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Summary: Hmm...
Review: It was good, but could have been Better. Keep it up
Rating: 
Summary: Simply a Must-Read!
Review: One could really sympathise with the poor misunderstood heroine.Ms McNaught's wit is simply
great!
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Summary: A moving romance with a lively sense of humor--Touching.
Review: An odd twist of fate in the form of a misdirected letter brings together Elizabeth Cameron and Ian Thornton, who hate each other with a passion. Spending time with one another is the last thing either of them want--Almost Hell. But, stranded together in a remote hunting cottage in Scotland, the two find themselves capitulating to an irresistable passion of another sort--Almost Heaven.
I loved this story, it was moving, and funny. Judith McNaught writes with an incomparable wit that will have you laughing out loud, and a touching, totaly believable sincerity that will bring you to tears. This book is one of her best, I highly recomend it, especially if you are fond of the type of books written by Jude Deveraux, Dorothy Garlock, or Julie Garwood
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Summary: Pure Heaven!
Review: In ALMOST HEAVEN, Judith McNaught created a courageous yet vulnerable heroine (Elizabeth, Countess of Havenhurst) & a distant yet longing-to-be-loved hero (Ian Thornton, Marquess of Kensington), added with some of J.M's usual spices of misunderstandings & complicated twisters - which made this book one of the most exhilirating story I've read by far.I won't dilly-dally on summarizing the story for new readers since the Amazon Editorial Book Description, Synopsis & other book reviewers here did a pretty good job in covering those details. However, I'd like to add just how much I enjoyed ALL the secondary characters. To name a few of my favorites: Ian's charming yet nosy great aunts, Horstene & Charity. His heartwarming grandfather (Duke of Stanhope) - Ian's eventual acceptance & forgiveness towards him and the old mans reaction to his long awaited grandson will truly quench your heart. Ian's honorable Uncle, Duncan & the ever high almighty Ms. Lucinda Throckmorton-Jones, oh and don't u dare call her otherwise (geez! lol) . But most of all, I favored Jordan & Alexandra (Duke & Duchess of Hawthorne). They are both the H/H in Judith McNaught's "SOMETHING WONDERFUL", which I read and is also one of my top favs book. It was a delight to read updates of Jordan & Alexandra together with the Dowager Duchess of Hawthorne as well as Roddy Castair. I suggest you read S.W. first then this book. ALMOST HEAVEN is sorta like a sequel to that (Although in S.W, Elizabeth & Ian wasn't mentioned at all). But I think it will spark an additional interest if you know the romance of the secondary characters here in A.H.. You will appreciate their apprearances more. I know there are couple of readers here in Amazon who complained about Elizabeth's "decision" when she believed her half brother (Robert) & doubted Ian. Thing is, she really didn't know Ian all that much compared to his half brother, who she knew all her life. Also, Robert have always been nice to her. He never mistreated her nor abused her. In fact, he did take care of her in some ways however misguided it might have been. So I think Elizabeth's initial response to Robert's tales was more realistic. Mostly, Fear & anger towards Ian then doubts & confusions follows. However, don't be discourage as Judith McNaught once again overturned this bad choice into an amusing & sighing conclusion that will leave you smirking and thinking about it for hours afterwards. Overall, this book is exuberant & riveting. A must READ & A must HAVE in your collection - As I sure do.
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Summary: I WAS SMITTEN
Review: This book was my introduction to Judith McNaught. After reading it, I had my little sister (who works for a major bookstore) track down all the books Judith had written before it. I started reading Almost Heaven late one evening and finished it the following afternoon. I pretty much read it in one sitting. I couldn't put it down. I was even reading while stopped at traffic lights! I had rarely bothered with romance novels before this book because the ones I had read seemed too unbelievable to me. I loved all the characters (not just the hero and heroine), and the attention to detail - it felt as if I was really there. Parts of the book were hilarious and others were unbelievably sad. This book broke my heart and then healed it again. The only down side was that it wasn't long enough. I could have read about Ian and Elizabeth forever. Judith McNaught just can't write her books fast enough for me.
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Summary: Does it get any better!
