Brighton Road/The Sugar Rose : 2-in-1

Rating:
Summary: marie
Review: I have not read the Sugar Rose but I must admit to having liked the Brighton Road quite abit. Of course the heroine is ditzy but I really liked her spirit. Truthfully I have a friend with same penchant for blurting out things, an unconventional family, intelligence masked behind little common sense and a real thirst for adventure. I love her impetuous nature and I love this heroine as well. The hero is a bit stiff as I imagine many of his class are but he unbends enough to make this a very pleasant, light read and definitely a keeper.
marie

Rating:
Summary: The second one's great!
Review: This book is definitely a keeper for me, only for the second story. If you could buy just "The Sugar Rose" then it is more worth the buy. "Brighton Road" is entirely forgettable and the heroine was so silly that I could not understand how the hero fell in love with her. The second book, however, was wonderful! I would give it 5 stars if it stood on its own. I have read it several times. The heroine begins as a shy, overweight and self-conscious lady, but with the help of the hero, who always saw the good in her, she blossoms. Ms. Carroll truly knows how to write so that you FEEL for the characters. The heroine was intelligent, humorous and plucky and the hero gentlemanly, funny,and sexy. I loved their interaction. Definitely worth the time!

Rating:
Summary: A good value for light reading but not a keeper...
Review: This was my first Susan Carroll book (a 2 book set actually), and it came right after reading Jo Beverley and a Heyer. So, consciously or otherwise, I was comparing this author with those authors. Be warned! Because the story and character stuck so little in my mind nor made me feel as if I wanted to re-read it immediately, I rated this book and set of stories at a 3. Others might rate it higher at least a 4.

The storylines and plots were OK, but I did not find them very compelling. What is wrong? Well, there are several unlikely plot elements, beginning with the fact that the heroine in Brighton Road is so naive as to be "too stupid to live". The fact that she and her family are incredibly idealistic leads to a series of disasters. I did not even feel like laughing out, and I felt thoroughly sorry for the hero, as a result. Not that the hero is that attractive either. He is remarkably sober, has no idea of how to propose to or court a lady, and he is not that good a judge of character as he thinks. [This lead to one of the few highlights in the novel for me].

The author does set some Gothic elements on their heads, notably the scene culminating in a boxing match involving the hero. What I could not understand was how the heroine continued to be so naive until almost the very end, or for that matter, how her parents were able to shrug off her social disgrace (not lightly done at the time!). Also, at that time, being a lady author with the Minerva Press was not something that most unmarried women were anxious to make public. This part of the story therefore rang false with me from the start, as did the heroine's past romantic history.

On the other hand, if you enjoy a light Regency read, with allowances made for some unrealistic elements, you will probably like this novel. It is certainly refreshing to meet a less-than-confident Regency hero.

About the Sugar Rose: This story describes the transformation of a frumpy "old maid" into an attractive young woman whom her fiance actually notices. There are several sub-plots, notably the loss of a ship by the hero, the desire for vengeance on the part of two secondary characters, and the heroine's growing disillusion with her fiance. What is most attractive about this story is the use of an overweight heroine who slims down in the first half of the story. For this unusual heroine, I award four and a half stars to Susan Carroll.

The second story is actually more absorbing on a re-read, perhaps because of the unusual heroine.

Although I have awarded the book three stars, this duo by Susan Carroll just might be one of your keepers. Take a look, and don't be put off by my own lukewarm feelings. My problems are really with the fact that the stories did not attract me that much, and not with the quality of her writing.