I didn’t much like the ending either. Didn’t quite fit. Even if she set up some of the elements, the ending felt like a bunch of ill-fitting pieces. I have to admit I’m not crazy over this type of villain, either, even when handled with some care.

Now, if only Kinsale would get a new book published. Goodman gives me a hankering for more excellent historical romances.

Heroines seem to have such low self esteem and that drives me nuts.

ITA, Jane, and what bothers me most about this element to so many characters is that the solution is so often found in the arms of the hero instead of the heart and mind of the heroine. It can, IMO, be extremely rewarding to read about a wounded person heal, especially when they get the support they need to discover their own inner strengths. But I HATE it when these heroines fnd their sense of worth in the fact that some guy finds them attractive or “worthy” or love.

Connected to this topic, actually, is the way in which I find so many heroines having to “earn” the love of the hero through ridiculously high standards of virtue, from actual virginity to ’save the world’ humanitarianism. It distresses me that there seems to be so little room for heroines to be imperfect, and, at the same time, they are finding their self-affirmation and purpose in these heroes who seem to be drawn to them because they’re so “beautiful” or “good” — it really frustsrates me, and I’ve seen it in both contemporary and historical Romance (and in Romantica).

Robin, this is a very illuminating statement for me because it pinpoints the problems that I have with so many heroines in books. They are not self-reliant. They seem to have no knowledge of self. No awareness of their power as an individual. No appreciation of themselves. Heroines seem to have such low self esteem and that drives me nuts.

I’m normally hit or miss with Ms. Goodman, but I’ll add this one to my vacation reading list.

Have you read her Thorne brothers trilogy — My Steadfast Heart, My Reckless Heart, and With All My Heart? My Reckless Heart is one of my all-time favorite Goodman books, but the trilogy is wonderful, IMO. Not only do you get three locations (England, post-bellum Boston, and San Francisco during the Gold Rush), but you get three very different heroes and heroines and some fabulous storytelling. I highly recommend this series (as well as the Compass Club, since I tend to really enjoy Goodman’s take on men). My sentimental favorite is Wild Sweet Ecstasy.

What I like most about Goodman, specifically, thematically speaking, is the way her protagonists are self-made types. They are independent and, even when wounded, self-reliant. When they find their happiness in a relationship, they bond without losing their individuality. I dislike Romances in which love simply “fixes” a hero or heroine, or where happiness comes only from the relationship and not from inside the characters. In other words, I prefer emotional interdependence, rather than dependence, and I think Goodman really delivers that.

It is amazing. I think dialogue separates good writers from great writers. I know I’ll be re-reading parts of this book for years.

[quote comment="2703"]she is an autobuy author. She writes such wonderful prose and I think her books are much richer than many historicals published these days. [/quote]

She’s an autobuy for me too and her books are anything but costume dramas or wallpaper historicals.

[quote comment="2702"] Goodman is one of those authors who, IMO, anyway, demonstrates that even twice-told tales can be entertaining and satisfying in the hands of a talented storyteller.[/quote]

Yep, so true. A good writer can make you read almost anything.

The courtship is grand and the h/h are wonderful characters. I loved StbS and was really happy this was just as good.