Laura Zukaite's book, Inspired Shawls: 15 Creative Patterns For Year-Round Knitting, is a new work being released by Dover Publications. It contains shawls with names reflecting South American locales and culture, such as Cartegena, Nazca, Cuzco, Ipanema, Copacabana, Geo Aztec, and Inca. There are definitely creative designs in this book that feature elements that make many of the shawls quite unique. The photographs are attractive and the instructions appear to be nicely laid out. There is a list of general abbreviations located at the back of the book, along with a US/UK needle conversion chart. If there are more unusual/special abbreviations specific for a pattern (e.g. Tw3B, which means, "twist 3 stitches to the back"), they appear near the beginning of the pattern after the materials and gauge are mentioned. Besides written instructions, several patterns have charts, especially for designs that feature lace or colourwork.
The shawls vary in size; some are large shawls and some are shawlettes. The shapes also vary; I found one crescent, three rectangular, four semi-circular, six triangular shawls and a ruana. The crescent shaped shawl, the Copacabana design, features several tiers of ruffles. Other designs, such as the Cartegena, feature lace. Colourwork is featured in the Cuzco, Geo Aztec, Inca, and Mayan (the ruana) designs. The Mayan shawl seems to showcase a variety of techniques and stitches; it contains star stitches, bobbles, slip stitches, garter stitch and Fair-isle. The La Paz and Puno shawls (the latter is featured on the book's cover) have embroidery, and tassels can be found on the Amazonas, Ipanema, and Geo Aztec shawls. The Ipanema design also has cables and a drawcord, in addition to the tassels. The Salento shawl is mainly in garter stitch. There is quite a variety of techniques and embellishments utilized in many of the designs. I peeked on Ravelry earlier today to see if any of the patterns from this book has been uploaded into the database there, but I haven't seen any yet.
The patterns and samples in the book use luxury yarn labels such as Artyarns (Ensemble, Silk Mohair, Silk Rhapsody), Madelinetosh (Merino, Chunky, Prairie), Plucky Knitter (Spiffy, Crew), Malabrigo (Silky Merino), Sweet Georgia (Superwash Sport), Miss Babs (Big Silk), Shalimar Yarns (Aerie, Breathless), Ancient Arts Yarns, and Hedgehog Fibers. These represent varying yarn weights ranging from lace to aran weight; however, most of the patterns seem to use sport/DK weight. Also, most of the patterns call for several skeins of yarn. However, if you do your research, you could probably substitute many of the yarns with more economical ones to recreate these shawls.
Out of the 15 designs, I would probably knit about ten of them, which would make this book a big candidate for joining my knitting library. In my opinion, I think that the difficulty level of most of the patterns in this book would be suitable for intermediate and experienced knitters, although there appear to be a few patterns that advanced beginners can take on.
Also, I would probably opt to buy a hard copy of this book rather than an e-book (unless it was a Kindle version). I had problems viewing the photographs of the book using the latest version of Adobe Digital Editions, and had to download an older version of ADE (4.0) in order to see them.
Disclaimer: I received an e-copy of Laura Zukaite's, "Inspired Shawls: 15 Creative Patterns For Year-Round Knitting," from NetGalley in exchange for a review. All opinions stated in the review are mine.
Tuesday, 20 February 2018
Thursday, 15 February 2018
Review: Tudor Roses by Alice Starmore, 2017 Edition
I first heard about Alice Starmore in a book whose title I can't remember. There was a whole chapter devoted to Ms. Starmore, especially about her book titled, Tudor Roses. Apparently, Ms. Starmore's book contained gorgeous sweater designs, and was out of print. The thing that caught my attention was that because it was so rare, the price for a copy of this book was over $200. I wanted to see this book for myself, because it had grown into a legend in my mind. I believe that my local library had a copy of it; but, alas! It had gone missing from the shelves, or maybe that was someone else's story from what I had read from reviews of Amazon customers who were also trying to find copies of this book. In any case, I thought that I would never see the book for myself, because I didn't have the budget to spend $200 on a knitting book.