Review: This book is absolutely spectacular! Judith McNaught out does herself. I'm normally not a big fan of historical romance but if its written like this how could anyone not love it. This is truly the ultimate love story and I must say I think Mr.Ian Thornton is the man of all our dreams. This book will make you laugh, cry and never want to put it down. It is amazing how McNaught can make you adore a character one minute then the next you want to strangle the same character for being such a gullable idiot. Buy this book. It will not dissapoint.
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Summary: Truly heaven!!!
Review: Uptill now this's the most incredible book i've ever read! The characters are so interesting and so real.This's truly the best book of judith mcnaught and it's the reason why i started reading romance books.It's a must read for everyone.
Rating: 
Summary: I just don't know why it doesn't appeal to me...............
Review: I loved the title but i can't say so for the story. It's too lengthy, too long-winded and the story drag a long long way and it's way too bored for me. This is the first Judith McNaught's book, which after reading so many books of hers and i have come to loved her writing skills and abilities, so far they had never let me down but none come as disappointing as this one. I have never had the urge to want to put aside books that i had started to read UNLESS IT IS TOO BORING... and makes me want go to the next book and i don't give a damn how the ending is going to be like because - i simply just can't be bother and don't have the patience to see it through. It just bring more effort to read this book, it's aint funny, it's aint deep (which i always feel about McNaught's books) and it's aint interesting. In other words, it wasn't everything except BORED.
The only part in the book which i have come to enjoy was during the trial of Ian and which Elizabeth made witty comments when she found she couldn't reason with the prosecutors and the crowd, that she was, indeed serious about her confession as no one was interested in the truth, they all came for one thing, they came to watch a show, so in that case, she gave a very good performances. I found myself laughing and getting a little interested in what she had said about furs and emeralds. BUT THAT WAS IT.
I don't care how much money Thornton had spend for getting back Havenhurst and also the children they got and the silly explanation of HEAVEN. Just give me a break, ok? And one for thing, how come the female leading ladies in almost Judith McNaught all have to be virgins? It's just weird... though all the male casting have flirt and slept around... i know it's nothing to do with reality as this is mostly imagination and creativeness. But can't one book wrote about a lady who erm had give her love and body and everything to a man before she met THE ONE... like the male in the story had. It will be more fair isn't it? No... don't start cursing me because this is suppose to be review and i say erm what i thought about the books, right?
Rating:
Summary: Don't pass this one up!
Review: This is one of the best romances that I have read, and believe me, I have read a lot and ALMOST HEAVEN definately created its mark in my collection. The summary at the back of the book does not do this book much credit at all. It is so much more than a predictable romance with a beautiful heroine and handsome hero. Despite the shallow summary, I had to get this book because I believed Ms. McNaught would deliver.
And deliver she did! Although the storyline may seem like a churn out of the romance mill, but this one is definately NOT. A brilliant storyline with characters you actually feel you get to know and feel for. Their disputes are certainly within appropriate reasons and great fun to read. Elizabeth's character is a joy to read about: lots of inner strength, independant with an unorthodox childhood that makes her who she is. Also, I loved that for once at the end, it is the heroine that is not willing to give into, or propose a divorce between her and her husband. It just showed how much faith she had in him, and his love for her, if even at that time he was too enraged to realize it. The connection between her and Ian is written in a way that you actually feel they know each other very well and that the attraction springs from that charm other than first appearances, although the handsome hero and beautiful heroine fluff didn't hurt.
Ms. McNaught certainly outdid herself with this book. It's an amazing piece of work. If you want a touching story with lots of emotion and an unforgettable ending, then do yourself a favour and purchase this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Suspenseful, but annoying and frustrating
Review: I was tempted to give this book one or two stars, but I gave it 3 stars because Judith McNaught's books are all better than the average regency romance you'll find on the shelf. But if the scale was just for JMcN books, Whitney and A Kingdom of Dreams would be a 5+, and this book would be a 2. Though it started out well and the story had a lot of potential, the story turned out to be really annoying because of the unreasonable and unrealistic reactions of certain characters to certain situations.
