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Summary: My Favorite story Of all Time!!!
Review: I bought this book at a grocery store and it suprised me, Isadora reminded me of myself and I knew how she felt in most situations When she met Ryan it gave me hope of something better then the life I lead ever since I read this book I decide that I need to take more chances in life. I have read many historical romance novels 15 Julie Garwood books and many Catherine Coulter Books also other ones But this book no matter Homany times I read it I always laugh and cry. The Charm School will always be my Favorite no matter WHAT!
Rating: 
Summary: Waiting for something to happen
Review: I was disappointed in this book, the reviews were so promising. But the actually reading was flat and left a lot to be desired. The two love scenes were lukewarm, and lack a certain sexual sensuality that was present in the "The Horsewhisperer's Daughter." I have never written a review before, but I felt compelled to do so for this book, because I felt that the author did not spend a lot of time with the story or the characters. This will probably be the last Wiggs book I read, unless she gets her act together.
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Summary: One of the best
Review: I read this book and loved it. I thought that it was great that Isadora was an ordinary girl. It was wonderful that Ryan looked at her intelligence and found her beautiful instead of the standard model type girl. Not many books are like that. This book grabbed your attention from page one and held you there. I would defintely recommend it!
Rating: 
Summary: Charmed by THE CHARM SCHOO
Review: This is one of those frothy romance novels, but with an ugly-duckling heroine for a change of pace from the more predictable beauty with an 18-inch waist. Our heroine is the daughter of a Boston Brahmin family whose fortune derives from the shipping industry of the early 19th century. Author Susan Wiggs exhibits far better than typical romance novelist-style knowledge of her subject, and she creates a strong sense of place in her descriptions of Boston. The sex scenes, though requisite for the genre, seem a bit gratuitous in the context of the well-researched historic framework and the excellent writing. Louisa May Alcott wrote about this same population and she was wildly successful without including heaving bosoms, milky-white loins and other euphemisms; on the other hand, Alcott didn't have a modern editor urging her to turn up the heat. THE CHARM SCHOOL is a pleasing and interesting work of fiction.
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Summary: It was all a matter of time and circumstance
Review: For Isadora Peabody, life consisted of being invisible and struggling to remain invisible. A dark changeling, all of Boston wondered how she fit in with her golden family. Trained by a scholarly aunt, Isadora learned to value her mind but she couldn't help but want to find her place among her family and their friends. Unfortunately, when society wasn't ignoring her, they were sneering at her. And although her heart was set on one man, he barely knew of her existence. But she was determined to prove her value to him by working on one of his father's ships as an interpreter. Hired sea captain Ryan Calhoun has no time to indulge a society girl. This hedonistic man who initially cows Isadora is more than what he seems. He walks a fine line between being a ship's captain and being an active Abolitionist. But as he comes to understand the stifled Isadora and watches her thrive on board their ship, he begins to see that all she needs is the time and the place to bloom properly in order to find her niche. Despite all odds, he witnesses and participates in her transformation aboard his ship and among his crew.Susan Wiggs has written an emotional story based on the timeless tale, "The Ugly Duckling". For Isadora, Boston is a place where she is never healthy, where she is clumsy and repressed. Initially, aboard the ship, she is the same and she refuses to cast aside her Boston propriety. But as she finds an assortment of unlikely friends on board the ship and as she discovers her own purpose, Isadora blooms under the approval and admiration of the salty sailors who teach her to dance, give her lessons in decorum, and whom she helps in turn. But no one helps her find her self-confidence as much as Ryan who, with his intolerance for her delicate sensibilities, compels her to increase her capabilities and to be a useful member aboard his ship. As they come to know each other, they find themselves engaging in an unexpected friendship and experimenting with a mutual attraction for each other, which they both believe will sail its course. What Isadora learns from Ryan's charm school is much more than proper etiquette; she learns, instead, to believe in herself and to be comfortable in her own skin. And Ryan's acceptance of Isadora as she fundamentally is makes him an admirably unforgettable hero.
Rating:
Summary: Great
Review: The thing that caught my attention the most was that when it begins Ryan is the One that makes the first move on Isdora. He sees her for her real beauty. Her brain and not her looks. He is the only one that has shown interest in her at the beging but at the end of the book people she her for her looks. So to sum it up it was a great book I would suggest it to everyone.
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Summary: In love all over again . . .
Review: This is truly a wonderful book. I could not put it down, and yes I laughed and cried at even the happy parts. Susan Wiggs, you're fabulous to stimulate our imaginations and make us romantic-hungry women ever so satiated. Actually, I'm not satisfied - I feel I need to read it again, because I can't get enough. Yes, I know, calm down already - it's just a book with the most dreamy and heartwarming of heroes like Ryan Calhoun and a sweet, insecure woman (sound familiar? It's within many of us I'm sure) in Isadora Peabody. Who both fell in love . . . in a very endearing and yet ever so sexy-captivating kind of way. The rogueish ship captain and the shy, intelligent spinster . . . Who would ever imagine such an attraction so great, that you'd just want to read on and on and on . . .
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Summary: A wonderful book......Highly Entertaining
Review: The old story of the ugly duckling comes back to life again in "The Charm School". This time with a twist. She grow up with a bunch of sailors teaching her to be a lady. By bullying her way into a position as a translator on a ship to Rio she comes to "draw-out" each member of the crew who teaches her a different aspect of how to be a "lady". The ending had me going for awhile so I won't give it away, but it was not what I expected. I found this book to be very entertaining and to heroine kind of like me today who is "book smart" and feels like she is lacking social graces. It is nice to know that things can and usually do work out.....that some men take the time to look beyond glasses and the wrong clothes. This book was very funny and an enjoyable read. Highly recommended!
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Summary: Interesting Plot
Review: Okay. Ryan Calhoun, the ship's captain, and the hero of this book, was hot. I was definitely developing a thing for him by the end of the book. Not only is he intelligent and handsome, he does hard physical labor on board his ship. As for the story, it was fresh and fun. Ms. Isadora Peabody is determined to find her ne'er do well fiance, and enlists the aid of Captain Ryan Calhoun to do so. On board the ship, Calhoun is convinced Isadora is spying for her lazy, gold-digger of a fiance, who cheated him out of a desperately needed grant. That is hardly the case. The sex scenes are steamy and the dialogue is superb. I think this is Susan Wiggs' best book yet.
Rating:
Summary: The Charm School
Review: The Charm School is truly a delightful book. I confess to feeling sorry I had to leave Captain Ryan Calhoun and the exotic warmth of Rio behind when I finished. The attention to details, such as the popular music of the time, the clothing, seafaring expressions and knowledge, the laws regarding runaway slaves, and the smoking of hemp in the 1800s, makes it apparent that Ms. Wiggs did a great deal of research for her novel. Further, the integration of Isadora's story with that of The Ugly Duckling is both clever and charming. Ms. Wigg's elevating her novels in this fashion is greatly appreciated by this reader.
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