So, when I found out that Tudor Roses was going to be republished in 2017, I was very excited. Even better yet, I was able to find an advanced copy through NetGalley. I looked at the galley when I first received it, but because I am not an experienced knitter, I got a bit overwhelmed when I looked at the text. What I can tell you is that the republished version of Tudor Roses is not exactly the same book that had been published in 1998. The knitwear designs that appear in the 2017 version of this title have been altered and updated from those that appeared in the 1998 version. I was able to confirm this by comparing the photos in the newer version of the book to photographs of sweaters made from patterns in the older book that other knitters had uploaded onto Ravelry, a social network for knitters and crocheters. The back of the book also spells it out quite clearly; this new version is a "Reimagined Edition of the Groundbreaking Classic."
I have read other people's opinions of the changes, and some people like them, while others do not. There was a design that had appeared in the older book that did not appear in the newer one. Some people had been upset by this omission, and perhaps would have preferred to have had an updated design even if they had disliked the idea of updated designs. For the most part, I like the newer designs because I think that they are more wearable for today; however, there were a few designs in the older book that I prefer over the ones in the newer version.
In general, the designs are inspired by various historical figures of the Tudor Dynasty, such as Elizabeth Woodville, Margaret Beaufort, Elizabeth of York, and Margaret Tudor. At the introduction of each design, there is a brief first person narrative about each woman that the design is based upon. There are lovely photographs of the garment modeled by different women for each historical figure that is portrayed. There's a coffee table book quality to the photos; each model is staged and dressed in a way that gives a historical feel to the presentation.
As I mentioned before, I got a bit overwhelmed when I first looked at the instructions in the text, but I would now attribute that to my own lack of experience in reading a pattern. Although I have not actually knit any of these patterns (I cannot, because the galley does not include the charts for the designs), I think that I could probably tackle these designs as an intermediate knitter. The designs include fair isle and cable work. I especially like the knitwear designs for the Margaret Beaufort, Anne Boleyn, and Katherine Howard models.
At first, after viewing the book, I was not sure if I was going to add this book to my library, but after letting the designs sit with me for a while, I think that I will add this title to my collection. The designs have definitely grown on me. I'm pretty sure that the designs will challenge my knitting skills, but I would like to try them because they are really lovely.
Disclaimer: I received an e-copy of "Tudor Roses," by Alice Starmore from NetGalley in exchange for a review. All opinions stated in this review are mine.
So, when I found out that Tudor Roses was going to be republished in 2017, I was very excited. Even better yet, I was able to find an advanced copy through NetGalley. I looked at the galley when I first received it, but because I am not an experienced knitter, I got a bit overwhelmed when I looked at the text. What I can tell you is that the republished version of Tudor Roses is not exactly the same book that had been published in 1998. The knitwear designs that appear in the 2017 version of this title have been altered and updated from those that appeared in the 1998 version. I was able to confirm this by comparing the photos in the newer version of the book to photographs of sweaters made from patterns in the older book that other knitters had uploaded onto Ravelry, a social network for knitters and crocheters. The back of the book also spells it out quite clearly; this new version is a "Reimagined Edition of the Groundbreaking Classic."
I have read other people's opinions of the changes, and some people like them, while others do not. There was a design that had appeared in the older book that did not appear in the newer one. Some people had been upset by this omission, and perhaps would have preferred to have had an updated design even if they had disliked the idea of updated designs. For the most part, I like the newer designs because I think that they are more wearable for today; however, there were a few designs in the older book that I prefer over the ones in the newer version.
In general, the designs are inspired by various historical figures of the Tudor Dynasty, such as Elizabeth Woodville, Margaret Beaufort, Elizabeth of York, and Margaret Tudor. At the introduction of each design, there is a brief first person narrative about each woman that the design is based upon. There are lovely photographs of the garment modeled by different women for each historical figure that is portrayed. There's a coffee table book quality to the photos; each model is staged and dressed in a way that gives a historical feel to the presentation.
As I mentioned before, I got a bit overwhelmed when I first looked at the instructions in the text, but I would now attribute that to my own lack of experience in reading a pattern. Although I have not actually knit any of these patterns (I cannot, because the galley does not include the charts for the designs), I think that I could probably tackle these designs as an intermediate knitter. The designs include fair isle and cable work. I especially like the knitwear designs for the Margaret Beaufort, Anne Boleyn, and Katherine Howard models.