As for the main characters, I liked them. A lot of the reviews seem to think Elizabeth isn't as spirited as some of JMcN's heroines, but they can't all be the same, and I really liked her. I like that defies a lot of the conventions of her time, by being intelligent and well-read and caring more about what people think of her mind than her beauty, and also by considering the servents as people worthy of being friendly with, rather than as inferiors too beneath her to be worth her time. She also shows a lot of courage throughout the book, by standing up for people, moving on with her life during her seclusion and taking care of her property without a man's help, and by intentionally humiliating herself publically in order to save someone she loves.
Some of the reviews said she wasn't intelligent, I don't know where they're getting this from... I think she definitely has above average intelligence. She might not be naturally brilliant, but she's quick and witty with her comments, creative (like in bargaining with people) and is well educated by her own choice. She's certainly a smart heroine.
As for Ian, I like him, but I wasn't head over heels with him. ;-) He has the same character flaws as most of JMcN's other heros; jumping to conclusions and being overly mean and unforgiving when he's been hurt. When I first 'met' him I thought he seemed totally sexy and attractive and I thought I'd fall for him like I did for Clayton and Royce (Whitney and AKOD).... but somehow, though I always liked him, I wasn't as into him as the other characters I mentioned. I sort of felt like we didn't get to know him that well.
As for the story... I really enjoyed the weekend when Ian and Elizabeth met, and their getting to know each other... but I couldn't really enjoy it stress-free because it was a flashback and we'd already been informed when the book started that there'd be a huge scandal and Elizabeth would be in seclusion for a year and a half. I know authors like to start books with stuff like that to get you in suspense and sucked in, but to me, doing this kinda ruined being able to enjoy their early courtship because you already knew what was going to happen (at least for the next year and a half), and it just resulted in the entire first 3/4 of the book taking place under a stressful and angsty situation.
Don't get me wrong - I'm all for angst and enjoy it when characters have misunderstandings/fights etc., but most of this book took place in 'bad' situation and I felt anxious to get out of it the whole time. Then when we finally did get out of it 3/4 way through the book, I noticed there was still 1/4 of the book left, and knew that we'd never be treated to that much happy romantic time even after such a long angsty time, and that true to JMcN form there would have to be another big misunderstanding and separation, so I couldn't relax even when things were finally going well. And as I predicted, there was very little neutral or good time before we were thrust once again into another bad situation, that lasted for the rest of the book, until the resolution in the last few pages. So for me, there was way too much bad/angst time compared to the good/happy time, but hey maybe some people like that.
As for the things that really annoyed me... there were a few. First - I was annoyed to read sub-plots that had been in other JMcN books. For example, in this book we once again have the situation where the heroine has a disagreeable male guardian (her uncle in this case, in Whitney I think it was her father), who the rich hero pays money to for her hand, rather than getting a dowry, and the disagreeable uncle/father then lets the cat out of the bag to the heroine before the hero gets to court her and let her feel that she's making her own decision, leading the heroine to be furious that the hero 'bought' her, etc. I was totally rolling my eyes when I read this same exact scenario again.
The next majorly annoying thing was how unrealistic one of the character's reaction is towards something major that happens near the end of the story. One of the characters has been feeling guilty and preoccupied for months that another character would find out a secret and possiblity leave over it - yet for some reason does not even consider this as a possibility when the second character actually does leave, and instead assumes the most betraying scenario has happened. This reaction completely unbelievable and contrived, as is this characters behavior and reaction throughout the rest of the book.
There is also a bothersome reversal in which character should be the one apologizing and begging for forgiveness. One character has clearly been deceitful and made a mistake and knows it, yet the other one is the one doing all the apologizing and begging. Very unsatisfying and annoying.
So all in all, I was pretty annoyed throughout the book. However, on one last little positive note (if anyone is still reading ;-) )... had this been a terrible book, I wouldn't be fired up enough about to write this long review. ;-) So the fact that I was so disappointed and annoyed at how certain things happened, shows that I was obviously pulled in enough to care about what would happen to the story and characters. After all, I finished the book last night and was still mad about it when I woke up, and am still made enough this evening to write a review. ;-) So, I guess that's why a book that IMO is poor by JMcN's standards, still gets an overall 3. I was never bored for a second and did care about the characters, I just found certain character reactions and ensuing scenarios to be completely unrealistic and therefore totally annoying.
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