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Summary: An absolute must read!
Review: A book that not only you cannot put down, but you will feel like you're losing a friend when it's over! Go get it!
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Summary: Exceptional Historical Romance!!!
Review: After reading the reviews that panned UNDONE, I felt I had to write a review.
I very much enjoyed this story and read it in one sitting because I couldn't put it down! It is an extraordinary example of the BEST that Romantic fiction has to offer!!!There are two points I wanted to make in response to other reviews posted here. I appreciate the research that Ms. Henley and her team has done and it made this novel exceptional in its genre.
I researched Elizabeth Gunning online and I also saw that Elizabeth had three children from her marriage with James. However, I give Ms. Henley kudos for her use of artistic license which allows Elizabeth to have one child from that marriage. It is essential to the storyline, and in keeping with our ideas of what a romance novel should be, that the child be fathered by her true love and not the "villain". Three, all fathered by John and not James, would have been ridiculous. Yes, we DO expect to see the lovers end up happily together in the end. THAT is what makes it a romance novel. I enjoyed the twists in the storyline which kept the lovers apart and kept me on the edge of my seat.
Ms Henley has created wonderful complex characters in this novel and I enjoyed watching them grow and mature through the story, especially our heroine. Elizabeth begins our story as a 16 year old girl who is completely controlled by her mother and becomes a strong and courageous woman and mother before the story is through. I was shocked when Elizabeth refused to marry her true love after she had become a widow, but after reading on it all became clear. Elizabeth was refusing MARRIAGE (essentially a state of ownership in those times) not LOVE. After considering this last twist I also understood that Ms. Henley was being true to her characters and I appreciated the novel all the more for it. Thank you, Ms. Henley for an extraordinary novel!!!
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Summary: Renewed faith in romance!
Review: After the last "romance" novel (not by VA Henley) I read I needed this book. It was so wonderful to pick up a book that engrossed me so that I could read it well into the morning hours. Thank you Ms. Henley!
Rating: 
Summary: Very intense, dramatic and more than a little tragic.
Review: I am always advocating for more drama in romance novels, so I didn't think I would say this, but this novel had too much drama. I just finished reading it and it has my emotions in turmoil. I would certainly recommend it, but beware, this is not a lighthearted, easy to read story, nor is your usual, uncomplicated romance. This book gets you emotionally involved, makes you lose sleep and throws your feelings into a whirlwind at times. I think for the first time since I started reading romance novels, I found one that made me unsure it would have a happy ending. The novel got so complicated and tragic at times that I really feared for their "happily everafter". I just learned when I read the review in this page that this novel is loosely based on real facts. Maybe that explains some things that happened that I considered unnecesarilly tragic, like the death of someone towards the end of the book that made absolutely no sense to me, since it didn't contribute anything important to the main story and was a very sad event. I won't say who it is as to not spoil the surprise. You'll know who I'm talking about if you read the novel. The one complain I have about this book is that it was too long. In fact the first one hundred pages or so, where so slow that I actually put it down 3 times and read other books before I finally decided to finish this one. In the end I'm glad that I read it completely, because after the first initial calm the book picks up the pace, but after that outburst, it slows down again after Elizabeth marries. Her married life took too much of the novel, and John Campbell, who was supossedly the other main character rather dissapears from the book for long periods of time, only appearing sporadically. During that time the story is only from Elizabeth point of view, and we don't know much about John. The novel was more about Elizabeth journey from an innocent little girl to a mature woman, and I felt that John was only slightly more important in the novel than the rest of the secondary characters. To put it in other words, if the novel was a movie we would probably be seeing more of the villain and the support cast than the hero. I really think that more than 400 pages of small print were not justified to tell the love story of this book. But then that is just my personal opinion. This said, I can only add that if you are ready for a strongly emotional and intense novel, don't miss this one. If you are just looking for a light and fun read, "Undone" is not for you.
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Summary: Exciting
Review: I couldn't put this book down. It kept me enthralled through out the entire story. I loved it.
Rating: 
Summary: Terrible!
Review: I don't usually post reviews, but after reading this book, and the other reviews, I really feel that I must. In my opinion, this was one of the worst books I've read in a long time, and I'm a voracious reader. Very little actually happened in the story, most of the characters were boring, and their actions and dialogue were predictable.
Although it's been several years since I read any of Ms. Henley's novels, I do not remember those older ones being as poorly written and uninteresting as this one. If you enjoy this genre, there are many books by other authors that are much more enjoyable from which to choose. Don't waste your time and money on this one.
If I could give the book 0 stars, I would.
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Summary: One last thing ...
Review: I think I forgot to mention that I destroyed my copy of this book. For a while I thought about returning it to the bookstore and getting my money back, but then I decided that I didn't even want anyone else to be able to buy it. I only wish that I could rip apart every existing copy of this book ... sorry, Virginia.
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Summary: Best Book Yet!!!!!
Review: I was at the store one day and I happen to come across this book. I was always a Virginia Henley fan and this book is the best yet. I couldn't put the book down and I already read it twice. I recommend this book to everyone.
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Summary: First time Henley reader
Review: I'm an avid historical romance reader and just picked this book up the other day on a whim. I had never read anything by Virginia Henley. I have my favorite authors and usually stick to reading only thier books. Well, I can add this author to my list of favorites. I was not disappointed in this book or this authors ability to write her knowledge of the 18th century. It is a riviting story that has true romance along with the reality of lifes hardships in marriage and life in general. I am looking forward to reading more by this author.
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Summary: This is a fun Georgian Era romance
Review: In 1751 in a remote part of Ireland, Duke John Gunning and Elizabeth Gunning, meeting for the first time, share a Midsummer Night's Dream encounter. Both are attracted to one another, but neither expects an aristocrat and a commoner to run into each other ever again as their circles are quite different. Elizabeth's pushy mom plans to have both her daughters perform on the stage. She turns to her friend actress Peg Wolffington for help. Peg takes to the two young females and arranges for the three women to see her perform at Dublin Castle. She goes so far as to sham a relationship insisting that the two siblings are daughters of Viscount Mayo, a lord in the most remote isolated part of the country. However, also at the castle is John, whose silence can only be bought with kisses from the real Elizabeth, not the performer. This is a fun Georgian Era romance that puts a twist on the taboo of acting by making it an acceptable occupation. The story line grips the readers as John and Elizabeth fall in love, but must cope with the overarching reach of her mom, who would be the mother-in-law from hell. Fans of the period will enjoy Virginia Henley's latest tale because as usual the author provides a deep historical piece inside a strong character driven romance. Harriet Klausner
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