At first, after viewing the book, I was not sure if I was going to add this book to my library, but after letting the designs sit with me for a while, I think that I will add this title to my collection. The designs have definitely grown on me. I'm pretty sure that the designs will challenge my knitting skills, but I would like to try them because they are really lovely.
Disclaimer: I received an e-copy of "Tudor Roses," by Alice Starmore from NetGalley in exchange for a review. All opinions stated in this review are mine.
Wednesday, 14 February 2018
Review: Faith Journaling for the Inspired Artist by Stephanie Ackerman
This past Christmas, I received an empty journal from a friend and several rolls of washi tape. She has been into creative faith journaling for a few years, and has been quite enthusiastic about using her artistic talents to express her faith as she reads, studies, and reflects on what she has learned from the Bible. She didn't know that I had Stephanie Ackerman's Faith Journaling For the Inspired Artist in my reading queue, so receiving these gifts has been rather timely.
I found Faith Journaling For the Inspired Artist to be a book about artistic technique where the author uses and demonstrates her art as examples of what readers could do in their own journaling. The book is not a devotional book, nor is it a book that speaks comprehensively about the practice of having devotional time with the Lord. Instead, it mainly presents an artistic approach that could be used when having devotions or quiet time.
The author starts off with a couple of chapters discussing the purpose of faith journaling. She emphasizes that people who practice this must focus on meeting with God, reflecting on the Word, and not get side tracked by the art itself. Ms. Ackerman also tries to encourage readers to strike out on their own. She states that there is no right or wrong way in practicing faith journaling.
The majority of the book focuses on techniques to use from lettering, drawing, painting, mixed media, and scrap booking. The author models the techniques, providing examples and templates in the book. There are practice squares and spaces for readers to try out various artistic techniques. There are sample verses, where some are examples for readers to view, and for readers to try out on their on own in utilizing the methods outlined in the book.
The author refers to her website for readers to view some of her work, and also as a possible resource to help them in their artistic endeavours in faith journaling.
I found the book to be interesting to look at, but it might not necessarily speak to all people who keep faith journals. However, this might be a good book for people who would like to try this type of faith journaling, but who don't have a strong artistic background. Faith Journaling For the Inspired Artist might give them a good introduction to various techniques that they could try and also provide them inspiration from Ms. Ackerman's examples.
Disclaimer: I received an e-copy of "Faith Journaling for the Inspired Artist," by Stephanie Ackerman from NetGalley in exchange for a review. All opinions stated in this review are mine.
I found Faith Journaling For the Inspired Artist to be a book about artistic technique where the author uses and demonstrates her art as examples of what readers could do in their own journaling. The book is not a devotional book, nor is it a book that speaks comprehensively about the practice of having devotional time with the Lord. Instead, it mainly presents an artistic approach that could be used when having devotions or quiet time.
The author starts off with a couple of chapters discussing the purpose of faith journaling. She emphasizes that people who practice this must focus on meeting with God, reflecting on the Word, and not get side tracked by the art itself. Ms. Ackerman also tries to encourage readers to strike out on their own. She states that there is no right or wrong way in practicing faith journaling.
The majority of the book focuses on techniques to use from lettering, drawing, painting, mixed media, and scrap booking. The author models the techniques, providing examples and templates in the book. There are practice squares and spaces for readers to try out various artistic techniques. There are sample verses, where some are examples for readers to view, and for readers to try out on their on own in utilizing the methods outlined in the book.
The author refers to her website for readers to view some of her work, and also as a possible resource to help them in their artistic endeavours in faith journaling.
I found the book to be interesting to look at, but it might not necessarily speak to all people who keep faith journals. However, this might be a good book for people who would like to try this type of faith journaling, but who don't have a strong artistic background. Faith Journaling For the Inspired Artist might give them a good introduction to various techniques that they could try and also provide them inspiration from Ms. Ackerman's examples.
Disclaimer: I received an e-copy of "Faith Journaling for the Inspired Artist," by Stephanie Ackerman from NetGalley in exchange for a review. All opinions stated in this review are mine.
Wednesday, 3 January 2018
Review: Wish with the Candles by Betty Neels
This is not going to turn into a Betty Neels' book blog, but I'm still on my Betty Neels' reading streak.
After reading so many BN novels with heroes who don't tell the heroines anything and whose actions are sufficiently vague, it has been a bit of a relief to read a string of her novels in which the heroes are a bit more clear about their intentions. Justin, our rich, handsome, Dutch, redheaded (not blond) doctor goes right after our plain, English, clueless nurse, Emma.
