Rating: 
Summary: Fabulous Book!...
Review: Adele Ashworth establishes herself as one of romance's best authors with this incredibly emotional story of secrets and seduction. Home from Egypt to investigate the mysterious circumstances surrounding his sister's death, Marcus intends to discover the truth at any cost. He needs Mary Marsh's help. Mary was one of his sister's closest confidents and Marcus is certain she can help him uncover the truth. What neither Marcus nor Mary counted on was falling in love with each other. Marcus is a wonderful combination of strength and sweetness while Mary protects her heart and secrets under layer after layer of self-preservation. And underneath several of those layers are some pretty racy undergarments that have Marcus longing for a private showing. . . This is a book not to be missed!
Rating: 
Summary: Thank God I didn't live in the Victorian era!
Review: As mentioned in other reviews, this is a mystery within a romance or vice versa. It may be that the author, who certainly researches her work, wanted to emphasize the era. But I found all of the Victorian sensibilities to be irritating and frustrating. The torturous conversations, obscure comments and purposeful misunderstandings, lost my interest. The blushing and stammering about clothing, contact with the opposite sex and anything else personal, as well as excessive class consciousness and the extreme concern about not intruding on the private life of the dead sister seemed ludicrous. Poor Christine, the sister, deserved a better family and a different end to her brief story. Yes, there was a romance. But, in the final analysis, I didn't care all that much. I have liked Ms. Ashworth's books generally, but this one has decided for me, once and for all, that I should not read Victorian-era romances that too accurately reflect the times.
Rating: 
Summary: Way off the perfection scale
Review: Having read her magnificent My Darling Caroline which clinched her the coveted RITA award and Winter Garden, Adele Ashworth fails to sustain her trend of creating sympathetic intelligent characters and the sizzling sexual tension usually associated with her past works in her latest. At least the prequel Someone Irresistible which tells Mimi Marsh's story (the female protagonist's sister) is more textured with stunning revelations and provides dimension and complexity to the characters but When It's Perfect is all too predictible and maudlin with its denouement when it could have been better with such a promising start - a sudden death of to-be bride Christine Longfellow. Her seamstress for her bridal trousseau Mary Marsh seems to hold secrets to her death - and the devastated brother of the deceased Marcus has come back from Egypt to investigate the real reason of her death. It becomes all too obvious that Mary and Marcus are going to fall in love with their progressive admiration; the viscount whom Christine is intended for is a scoundrel and that Mary is a bourgeois unsuitable for the earl. It is Ms. Ashworth's intention to focus on the central characters and simply neglects the sub-characters. It's not a who-dun-it nor a noir but simply a strait-laced romance. However even the romance has failings. Ms. Ashworth lacks her usual empathy for her characters as she charts their emotions and instead injects an overdose of melodrama. Harsh the review may be but for a former RITA winner of outstanding talents to be delivering such standard fare, her faithful readers are most disappointed as I am. We are not asking for perfection here but this read is simply way off the scale with its uninspired plot.
Rating: 
Summary: Good Read
Review: I am surprised by the negative reviews for this book. I have read many romances and although this may not be the very best I really enjoyed it and finished it in record time. It definitely deserves a four star rating. Give it a try--you won't be disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: Perhaps not perfect, but a very enjoyable read!
Review: I enjoyed this book a lot. Contrary to another reviewer, I think this book is much better than "Winter Garden" (one of the author's prior books). The lead characters are warmer, more engaging - less cool, aloof. Granted, the mystery wasn't much, and I would have preferred a darker, more gothic atmosphere, but this book concentrates most on the relationship building between the two main characters. Marcus Longfellow, Earl of Renn has come home from Egypt to discover his beloved younger sister Christine has died just months before her wedding. In her letters to Marcus she had confided to him that she "feared for her future", but was not specific as to why. Worried, he heads home but arrives too late. Christine's letters were also full of one Miss Mary Marsh who had been hired to work on Christine's wedding trousseau. She and Mary became friendly and the mischievous Christine engaged in some long distance matchmaking for her new friend and favourite brother. And so when Marcus decides to investigate Christine's death, he asks Mary to help him. He feels he knows her already from Christine's letters and that he can trust her to help him uncover the truth. Who better to know Christine's state of mind near the end than her new confidant? Mary is from a good, but not aristocratic, family and is very conscious of her station in the Renn household - as a paid employee. Though she and Christine shared much, Mary held back much as well. Guilt, shame and heartache haunt Mary but she keeps all this to herself. As Mary and Marcus spend time together, they are drawn to each other, sweetly sharing bits of what Christine told each of them about the other. Their attraction grows and heats up, but Mary still holds some of herself back knowing that her past and lack of rank make any future between them impossible. But she obviously doesn't know Marcus as well as she thinks! I adored Marcus! How another reviewer could call him "aggravating" is beyond me! He was handsome, funny, naughty, yet tough and determined as well. And I heartily enjoyed the easy friendship (not to mention the passion!) that they shared. They were a really sweet couple and in the end you (and they) see what Christine saw all along - they were perfect for each other.
