Lily

Rating:
Summary: GREAT!
Review: This is the first romance that I have read in the last few months that I have really enjoyed. Get it! You won't be dissapointed.

Rating:
Summary: Lily
Review: This was my first Gaffney and it was excellent. I loved the complex characters and constant plot twists.
I am definitely a fan!

Rating:
Summary: A Really Fine Story, Brooding and Romantic
Review: When Lily escapes the plans of her lunatic family to marry her off to an emotionally stunted theology student, she grabs the first chance she can think of and hires herself out as a housemaid, ending up in the lonely, brooding Cornish end of the world, with a dashing, mourning Lord drinking too much and a house manager straight out of "Rebecca" to break her spirit. This is a different sort of romance novel. The writer is comfortable with dark themes, and the supporting characters are more than mere caricatures. It put me in mind of Wuthering Heights or Jane Eyre, although, of course, it didn't come close to those masterpieces. Still. An awfully good read. I lent this to a friend of mine, and I've not gotten it back because she keeps re-reading it.

Rating:
Summary: A Really Fine Story, Brooding and Romantic
Review: When Lily escapes the plans of her lunatic family to marry her off to an emotionally stunted theology student, she grabs the first chance she can think of and hires herself out as a housemaid, ending up in the lonely, brooding Cornish end of the world, with a dashing, mourning Lord drinking too much and a house manager straight out of "Rebecca" to break her spirit. This is a different sort of romance novel. The writer is comfortable with dark themes, and the supporting characters are more than mere caricatures. It put me in mind of Wuthering Heights or Jane Eyre, although, of course, it didn't come close to those masterpieces. Still. An awfully good read. I lent this to a friend of mine, and I've not gotten it back because she keeps re-reading it.

Rating:
Summary: Have read much better by Gaffney
Review: While I can't complain about the style of the book, I will complain about the characters. At every point where the hero has to decide if he should trust the heroine, he believes the absolute worst of her, not once but three times. Each times he humiliates her worse. On the last couple pages he admits he was being a jerk, but we're never really given any evidence that he really reformed. Each time after he humiliates her he feels bad, then he ends up doing it again. The end just looked the same way. Unfortunately it felt to me like Lily had entered into an abusive relationship, not a loving romantic one. Want a great Gaffney, try Wild at Heart or her To Love and To Cherish trilogy, but unless you like *really* domineering males, pass this one by.

Rating:
Summary: Have read much better by Gaffney
Review: While I can't complain about the style of the book, I will complain about the characters. At every point where the hero has to decide if he should trust the heroine, he believes the absolute worst of her, not once but three times. Each times he humiliates her worse. On the last couple pages he admits he was being a jerk, but we're never really given any evidence that he really reformed. Each time after he humiliates her he feels bad, then he ends up doing it again. The end just looked the same way. Unfortunately it felt to me like Lily had entered into an abusive relationship, not a loving romantic one. Want a great Gaffney, try Wild at Heart or her To Love and To Cherish trilogy, but unless you like *really* domineering males, pass this one by.

Rating:
Summary: For Gothic Romance Lovers Only!
Review: Wow! I've just reread this novel,and incredibly it reads better the second time around. It puts me in the mind of the Bronte gothic romances, but indulges us a bit more, of course. The hero, Devon, is almost unbearably dark and tormented, but that is precisely what makes the story so gripping. It is easy to be put off his multiple mishandlings of his one true love, but Gaffney, the rare quality romance writer, explores his tortured soul carefully. She does not cross the line of unacceptable cruelty, as I believe she did with To Love and to Honor, which was intriguing but too disturbing (now that's abuse!). Lily has her proper revenge and her own moments of cruelty, yet a higher forgiveness overwhelms this tallying of warring hearts, which is the ultimate indulgence. I love the fact that the last segment is not predictable and boring, as 99% of romances are apt to be. The romantic tension is kept up until the last scene, an achievement in itself. One thing I loved about this story was the clear and vivid sense of place, the seascapes and flora of the wild and unique Cornish coast really adds to the romantic (and Romantic) atmosphere. Literary readers will surely enjoys this love story...