Did I mention that Emma is clueless? Yes. I had wondered if I would ever use the expression, "too stupid to live," in a review (and I seriously don't mean to be exceptionally rude or disrespectful); however, Emma...kind of earned it. Everyone, ...and I mean, everyone else in the novel knew that Justin loved Emma, but Emma herself. From the beginning of their relationship, when they meet in a literal fender bender (Emma's bumper gets caught against his in a car accident), one can tell that Justin is interested in her when he takes a good long look at her passport while they are "exchanging" contact information. The woman was supposed to have been a medical student, except that life got in the way. Obviously, her relationship intelligence quotient didn't measure up to her professional abilities. Still, Wish with the Candles was better than other BN novels in which the heroes let the heroines flounder in the face of mixed romantic signals.
After reading so many BN novels with heroes who don't tell the heroines anything and whose actions are sufficiently vague, it has been a bit of a relief to read a string of her novels in which the heroes are a bit more clear about their intentions. Justin, our rich, handsome, Dutch, redheaded (not blond) doctor goes right after our plain, English, clueless nurse, Emma.
Did I mention that Emma is clueless? Yes. I had wondered if I would ever use the expression, "too stupid to live," in a review (and I seriously don't mean to be exceptionally rude or disrespectful); however, Emma...kind of earned it. Everyone, ...and I mean, everyone else in the novel knew that Justin loved Emma, but Emma herself. From the beginning of their relationship, when they meet in a literal fender bender (Emma's bumper gets caught against his in a car accident), one can tell that Justin is interested in her when he takes a good long look at her passport while they are "exchanging" contact information. The woman was supposed to have been a medical student, except that life got in the way. Obviously, her relationship intelligence quotient didn't measure up to her professional abilities. Still, Wish with the Candles was better than other BN novels in which the heroes let the heroines flounder in the face of mixed romantic signals.
Tuesday, 5 December 2017
2017...The Year that I Binge Read Betty Neels' Novels. (Short reviews of Pineapple Girl, The Magic of Living, A Secret Infatuation, and The Mistletoe Kiss)
I meant to be reading and posting reviews from my backlog of NetGalley titles, but I've actually been binge reading Betty Neels' novels...about ten of them in the past couple of months. I've left short reviews for some of them on Goodreads, but haven't posted much of those here until now, because I didn't feel up to writing about the same general plotline over and over again. Betty Neels' novels are a fine example of the word, "formulaic."
My interest in Betty Neels' work this year started off with a Harlequin manga version of "A Kiss for Julie." I eventually found the original version of this novel on Hoopla Digital, a web and mobile platform that gives access to digital content such as e-books and movies, which my local library started using this year. Hoopla has around 87 of Ms. Neels' books in its library.
As I mentioned before, and in a previous review of a Betty Neels' novel, her work is quite predictable. The plot generally goes as follows: an older, rich, handsome doctor (usually of Dutch background, but sometimes may be English) and a younger, plain looking, hard-on-her-luck English nurse fall in love with each other. There may be variations to these characters; sometimes the female protagonist has an occupation other than being a nurse, and sometimes she may actually be beautiful. Sometimes, the hero has a girlfriend or fiancée. Sometimes, the heroine has supportive parents, but sometimes not.
Often, though, Neels' novels start off with the hero not having much of a memorable impression of the heroine when they meet (often, he forgets her as soon as she is out of sight), but the heroine usually remembers him quite well. The hero and heroine usually don't get along initially. Many times, the heroine finds the hero's mannerisms quite rude and gruff for her tastes. However, after repeated exposure to each other, they become attracted to one another.
I find many of Neels' heroes to be rather overbearing. They take charge of situations that steer the heroines into doing things the men's way, well intentioned or not. In a couple of novels, the heroes went around the heroines and made arrangements to stop the women's employment without consulting them in the first place. Wow. The men also often vacillate between hot and cold in their feelings and keep their women guessing about whether they have a real relationship or not. This is because many of them prioritize relationships with other women above the one that they have with the heroines so that the heroines are uncertain of the place that they have in their love interests' lives. This is something that I've found mind boggling; how can there be any certainty of romance between the hero and heroine if he's giving the impression that the other woman is more important to him than the heroine?
