My Dearest Enemy

Rating:
Summary: Hmmm...Inadequate of romance
Review: I am a Connie Brockway fan all the way. Yet this one falls to my standards. For one thing, Avery and Lily can't seem to do anything but bicker at each other which is really annoying when I am really just waiting for them to kiss and steam it up. So I am just waiting and waiting and the bickering really gave me a heaache. However, the little bits of letters are clever indeed. Anotehr thing is that you totally know that no matter what Avery and Lily will end up together and yet they keep on bickering. The minor characters add nothing to it all. Too obvious, too simple, just too *ugh*

Rating:
Summary: Great book!
Review: I am a very jaded reader and I found this book truly excellent. The writing is almost flawless. The heroine and hero are my very favorite type, both outsiders who are clearly made for each other. The use of correspondence between the hero and heroine in the plot is great. All characters are excellently drawn with unique voices. The use of humor is very well done. The passion is strong and wonderful.

Rating:
Summary: Only because Brockway is so good.
Review: I didn't like this book. I had to force myself to finish it. The reason for my dislike was Lily. She was so cold. I couldn't warm up to her at all. I didn't feel she deserved Avery's love. It wasn't until the last few pages that she said she would marry him. I know it was because of her background, but you should be able to feel something for the heroine, sympathy, empathy, or admiration. I felt none for her. I thought she was not a good character. We are all entitled to our opinions. Most people liked this book. I didn't. This book was one of the few Connie Brockway books that I don't have on my keeper shelf. I'm glad I read it. Most reviews were glowing. It just wasn't for me.

Rating:
Summary: Remember Pillow Talk?
Review: I didn't realize until after seeing that old Rock Hudson/Doris Day chesnut on the late show a few nights ago how similar it is to my own recent release, MY DEAREST ENEMY. And it is! Set in late Victorian England, my book is about a man and a woman who have never met face-to-face but who have been forced into an unlikely written correspondence by a dead man's manipulation. Both are masters of repartee and both more than willing to use that talent to verbally score off the other. As in PILLOW TALK, their antagonism is exploded by instant and intense physical attraction when they finally do meet. Unlike PILLOW TALK, right from the beginning they know exactly who each other is and just what giving in to that attraction means: the loss of the estate both spent years hoping to attain. It's a story about finding your heart's desire ...in the enemy camp. I hope you get a chance to read it. Please visit my website to read an excerpt from MY DEAREST ENEMY as well as my other Dell! books. Enjoy!

Rating:
Summary: So disappointing .....
Review: I have enjoyed some of Brockway's other works but this one was hardly worth the time. The characters had potential but it took too long for them to establish a believable connection. Rather than stimulating exchanges, it was just small-minded bickering. I never formed an attachment to the characters. Based on Lily's "past" (or rather her mother's past), I could almost understand her outlook towards men and marriage, and her philosophy-- as a suffragist. Only in the end did I start to warm up to her, but by then it was too little to late. Brockway tried to make us believe that Lily Bede had a heart of gold. But her kindness was extended only to women and children but she expressed only disdain for men. I never found Lily Bede to be likable. Buy it if you must, but I suggest skip it and read Bridal Season instead.

Rating:
Summary: A story about reluctant lovers
Review: I look for stories that have a different perspective, so this one caught my attention. Lily is given control over the inheritance that Avery always thought would be his. The control is temporary; Lily has to prove herself capable of managing it, or she will lose it to Avery. The reader is introduced to these two strong-willed people through their correspondence with one another over several years; the story then moves to real-time. I loved the technique; it felt as though I was reading a long-ago diary, and gave me a better feel for the characters' personalities than straight dialog and narrative would have. By the time the story entered the narrative phase, I was ready for the sparks that flew (love-hate) as their passion for each other unfolded. I ached for them both as the book closed. They were such reluctant lovers! I held back on the fifth star rating because the book felt a little short, but I'll still be keeping it because it's different and I like that.

Rating:
Summary: Witty & unputtdownable! I loved it
Review: I loved both of these characters but the hero especially. He thinks he's a gentleman (and trust me he's the only one who thinks this <g>) he's blunt, and loud and pretty much knows nothing about being a boring old gentleman. Thank goodness! He's also charmingly imperfect, physically flawed by asthma, amazingly shy despite his loud mouth and sexually inexperienced. An irresistible combination, he was. The letters the two exchange during his travels cracked me up and touched me. A wonderful book that I can't recommend highly enough.

Rating:
Summary: Couldn't put it down!
Review: I read this book in one evening -- I just couldn't put it down. Very funny and touching. One of the best romance novels I've read.

Rating:
Summary: Couldn't Put It Down!
Review: I want to thank Ms. Brockway for being a writer that writes for the mature reader. This book was my 4th read by Ms Brockway. I grade them from B+ to A+ this one being an A. I was moved by these flawed characters. The plot was entertaining and different from the usual. I like how Avery was first to admit his love, etc. Usually its the female. Avery was shy and without a lot of experience, he was a real man with honor, tenderness, and strength. This was a story that was hard to put down. And Brockway never lets the reader down in the intimacy department. In general, this book is very much worth reading.

Rating:
Summary: Mixed Bag
Review: I was tempted into buying this book by the glowing reviews at Amazon, together with my need to find a new, fresh romance author (being rather bored & burnt out by the repetitive & often silly romances I've been reading lately).

Well, I'm not sure if it's because I'm burnt out, but this book didn't do it for me. Maybe this wasn't the Connie Brockway I should have started with? I found it tedious and unrealistic (I hate to say "unrealistic" when reviewing a romance novel, but darn it, there should be some elements of realism to the plot and/or in the character's motivations to make these things work).

I loved the premise of the letter-writing between the H/H -- I give this book the 3 stars for that spurt of creativity on the author's part -- but I thought it could have gone on longer than it did. It was the most interesting part of this book, a really inventive way for the reader to learn about the characters, and for the main characters to learn about each other.

Speaking of the people in this novel, there are (too) many characters but none of them are particularly compelling or memorable. I liked the hero, but only insofar as his letters to the heroine. I thought the heroine behaved ridiculously in re: her decision NOT to marry the hero. If you love someone, you have to trust that person not to hurt you; the fact that she couldn't trust the hero (at least initially) pointed up the fact that her "love" for him wasn't truly love at all. When she did her about-face, it felt as false as that which had gone before.

Oh, well better luck next time...either with Ms. Brockway or another author. I'm still searching for a hit. Any recommendations?