The Maid of Fairbourne Hall
- Julie Klassen
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
I found it too long and boring. It seems to go over same ground repeatedly, and take much time doing that. The auxiliary plots also take a lot of space, and some of them didn't make much sense. There is a lot of drama and contrivance, but no humor.
I didn't quite like the heroine, even though she is reformed very soon. The hero seems to be a sincere person, but I do not see that she gives him any reason to move beyond his earlier infatuation and disappointment. In fact, I hardly liked any of the characters, except perhaps Hudson.
An Accomplished Woman
- Jude Morgan
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
It had its moments of wit and humor, but overall it was too long and winding. The author may be commended for a writing style inspired by Jane Austen, but terribly long sentences with many clauses made me either read them a few times to make sense, or skip them altogether. The pseudo-philosophical pondering and prosy bouts of sensible advice from one character to another, bored me. I felt that the author was trying too hard.
The story was nice by itself, though predictable as expected, but the humor was scattered sparsely. I would have enjoyed it far better if the prose was more comprehensible in places, and the length was under 300 pages.
The Village Spinster
- Laura Matthews
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
This was perhaps nice enough, but I didn't find anything remarkable about out it. It was quite a run-of-the-mill story, with neither humor nor much of conflict to make it interesting. The only conflict was provided by a cheerful second cousin of the heroine (whose presence the very 'proper' hero found objectionable), who turns out to not just be married but expecting a baby! I didn't warm up to the hero - he was well meaning, but not really sympathetic to people, and worse, did not realize it until the end. Development of his affection for the heroine was not well done - it seemed sudden and without much cause, except perhaps guilt. Later on, their one fleeting contact in the past was much focused on, but it seems to be to small a thing to have so much of impact after so many years; it also contradicts the heroine's initial lament that he had never noticed her.
Overall, a very average writing and forgettable story.
Lady Elizabeth's Comet
- Sheila Simonson
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
This book was more enjoyable than entertaining, and I really liked this story of two sensible people who come to regard each other deeply. This is a gentle story about family and complex feelings, and the understated romance with touch of humor is delightful.
I liked the independently minded heroine, who is more inclined towards science than social conventions. Her passion towards her interest, and her intelligence is admirable, though her conviction that her scientific pursuit is unnatural in a woman, is jarring to the modern thought. The hero is simply wonderful - honorable, intelligent, sensitive and kind, and with a sense of humor. His strength lies not in subduing others but in exerting himself. Dark, brooding, glaring heroes may be all the rage, but something is to be said about a gentle soul who respects and encourages his lady's talent and takes the trouble to befriend her gauche teenage sisters. The cast of secondary characters is wonderful too, and gets ample focus.
The first person narrative was a bit lacking in style at times, but worked well to provide emotional depth. There are some instances of telling-and-not-showing, e.g. at a point the heroine states that she and Clanross indulge in verbal sparring whenever they meet, but I did not see much of sparring matches prior to this and some amusing exchanges later on.
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