However, with the predictability of Neels' plots, I know that the couple will get together by Chapter 9. Sometimes I view the romantic resolutions with disbelief. One plotline had the hero revealing that, no, he's not in a romantic relationship with someone else (after letting the heroine believe for eight chapters that he was in love with another woman), and yes, he's madly in love with the heroine, and that he has made arrangements for them to marry in a few hours. I wanted to say, "You've just let the heroine know that you're both actually in a romantic relationship...how about taking the time to build it now, because she didn't realize that you were even in one with her!"
Now that I've trashed Betty Neels' plots, I'd like to tell you what I like about her work. For starters, her stories are generally clean. In fact, I noticed this from reading the manga adaptations of several of her titles, and this was confirmed from actually reading some of the original books. You don't have to worry about reading a bedroom scene, and the kissing doesn't get too hot and heavy.
I also think that she does a good job of presenting the romantic tension between the characters. The reader is more aware of what's going on than the poor heroine as Neels writes in third person, and one can read both the hero's and heroine's points of view. Now, I try to figure out when the hero is starting to fall for the heroine as I'm reading. In my earlier reading of her work, I was as uncertain as the heroine as I would only consider her perspective, but now it's fun to guess when the hero's feelings start, especially before he is aware of them.
It's a guilty pleasure for me to read about a handsome man falling for a plain looking girl.
Finally, sometimes, it's nice to know what to expect. Given the predictability of Neels' books, I know that there are going to be happy endings for the couples in her books.
Review: Betty Neels' Pineapple Girl
A Dutch doctor and an English nurse (who thinks that she's not good enough for him) fall in love. Clean, but here's another Betty Neels story in which the male protagonist blows hot and cold, is sufficiently unclear about his intentions, and doesn't explain himself to the heroine right up to the last minute. To top if off, he expects her to marry him on the afternoon that he finally clarifies his mysterious and ambivalent behaviour. I think that I'm being a bit kind in that assessment, because I thought that Timon had a bit of a mean streak compared to some of Neels' other heroes. Maybe because I'm at an age where I really don't think that a girl should experience that kind of behaviour from the man who is supposedly in love with her, I find that I would like to strangle the doctor for behaving like a jerk.
Review: Betty Neels' The Magic of Living
Another handsome Dutch doctor, and another plain looking English nurse fall in love with each other. This time, the nurse has to deal with a sly cousin who is competing for the doctor's affections. The hero was a bit nicer than the one in the previous Neels' novel that I read (Pineapple Girl), so this one was easier to swallow. However, I think that I'd be a bit ticked off if my fiancé arranged for me to resign from my job without consulting with me about it first, even if I got to marry his handsomeness in the end.
Betty Neels' A Secret Infatuation
This time, a handsome Dutch doctor and a beautiful English nurse fall in love with each other. However, the doctor is engaged to another woman, but he takes his sweet time in breaking up with her. In the meantime, he seems to find plenty of opportunities to spend time with the nurse, even though he's still engaged. If you think about it, he's kind of being unfaithful to his fiancée. He seems to not want to be the one to initiate the break up, even though he realizes that the relationship isn't going to work. And the nurse...well, she can't seem to stay away from the doctor, even though she knows that he's taken. She seems to keep torturing herself by fishing for information about the doctor's relationship with his fiancée, and the doctor isn't gentle in his responses to her when this happens.
There are quite a few Betty Neels' novels in which the hero already has a girlfriend or fiancée before he meets the heroine, but usually by the midpoint of the story, he will have made a decisive move in ending that relationship before moving onto the heroine (at least, this is my impression from the other Betty Neels' novels that I've read to date). In "A Secret Infatuation," the doctor remains in the engagement practically right up to the last chapter, despite calling the heroine, "his love," and kissing her a few chapters earlier. It's just sort of strange to point out the unfaithfulness in a Betty Neels' book, and generally, I hate stories in which the heroine is the "other woman." It seems that because the fiancée is an unpleasant and unsympathetic character, and because she wasn't the right woman for the hero anyways, the protagonists' unfaithfulness is glossed over and minimized.
Just something to think about.