Rating:
Summary: Clunk
Review: I really tried to stick with this book but finally gave up. Mary Marsh, the Longfellow family's seamstress, agrees to help discover the secrets behind Marcus Longfellow's sister's death. Every movement, every thought, every glance, every twitch sizzles with inexplicable tension between Mary and Marcus until I wanted to pull out the pages in the book with annoyance. Each minute action is subjected to prolonged scrutiny and introspection. And the whole story, at least the part which I read, unfolds in a creepy, decidedly unromantic way.
Rating:
Summary: wonderful Victorian romance
Review: In 1855 after years searching for antiquities in Egypt, English Earl Marcus Longfellow returns home following the tragic sudden death of his eighteen year old sister Christine. Stunned and feeling guilty for not being there for Christine, Marcus vows to learn the truth while he ponders the note he received from her last year announcing her betrothal to a viscount. Marcus starts his inquiries with the person who found the corpse, lacy confectioner Mary Marsh. Marcus quickly realizes that Christine confided much more than she should have in the working class lass. However, Marcus obtains Mary's cooperation to assist him in learning what really happened to his sister as he realizes the lingerie maker cared for Christine. As the Earl and the undergarment clothier work together, they fall in love, but she harbors a secret that added to their obvious class differences, and his obsession with his sibling's death that makes it impossible for anything permanent. The sequel to SOMEONE IRRESISTIBLE stars the sister of the first novel's heroine. The story line of WHEN IT'S PERFECT parallels that of the prequel, but includes an amateur sleuth investigation containing a twist that adds fun to the tale. The story line is enjoyable due to the antics of the lead couple though the all's well ending that both claims seems stretched when a beloved lies still underground. Still fans will relish Adele Ashworth's wonderful Victorian romance that provides a second look at the mid nineteenth century dinosaur craze. Harriet Klausner
Rating:
Summary: showed promise....
Review: it may seem odd for someone to give a book they didn't finish 3 stars. Like one of the other reviewers I'm ambivalant about this book. It started, in my opinion, with a bang-there was a lot of promise in the characters presented. I guess the main problem was the somewhat dreariness of the characters as the book progresses, or possibly, that because the story is set literally weeks after the hero's sister is found dead, there was a feeling of morose over the whole book/romance. Heck, even the hero thinks to himself-"I'm here to solve my sisters death, not fall in love". No joy could be taken (and rightly so) in any activity without the thought of the sisters death in the background.
The writing is enjoyable, and in no way should Miss Ashworth be discounted as a writer. I think it was the theme of the book that I didn't enjoy. As I found I could only read this book in about 10 page increments before I'd lose interest, I gave up after halfway through. It may just be me-try the book and see for yourself.
Rating:
Summary: Not quite perfect
Review: Part of the book's problem was its unevenness. Sometimes it really held my interest and other times I just wanted to be finished with it. I like Marcus a lot (a lot, alot), but Mary doesn't impress me much. In fact, I found her annoying. Somehow, though, I cannot see this woman who so loved the sea and wilds of Cornwall, hating to leave that behind, happy to follow Marcus to the dry deserts of Egypt. The letters from the sister that opened each chapter were a very nice touch, adding to the reader's understadning, providing foreshadowing, and making the sister an active character in the story. The who-done-it is also well executed, as are the love scenes. All in all, it's okay and has its good moments, but it's not great -- and definitely not perfect.
Rating:
Summary: Not perfect
Review: Plot description on this book's Amazon page. It was an OK read, just not riveting. WINTER GARDEN is a much better story. The two main characters were good, just not great. There is little mystery; you can sort of guess what happened, and not too much tension--sex or anything else. If you are a fan of this author, try this one. However, if you are a first time reader try her other title, WINTER GARDEN first.
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