It does make me question whether I should go back to read some of her U.S. historicals. I really miss those a lot, but I’ve only read the Regency novels by J.G.

Kirsten: Okay, well, now you know about Terry. I have two words for you: digital cable.

MoJo: Yup, that’s me.

Anah: I can’t say that comments like yours are why I review, but they sure add another pleasant dimension to what is a somewhat laborious process. I am so glad you liked the book!

Jennie: You might want to try If His Kiss Is Wicked, which won the AAR Reader Poll last year. That book really seemed to hit a nerve with a wide variety of readers.

Chrissy: One of my favorite things about Goodman is that she writes kind heroes, even though they are always very masculine and strong. She definitely has some old school types, but without the cruelty on the hero’s part. So you get the depth of the old school books without the sadism within the main relationship, IMO.

Devon: Get thee to a Goodman novel, girl!

Michelle: A friend and I were talking about how one of Goodman’s unique strengths is that she keeps getting better and better with each book. Her writing gets stronger, her pacing tighter, her descriptions more purposeful. Yeah, she has a habit of over-explaining, but even that seems to be diminishing, and in the end, it’s worth it, IMO, for the strength of the read, as you say. I don’t know why I wasn’t more upset about the fate of some of the characters, but I think it comes down to the confidence I have in Olivia and Griffin to handle any trouble that might come their way in the future.

Now that you point it out, I agree that Griffen was not as well-developed/shown as Olivia – but Olivia’s journey was wonderful.

I agree with Statch as well. I thought that Olivia’s relative – and his “friends” – were most likely still a threat and could not figure out why that was not more of a concern for folks. I may have read the book you referred to, but I don’t remember the details well at all.

Discovered her a year ago and bought her entire list. LOVE her.

I loved this book. It was so well written that it soothed my frazzled inner editor and I never felt adrift, even though it’s so not my genre. Ms. Goodman includes subjects in the book that I usually find heavy-handed and manipulative, but she presented them with the perfect balance of grimness, solemnity, and perspective so that those facts engaged my sympathy willingly. Reading it was like going on vacation; I devoured it in one day and was deeply disappointed that it was over.

I also love that the characters *talk,* especially in a Romance industry environment where books are getting shorter and relationships more compressed. Goodman's books are *not* quick reads, thank goodness.

I love this, too. Robin, aren’t you also one of the people I’ve noted pining for the longer, more epic romances? (As am I.) I might be confusing you with someone else.

Reading your reviews are so wonderful *AFTER* reading the book. I get to re-savor them all over again, especially since I’m not yet ready for a second read-through.

Bravo to Ms. Goodman and to you!

(ps – When and how did Terry get eliminated from Project Runway?)

I couldn't get into this one, and I tried several times. It felt a little to slow going and too wordy.

I’ve had the same reaction to other Goodman books. A friend of mine once said that Goodman belabors the moment so much that a woman lifting her veil seems to take about five minutes. It’s a shame, because her dialogue is great, but the description often strikes me as slow and in need of pruning.

Statch: I got the sense that the person in question’s perfidy was pretty much a thing of the past, but perhaps that is because of the way I’m reading the book relative to BAWK. I’ll have to think about that some more.

Mari: Thanks for pointing that out. I read it in Adobe digital, because it was not available in eReader (my favorite form) when I purchased it. The one thing I really like about eReader that I can’t do in Adobe is copying quotations into my review.

Phyl: I also love that the characters *talk,* especially in a Romance industry environment where books are getting shorter and relationships more compressed. Goodman’s books are *not* quick reads, thank goodness.

orannia: In my not so humble opinion, you are in for a real treat. She provides a great list of her books at her website, all categorized by series. I started by reading the Dennehy sisters series, which got me hooked (and can I say that I kind of wish she’d write another series like that?).

LauraB: Thanks! Hopefully others will love it, too.

Kristie: I find that I cannot be really distracted by other things when I start her books or I just miss so much. So yes, like a piece of wonderfully rich dark chocolate, Goodman’s books are meant to be savored, IMO. I hope you’ll post a review when you finally read it.

Morpho Ophelia: I hope you enjoy the book as much as I did. Goodman’s last book, If His Kiss Is Wicked, won in several of the AAR reader poll categories last year, and I recommend it highly, as well, if you aren’t familiar with Goodman.

Becky: It’s unclear to me whether you’re commenting on my review or wanting to recommend another book altogether, so I’ll just say that I hope you do check out the Goodman book.

Catherine: Yes, musical is always how I think about Goodman’s prose. As for the way I graded it relative to other Goodman books, my two top reads of Goodman’s are My Reckless Heart, from the Thorne Brothers series, and A Season To Be Sinful, which Melinda identifies as first in the Grantham series. My sentimental favorite is the first book of the Dennehy sisters series, Wild Sweet Ecstasy, probably because it was the first Goodman book I read. And the last book in that series, Only In My Arms, is up there, too, as is One Forbidden Evening and the Compass Club series, especially the third, All I Ever Needed.

Evaluating the differences between these books is like trying to distinguish between the Gold, Silver, and Broze Olympics medals, because Goodman’s writing is always so good, IMO. I actually think that her last book, If His Kiss is Wicked, was the best paced of her recent novels, and perhaps the most tightly plotted, even though it did not hit me in the gut like Price of Desire did. Ultimately, the differentiation relative to Goodman’s other books is a matter of my emotional investment in the book and my overall sense of mastery over plot, prose, and subject matter.

I don’t have a good rubric of why MRH is a straight A and this one isn’t, except that MRH delivered a big emotional punch for me, read very tight in its plotting and prose, and was very sophisticated in its thematic development, even as the prose was simpler (it was largely American set). Had I been given just a bit more of Griffin, I think this book could have shot to number one on the Goodman hit parade, because Olivia was such a moving heroine, IMO. Just her use of the whole “marker” metaphor was so brilliant, IMO, that I am still thinking about it, and about how powerful a metaphor it is in the genre as a whole (but not consciously, or critically, as it is in Goodman’s book). But my slight distance from Griffin edged the book down a bit, even though, as I said, compared to most Romance I read, this book is truly remarkable, and, as a friend of mine put it so eloquently, ‘a hella good read.’

Taja: I’m always so excited when someone wants to give Goodman a try, so I hope you like the book!

Tabitha: check out Jane’s review of the book, too, for more details. As I said to Catherine, the Thorne Brothers series is fabulous, as is the Dennehy sisters series. The Dennehy books are American-set, as are the second two books in the Thorne Brothers series (the last one, With All My Heart, is set in San Francisco during the Gold Rush, and the second one, My Reckless Heart, is set in Boston and also partly in England, where the first book, My Steadfast Heart, is set). I also highly recommend the Compass Club series, starting with Let Me Be The One, which is comprised of four books, featuring four male friends, all of which are set *simultaneously* — with slight overlaps, of course. I really think Goodman hit her stride as an author with those books, but I’ve yet to read a Goodman book I disliked.

Vanessa: I started to read it in August when we got the ARCs but was so busy I just couldn’t focus on it properly. Then when I picked it up again, right after it was published and I could score a copy at Books on Board (which had it out before Fictionwise), I started it and kept right on reading to the end. I hope it works for you at a later time, too.

Oh, and that “reviewing on two scales thing” — I just made a similar comment in my review of the latest Julia Quinn book (which was a big disappointment for me). I like your suggestion of rating a book against “all comers” versus rating against the author’s own best work.

Great review! Thank you!

Thanks for the review.