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The Nobody (Signet Regency Romance)

The Nobody (Signet Regency Romance)

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Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: An excellent first Regency.
Review: I enjoyed the characters in this book, Serena, the hero's sister, who never quite seems to catch on what is happening, Nicholas, the heroine's brother who performed a handstand in the dining room. Perhaps my favourite quote from the book "What's this! Serena, my love, you pierce me to the heart! Must I call this gentleman out?".

One hopes other titles will flow soon.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: I thoroughly enjooyed this book!
Review: I found THE NOBODY to be a terrific read. I enjoyed the Regency jargon. The plot is a bit threadbare, but I felt Farr treated it in a fresh and sparkling manner. Her characters were well-crafted and enjoyable and her style engaging. She has a marvelous sense of sentence structure, and her pacing is excellent. I highly recommend it.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Venerable plot illuminated by poor writing
Review: I like well-worn story lines, especially if cleverly written. Unfortunately, this tome is not well written. The characters are flat, one-dimensional and poorly cast. We are told, for example, that the hero is witty, charming, and humorous -- but he says nothing witty, shows no evidence of charm, and his humor is asserted by such clever writing as "so his Lordship made a witty response, which caused the assembly to laugh" -- a method characteristically used by authors who cannot themselves think of anything witty or clever.

The author has done research into the Regency period and, almost like in desperation, uses every opportunity to display it, even when inappropriate to the story. We are treated to long and deadening descriptions of clothing, written with encyclopediac mania, which effectively halt any forward progress the plot was generating. The author also evidently has accumulated a little list of period expressions, which she never fails to use even when it boarders on the ridiculous -- for example, on page 99 she manages to get a character to use the expressions "chaw-bacon," "ring a peal," "take a damper," "errand of mercy," "high ropes," and "queer stirrups," all in a single memorable speech. One cannot escape the vision of the author toiling over her list and agonizing over shoehorning another into the dialog, whether it is relevant to the action or redundant. On several occassions she has her characters repeat themselves just so a different period expression can be used, an annoying interruption.

The author does not believe in the intelligence of her readers, insofar as she feels compelled to explain all the conflicts in numbing detail through the artiface of her character's internal dialogs. And what dialogs! In one passage where the heroine reviews her situation, the poor lass groans to herself, whispers into her pillow, shivers with happiness, feels her cheeks burn, writhes, calls herself an idiot, sits up with indignation, gives a misty smile, hugs her knees, feels tears sting her eyelids, is siezed by a sudden savage wish, and shocks herself (the shock was probably a treatment for her obvious mental disorder). [And when I went to a writer's class, I was told that such writing was a characteristic of the "hack" genre of writing, which was no longer publishable!]

Any more books like this and Greenpeace will be protesting the waste of the trees

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A thoroughly enjoyable Regency
Review: I really enjoyed this well-written and entertaining Regency. I usually don't read today's Regency novels, since I haven't found any modern writer who comes near the mark set by Georgette Heyer, but this author comes pretty darn close.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Endearing characters, charming writing style
Review: I'm not a fan of many modern romances, but I really found this one to be the best I've read in years as far as Regency Romances go. Lovable and real characters, Diane Farr has a delightful sense of humor, coupled with an extensive vocabulary which she combines masterfully - made me enjoy the reading of it, left me wanting to know more of some of the minor characters. This is one worth reading and re-reading, just for sheer delight of the writing style.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A great story for the true romantic!
Review: I'm still trying to catch up on my sleep from the shortened nights staying up to finish this book after putting the children to bed. It's a great story with a little of something for everyone. I can't wait for her next book!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: I've started my 'best of '99' list with THE NOBODY.
Review: If this is Diane Farr's first book, I hope it is the first of many. I thoroughly enjoyed it. The plot was fresh and the characters likable ... except for the fiance. <G> I have read hundreds of Regencies and this ranks with the best.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: delightful
Review: Ms. Farr is a treasure. She knows the regency and, even more wonderful, her characters seem actually to be from the period. They think and feel and behave in accord with the rules and preoccupations of that long ago space in time. And they fall so delightfully in love.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: hoping for more
Review: thoroughly enjoyed this debut effort. enchanting characters and amusing story. tempting subplot regarding the viscount's sister. hope mz. farr devotes a future book to this story as the character is quite deserving.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: delightful
Review: Truly an awful, torturous book! The very first scene drags on for a whole long chapter. I don't think that the author knows how to write, but she does know how to rip-off Georgette Heyer. The author tries very hard to imitate instead of trying to develop a different style, and so succeeds in producing a book that is bland and boring. This book is literally all talk and no action -- the dialogues run on for looong pages. If your looking for originality, characters and an actual plot, this is not the book.


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