Betty Neels' The Mistletoe Kiss
In the Mistletoe Kiss, we've got a handsome Dutch doctor and a plain looking phone/switchboard operator at the hospital where they both work. The doctor is engaged, but that doesn't keep our protagonists from falling in love with each other. The fiancée is a nasty social climber, however, she happens to be from a rich and cultured background. She doesn't love the doctor; instead she only loves what he can bring into their upcoming marriage and she fully expects the doctor to provide the lifestyle that she is accustomed to, even though he has hinted to her that he wants to live a quieter life than what she may be expecting.
I've mentioned a lot about the nasty fiancée because, although the plot is very similar to the last Betty Neels novel that I read, A Secret Infatuation. The doctor, Ruerd, starts falling for the heroine while he is still engaged, but in the Mistletoe Kiss, Ruerd is more decisive in making a clean break with the fiancee than the doctor in A Secret Infatuation. Also, the fiancée eventually crosses the line into unfaithfulness, so the outcome was a bit easier for me to accept this time around. However, the heroine is the other woman, even before the fiancée exhibits indiscrete behaviour. Emmy is more sympathetic than the heroine from A Secret Infatuation because she didn't pursue the doctor as the other heroine did.
I wonder what would happen in a Betty Neels' novel if the heroine had a firmer backbone and didn't permit the hero to run roughshod over her boundaries? In both The Mistletoe Kiss, and in A Secret Infatuation, the heroes got a bit pushy, interfering in the heroines' lives, even though they had no business in doing so since they were already engaged to other women. I think that, given the nature of Neels' formulaic writing, that it highly unlikely that I will find out.
My interest in Betty Neels' work this year started off with a Harlequin manga version of "A Kiss for Julie." I eventually found the original version of this novel on Hoopla Digital, a web and mobile platform that gives access to digital content such as e-books and movies, which my local library started using this year. Hoopla has around 87 of Ms. Neels' books in its library.
As I mentioned before, and in a previous review of a Betty Neels' novel, her work is quite predictable. The plot generally goes as follows: an older, rich, handsome doctor (usually of Dutch background, but sometimes may be English) and a younger, plain looking, hard-on-her-luck English nurse fall in love with each other. There may be variations to these characters; sometimes the female protagonist has an occupation other than being a nurse, and sometimes she may actually be beautiful. Sometimes, the hero has a girlfriend or fiancée. Sometimes, the heroine has supportive parents, but sometimes not.
Often, though, Neels' novels start off with the hero not having much of a memorable impression of the heroine when they meet (often, he forgets her as soon as she is out of sight), but the heroine usually remembers him quite well. The hero and heroine usually don't get along initially. Many times, the heroine finds the hero's mannerisms quite rude and gruff for her tastes. However, after repeated exposure to each other, they become attracted to one another.
I find many of Neels' heroes to be rather overbearing. They take charge of situations that steer the heroines into doing things the men's way, well intentioned or not. In a couple of novels, the heroes went around the heroines and made arrangements to stop the women's employment without consulting them in the first place. Wow. The men also often vacillate between hot and cold in their feelings and keep their women guessing about whether they have a real relationship or not. This is because many of them prioritize relationships with other women above the one that they have with the heroines so that the heroines are uncertain of the place that they have in their love interests' lives. This is something that I've found mind boggling; how can there be any certainty of romance between the hero and heroine if he's giving the impression that the other woman is more important to him than the heroine?
However, with the predictability of Neels' plots, I know that the couple will get together by Chapter 9. Sometimes I view the romantic resolutions with disbelief. One plotline had the hero revealing that, no, he's not in a romantic relationship with someone else (after letting the heroine believe for eight chapters that he was in love with another woman), and yes, he's madly in love with the heroine, and that he has made arrangements for them to marry in a few hours. I wanted to say, "You've just let the heroine know that you're both actually in a romantic relationship...how about taking the time to build it now, because she didn't realize that you were even in one with her!"
Now that I've trashed Betty Neels' plots, I'd like to tell you what I like about her work. For starters, her stories are generally clean. In fact, I noticed this from reading the manga adaptations of several of her titles, and this was confirmed from actually reading some of the original books. You don't have to worry about reading a bedroom scene, and the kissing doesn't get too hot and heavy.
