and the Flower and The Wolf and the Dove. I will probably still try to read any more that come out in hopes that the grandeur will appear again but really, WHAT has happened to her?
Rating:
Summary: disappointment
Review: Fortunately, I bought this book at a discount. I had read the reviews but couldn't believe it was all that bad. It was. Scenes that normally would have inspired Ms. Woodiwiss to elaborate on were casually dismissed in 5 sentences. Plots to new events were explained later on, as an afterthought. At first I thought it was due to the translator that I got discouraged (English -> Dutch) who pleasantly mixed up names and family lines (throughout the book, Adriana was called Samantha or Felicity and Colton was involved in a small bout of multiple personality disorder when he was Roger or Riordan at one time or another) but I must agree with most reviewers. Do not buy this book! If you like Ms Woodiwiss' books, reread any book you have of her. It will keep you satisfied till something better comes along.... Although I do doubt I will buy any book of Ms Woodiwiss any time soon.
Rating: 
Summary: Okay at Best
Review: Being an English major, I'm used to plowing through some pretty boring material. However, I prefer not to do that when I'm reading for personal enjoyment. This book wasn't bad, but it just didn't sparkle the way a romance novel should. Other reviewers have pointed out her word choices, and there was one word in particular that really bugged me. She used the word "chortle" in reference to her hero and heroine laughing. Technically a correct usage, but not the best image.
Rating:
Summary: Not as bad as what other thought
Review: I'm a big Woodiwiss fan and was eager to read The Reluctant Suitor but wasn't sure I would after seeing so many 1-star ratings for this book. Well I just finished reading it and wondered if I read the same book as everyone else because I thoroughly enjoyed it. Granted, it's not her best work. That honor goes to The Flame and The Flower; nor is it her worst work; that distinction goes to A Season Beyond a Kiss. It labors a bit in the beginning but it picks up, and there are several subplots sprinkled in. The main characters, Adriana and Colton, are likeable, and I think Roger, the evil person in this book, is believeable. Sadistic men like him exist in this present time. My only criticism is that I wish that she had made Adriana older than six when she was betrothed to Colton in a contract made by their parents for Colton to marry Adriana when she became of age. He refused to honor the contract and left to go to war. Now sixteen years later Adriana was still feeling the "pain of rejection" when he returned. That was a bit ridiculous. First of all, the author should've made her at least 9 or 10. A six year old isn't going to feel the sting of rejection and then harbor on it for 16 years, and I think it's just a tad creepy to think that a six year old is already linked up to a 16 year old.... And yes, Kathleen does overuse the word "orb" yet again, but then she uses orb alot in her other books as well as her other favorite word, akimbo.
All in all, I enjoyed the book and I think you should decide for yourself if it's worth a 1 star or a 3 star.
Rating:
Summary: Read the reviews - wish I had
Review: Gratuitous use of the word "orb." I believe one reviewer began underlining them just for fun. If you're counting words to up the entertainment value of a romance novel, then you know the book is dreadful.
I also agree with the - slapping a lady on the rear end is, in fact, not romantic -complaint. Nor is funny, sexy, endearing....
Basically this book is badly done. Really, really badly done.
Rating: 
Summary: Strong story, pitiful prose
Review: I tossed "A Season Beyond a Kiss" after 20 pages because of the horrible prose. I was very interested in the story of "The Reluctant Suitor". As I began reading, the over-abundant use of words like "orbs", "protuberance" (who says that?) and "manly" (used with countless nouns and verbs), among other apparently favorite pretentious words, the horror dawned on me - "Oh my God! This is that same author!". I liked the characters and story of this book very much and only they kept me plodding through the nearly unbearable prose. Some sentences were so long and convoluted with excessive (but weak) adjectives, poor choice of synonyms and unnecessary drivel, that at the end of them, I thought "huh?" and had to reread them to find out what the author was trying to say. It's only a romance novel, not quantum physics - I shouldn't have to work so hard to follow the author's thoughts. I'll be avoiding Ms. Woodiwiss's work in the future.
Rating:
Summary: absolute drivel
Review: I couldn't even get through the first chapter. The author takes PAGES to describe something that should be explained in one paragraph at the most. The descriptive terms used and the prose overall border on the ridiculous. As I skimmed through the remainder of the book, it did not seem to improve.
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