Ransomed Bride

Rating:
Summary: Okay. Doesn't live up to other Jane Peart titles.
Review: I am a big fan of Jane Peart, however, this book was not as good as her others. Attractive Lorabeth flees England to escape the clutches of her dominant mother. She believes in true love and is determined to avoid a hideous arranged marriage. She finds solace and comfort in her grandmother's home, however, I felt the romance between Lorabeth and her first cousin Cameron, to be forced and contrived. The romance didn't develop naturally as in most romance novels. However, I did think the author did well in describing the scenery.

Rating:
Summary: Good-but a little too dramatic
Review: It is a good book, but, as I said in my title, sometimes I felt like there should be an orchestra playing and people watching. Historical Williamsburg is accurately portrayed and the elderly ladies Lorabeth lives with are adorable-you love them! Lorabeth was an interesting character, but a little more backbone would have inproved her tremendously. I will definitely go back and read the first book in the series.

Rating:
Summary: Good-but a little too dramatic
Review: It is a good book, but, as I said in my title, sometimes I felt like there should be an orchestra playing and people watching. Historical Williamsburg is accurately portrayed and the elderly ladies Lorabeth lives with are adorable-you love them! Lorabeth was an interesting character, but a little more backbone would have inproved her tremendously. I will definitely go back and read the first book in the series.

Rating:
Summary: OK, but too syrupy and too little anything else!
Review: Lorabeth fled from an arranged marriage in England, only to arrive at the Virginia home of a grandmother she had never met. She was a total stranger due to the scandalous elopement of her mother some 20 years prior. Hoping to become a member of a "real" family, instead she falls helplessly and hopelessly in love with her first cousin, Cameron Montrose whom she had never known. The entire book revolves primarily around their complicated, clandestine romance which continues even after both of them are betrothed to another person.

If there is one surprise that Peart is able to pull off, it is when Lorabeth's mother is invited to Virginia to attend her wedding to the son of a wealthy family, hence - two famous Virginia families united by a marriage. The results are a nice, surprising twist.

Since this was my first Jane Peart book, I started with a blank slate...and sincerely hope this is not her best work - it contained way too much romance, and way too little history and Christian influence. However, in fairness to Peart, I will definitely try another book or two before forming a lasting opinion.