Rating: 
Summary: Puzzlingly implausible for a Brenda Joyce novel
Review: As a fan of Brenda Joyce's romances, I was surprised and mystified as I slogged through this novel because the problems were too big to ignore.1) The heroine comes across unintelligent. Not that her strong Cockney accent is enough to imply stupidity -- but her words, analysis of her circumstances, and her actions come across dense and counter-productive to her own survival. It's hard to enjoy a book where you can't relate to the heroine much at all. 2) The heroine spends a lot of time throwing herself at the hero and the hero sends ambivalent signals to her, which is a turn-off for me and for a good number of other romance readers. I don't read romance to watch a woman chase a man. There's too much of that in the real world already. Usually B. Joyce gives us a strong hero who knows what he wants, but this one is just too out of touch with the heroine to make me love him. 3) Implausible scenarios present themselves over and over again. I simply didn't buy how quickly and thoroughly the Hardings and Lady Dearfield took the lower-class heroine under their wings. There was no really compelling reason for them to do so, given their social strictures and world-view. Also, I find it unlikely that Ralph, the heroine's constant companion, would hold off as long as he has in declaring himself to the heroine and making a move on her. Many more examples exist, but those are some of the blinding implausibilities. 4) There's much less sexual tension between the hero and heroine in this book than there usually is between the protagonists in B. Joyce's other romance novels. I recommend giving this book a pass unless you've read every single other B. Joyce novel and simply want to complete your bookshelf.
Rating: 
Summary: Rags To Riches Romance
Review: Brenda Joyce redoes the always fun Pygmalion tale in her newest novel THE FINER THINGS.
Violette Cooper is a child of the streets. Abandoned by her drug addicted Father, she struggles, stealing when necessary, in order to survive. She wants so much more out of life than what fate has handed her. When Sir Thomas, a kindly old Knight, offers her his hand in marriage she sees it as an opportunity to better herself and agrees to become his wife.
Sir Thomas introduces her to his friends', the Harding family, who immediately become enamored by the mix of beauty and innocence she presents and aren't offended by her heavy Cockney accent and her social faux pas. Violette finds herself drawn to the younger, handsome Harding son, Blake, but will not do anything to hurt her good-hearted husband/savior.
When Thomas dies and his hateful daughter begins to throw around accusations that Violette may have murdered him Blake feels compelled to help the innocent beauty. She falls in love with Blake and comes to the realization that he will never reciprocate her feelings unless she becomes a real Lady so she decides to take some lessons and succeeds in transforming herself. Unfortunately, no amount of lessons are going to soften Blake's hardened heart. Eight years earlier the love of his life shattered his dreams and he's made a vow that he will never open his heart again. Besides this little obstacle there are many other things conspiring to keep these two apart: murder charges, stubbornness, miscommunication, insecurity, another suitor, a tragic accident involving a family member and some more miscommunication.
Readers will admire the way Violette struggles to pull herself up out of the dregs of society and become a real Lady but may tire of some of the choices she makes and the lack of communication between this couple. The hero is sweetly protective of the heroine and a man devoted to his family but he has one heck of time admitting to his feelings when it comes to matters of the heart. The sexual tension and love scenes are tamer than the previous Joyce book I've read so readers looking for a sweeter story will not be disappointed with this gut-wrenching and tear-jerking read
Rating:
Summary: Puzzlingly implausible for a Brenda Joyce novel
Review: Even though a lot of people say this book is not the best, I happened to fall in love with the main characters. I loved, laughted, and cried right a long with Violette. It could have moved a little faster, but I found the book better than every body else found it.
Rating: 
Summary: not the best
Review: Even though a lot of people say this book is not the best, I happened to fall in love with the main characters. I loved, laughted, and cried right a long with Violette. It could have moved a little faster, but I found the book better than every body else found it.
Rating: 
Summary: What a waste of time
Review: Granted, I finished this book in a record (for me) two days, but only because I was hoping, just praying that something was going to happen between the main characters. And when it did, it was not until the last page, and that was a major disappointment. I wanted to see how their relationship blossomed, how they lived together, etc., but this book was depressing.
Rating:
Summary: Could have been better
Review: I agree with the other reviewers this wasn't Brenda Joyce's best book, however, it wasn't that bad... as a matter of fact I thought the beginning was really good but toward the end she rushed everything. I thought the best part of the book was when she talked about Anne and Dom from "Beyond Scandal," which was a lot better than "Finer Things." I would recommend that book a lot more than this but you should read this if you have nothing better to do or/and want to know what happened to Dom and Anne.
Rating:
Summary: One of the finer reads in life
Review: I found this book to be better than what has been previously said about it. True, if you are looking for lighthearted fare, this is not for you, but if you enjoy a fast-paced tale of forbidden love, read this one for sure! The only thing that I could not quite grasp about this novel is Violette's almost instant transition from street orphan to sophisticate. She hardly made any mistakes after her "training"!!
Rating:
Summary: Not her best work
Review: I LOVE Brenda Joyce, but this book was the least entertaining. The plot moved too slowly, and was a jumble of misunderstandings. Not enough romantic scenes that Joyce is famous for either.
Rating:
Summary: Could have been better
Review: I must agree with the rest of the reviewers that it was not her best work. It could have had a better plot. The love bettew Blake and Violet was not that apparent. The ending was rushed because it spent too much time in the beginning of the book. The thing I liked most of the book was how it mentioned Anne and Dom from her previous book "Beyond Scandal," which was a lot better than this.
Rating: 
Summary: EXcellent - keeps your interest
Review: I read this book, thank goodness, before I read the reviews, otherwise I may have put it off. When I find myself rushing to get things done so I can continue reading where I left off, I know it is a 5 star book. I found the love Violet had for Blake beautiful. Violet, an orphan growing up in the slums of Londan determines to better herself. She marries an older knight and gains the title of Lady. She meets and falls madly in love with Blake. She discovers he is the one she was captivated with when she was a small child watching from a distance at a party. Violet is constantly getting into more and more situaltions that Blake has to rescue her from. Blake was hard to understand because he kept saying things to hurt Violet, but never meaning to hurt her. It was acceptable behavior to me because I know this happens in real life. He was also very caring and did everything he could to help and protect her. This was a great book! It is charming, heart warming, sad, suspenseful, and brings out every other emotion that you can think of. Brenda Joyce is the best!
| 