I also think that she does a good job of presenting the romantic tension between the characters. The reader is more aware of what's going on than the poor heroine as Neels writes in third person, and one can read both the hero's and heroine's points of view. Now, I try to figure out when the hero is starting to fall for the heroine as I'm reading. In my earlier reading of her work, I was as uncertain as the heroine as I would only consider her perspective, but now it's fun to guess when the hero's feelings start, especially before he is aware of them.
It's a guilty pleasure for me to read about a handsome man falling for a plain looking girl.
Finally, sometimes, it's nice to know what to expect. Given the predictability of Neels' books, I know that there are going to be happy endings for the couples in her books.
Review: Betty Neels' Pineapple Girl
A Dutch doctor and an English nurse (who thinks that she's not good enough for him) fall in love. Clean, but here's another Betty Neels story in which the male protagonist blows hot and cold, is sufficiently unclear about his intentions, and doesn't explain himself to the heroine right up to the last minute. To top if off, he expects her to marry him on the afternoon that he finally clarifies his mysterious and ambivalent behaviour. I think that I'm being a bit kind in that assessment, because I thought that Timon had a bit of a mean streak compared to some of Neels' other heroes. Maybe because I'm at an age where I really don't think that a girl should experience that kind of behaviour from the man who is supposedly in love with her, I find that I would like to strangle the doctor for behaving like a jerk.
Review: Betty Neels' The Magic of Living
Another handsome Dutch doctor, and another plain looking English nurse fall in love with each other. This time, the nurse has to deal with a sly cousin who is competing for the doctor's affections. The hero was a bit nicer than the one in the previous Neels' novel that I read (Pineapple Girl), so this one was easier to swallow. However, I think that I'd be a bit ticked off if my fiancé arranged for me to resign from my job without consulting with me about it first, even if I got to marry his handsomeness in the end.
Betty Neels' A Secret Infatuation
This time, a handsome Dutch doctor and a beautiful English nurse fall in love with each other. However, the doctor is engaged to another woman, but he takes his sweet time in breaking up with her. In the meantime, he seems to find plenty of opportunities to spend time with the nurse, even though he's still engaged. If you think about it, he's kind of being unfaithful to his fiancée. He seems to not want to be the one to initiate the break up, even though he realizes that the relationship isn't going to work. And the nurse...well, she can't seem to stay away from the doctor, even though she knows that he's taken. She seems to keep torturing herself by fishing for information about the doctor's relationship with his fiancée, and the doctor isn't gentle in his responses to her when this happens.
There are quite a few Betty Neels' novels in which the hero already has a girlfriend or fiancée before he meets the heroine, but usually by the midpoint of the story, he will have made a decisive move in ending that relationship before moving onto the heroine (at least, this is my impression from the other Betty Neels' novels that I've read to date). In "A Secret Infatuation," the doctor remains in the engagement practically right up to the last chapter, despite calling the heroine, "his love," and kissing her a few chapters earlier. It's just sort of strange to point out the unfaithfulness in a Betty Neels' book, and generally, I hate stories in which the heroine is the "other woman." It seems that because the fiancée is an unpleasant and unsympathetic character, and because she wasn't the right woman for the hero anyways, the protagonists' unfaithfulness is glossed over and minimized.
Just something to think about.
Betty Neels' The Mistletoe Kiss
In the Mistletoe Kiss, we've got a handsome Dutch doctor and a plain looking phone/switchboard operator at the hospital where they both work. The doctor is engaged, but that doesn't keep our protagonists from falling in love with each other. The fiancée is a nasty social climber, however, she happens to be from a rich and cultured background. She doesn't love the doctor; instead she only loves what he can bring into their upcoming marriage and she fully expects the doctor to provide the lifestyle that she is accustomed to, even though he has hinted to her that he wants to live a quieter life than what she may be expecting.
I've mentioned a lot about the nasty fiancée because, although the plot is very similar to the last Betty Neels novel that I read, A Secret Infatuation. The doctor, Ruerd, starts falling for the heroine while he is still engaged, but in the Mistletoe Kiss, Ruerd is more decisive in making a clean break with the fiancee than the doctor in A Secret Infatuation. Also, the fiancée eventually crosses the line into unfaithfulness, so the outcome was a bit easier for me to accept this time around. However, the heroine is the other woman, even before the fiancée exhibits indiscrete behaviour. Emmy is more sympathetic than the heroine from A Secret Infatuation because she didn't pursue the doctor as the other heroine did.
