A Spring Bouquet

Rating:
Summary: A Great Jo Beverley Story
Review: I bought this book for the Jo Beverley story, and I was not disappointed. If the other stories had been up to the standard of this one, I would give the book five starts.

Since it is an anthology, I had hoped to discover one or two new authors to love. No such luck. The other stories did not move me, did not suck me in. The only one which started to engage me ("The Marrying Kind") lost me with its callous treatment of the soon-to-be-jilted fiancee and the totally implausible series of events leading up to the end of the story. (And this was by far the best of the other stories.)

So, a final rating of 3 stars.

Rating:
Summary: Only worth it for the Jo Beverley story - others are awful
Review: I wanted this book because I'd heard a lot about the Jo Beverley story, Forbidden Affections. Many of Beverley's fans don't like this novella because of the age gap between the hero and heroine, and so I wanted to see what I thought. But first, the other three stories.

We begin with Janet Dailey's Castles in the Sand. This is a tale about a couple who were in love as teenagers, but were separated by time, events, misunderstandings and simply growing up. They meet again at a time of trauma - the father of one, and the mentor of the other - is seriously ill. However, I didn't find myself at all emotionally engaged with Bridget and Reese's story. I think this was because Dailey skipped over long periods in time, and so we'd have a development at the end of one chapter, only to find that the next chapter jumped forward several months - the emotional impact was lost. Extremely forgettable.

Debbie Macomber's The Marrying Kind could have been good - but wasn't. Katie and Jason were married as teenagers, but Katie's parents didn't approve of Jason and they took Katie away and made her annul the marriage. Now, ten years later, Katie and Jason meet again, three days before his wedding to someone else, and find that they're still in love. Okay... a well-worn premise, but I usually like Macomber so I expected good work from her. Instead, I got a plot which has been done many times before, and a hero I didn't particularly like. The way he treats his fiancée is particularly abhorrent, and the rather convenient manner in which she turns into a selfish harridan wasn't at all convincing.

Rebecca Brandewyne's Hasten Down The Wind has been described by another reviewer here as a history lesson disguised as a romance, and I couldn't have put it better myself. Instead of focusing on Elizabeth's relationship with Chaingo, the novella gives us lots and lots of information about the outlaws - and it's all incomplete too, as if the reader is expected to know all about the period and the characters. I couldn't follow the detail of the events at all, and certainly have no interest in re-reading the novella.

However, Beverley's Forbidden Affections certainly didn't disappoint. Anna is a fan of Gothic romances, and when she discovers that her new London home has a room decorated exactly as the heroine's room in one of her favourite author's books, Forbidden Affections, she is curious. Discovering a secret doorway, she explores the house next door, owned by a mysterious nobleman who is believed to have killed his former mistress. But the Earl of Carne is nothing like she imagined, and she finds herself working secretly with him to clear his name. Along the way, she falls in love - but he is 30 to her 16, and even if her family would agree, Carne can't reconcile with his conscience the idea of marrying someone so young.

The reason some of Beverley's fans dislike this novella is precisely the notion of a 16-year-old marrying a man so much older. But, having read Forbidden Affections, that aspect doesn't bother me in the least. Anna may be 16, but she's no child. She's actually far more sensible and mature in her outlook than her older sister, who is 19. Carne does recognise this, even while he's telling her that he's too old for her and that she'll meet someone younger in time. And he doesn't rush into anything where Anna is concerned; he takes his time, which shows some degree of consideration.

I enjoyed the Beverley novella very much and for me it compensates for the remainder of the anthology. But if you're not a fan of Beverley or of Regency romance, give this one a miss!

Rating:
Summary: three stars
Review: Like the other reviewer I bought the book for the Jo Beverley story, Forbidden Affections. I liked the story so much that I hoped it would be longer.

The Marrying Kind by Debbie Macomber wasn't bad. It was a little improbable, and given the limitation of the format, a novella, there wasn't much character development.

The other two stories, Castles in the Sand by Janet Dailey and Sonja Massie, and Hasten Down the Wind by Rebecca Brandewyne, because they didn't draw me in seemed long-winded for novellas. Hasten Down the Wind was a history lesson pretending to be a romance.

Overall, three stars.