I wonder what would happen in a Betty Neels' novel if the heroine had a firmer backbone and didn't permit the hero to run roughshod over her boundaries? In both The Mistletoe Kiss, and in A Secret Infatuation, the heroes got a bit pushy, interfering in the heroines' lives, even though they had no business in doing so since they were already engaged to other women. I think that, given the nature of Neels' formulaic writing, that it highly unlikely that I will find out.
Wednesday, 8 November 2017
Review: An Inconvenient Beauty by Kristi Ann Hunter
An Inconvenient Beauty, by Kristi Ann Hunter, is the last installment of the Hawthorne House series. I've been waiting for this title for a long time, because out of all the Hawthorne siblings, I really wanted to know Griffith's story. He is the oldest sibling, and holds the position as the Duke of Riverton. Throughout the series, Griffith has been the responsible one who has been looking after everyone or everything that is under his care, including his mother, siblings, ward, tenants, and holdings. He is also a thoughtful man who thoroughly considers all the possibilities before deciding on what he believes will work out best for everyone involved.
After observing the matches all the members of his family have made, including his former ward (Amelia Pendleton, nee Stalwood, the present Lady Raebourne, whose story is told in Hunter's A Lady of Esteem), Griffith also desires to find a love match for himself. He applies logic to choose his future duchess and decides on Miss Frederica St. Claire. He hopes to gain her hand before the ton's matchmaking mamas realize that he is looking for a wife. Unfortunately for Griffith, trying to find time alone with Miss St. Claire is proving to be a challenge. More often than not, he finds himself in the presence of her cousin, Miss Isabella Breckenridge, this season's Incomparable. He is attracted to her, but doesn't want to get caught up in the drama of trying to compete with the rest of the throng clamoring for Isabella's attentions. He also is resistant to giving up the choice that he made from his decision making process, to the amusement and chagrin of his relations who know perfectly well that Griffith is a goner where Isabella is concerned.
While Griffith is struggling with his reluctance to set aside his pride in pursuing Isabella, Isabella is struggling with her conscience. She has come to London for the season to aid her uncle's political efforts, in exchange for financial assistance for her family. However, their plans require her to pretend and act in ways that conflict with her spiritual beliefs. By the time Isabella discovers that Griffith is the kind of man that she has always hoped to marry, she realizes that her actions in town will make any genuine romantic relationship between the two of them impossible. Who will Griffith make into his duchess? Will Isabella be able to be true to herself, and help her uncle achieve his political goals so that he is willing to help her family?
I like this novel. I like Griffith. If you are looking for a lot of stolen kisses, you won't find them in An Inconvenient Beauty...Griffith is a nice and respectful man. If it helps to draw you in, there is a secret dance on an upper balcony. In my opinion, Griffith is an attractive alpha male character who displays a satisfying amount of power in being able to solve problems and get things done. This is enough for me to award him a high swoon factor as a romantic hero. He's also self aware enough to realize that he can be arrogant due his station and upbringing, and that he needs to exercise his influence with care, so as to not abuse his position as a duke.
I found Isabella to be okay. She is a pleasant enough character who doesn't let her beauty go to her head. She cares for her family and is willing to sacrifice her reputation and be thought of as a coquette in order to help them.
It was fun reading some of the interactions between Griffith, his siblings, and brothers-in-law. Most of them know him quite well, and tease him over his courtship plans for Miss St. Claire. However, the love that binds them together is good and light hearted. It is nice to read about relatives who get along with each other and who try to help each other out. It was also nice to be able to visit with characters that appeared in earlier novels of the Hawthorne series.
Even though An Inconvenient Beauty is the last of the series, it can be read as a stand-alone book. In fact, I still haven't read Georgina's and Colin's story (An Elegant Façade) yet, although I have read all the other novels. I'm glad that I still have one more story to read about the Hawthorne Family. If you are looking for clean regencies that feature characters who have faith, then you may wish to consider reading books from the Hawthorne series if you haven't looked into them yet.
After observing the matches all the members of his family have made, including his former ward (Amelia Pendleton, nee Stalwood, the present Lady Raebourne, whose story is told in Hunter's A Lady of Esteem), Griffith also desires to find a love match for himself. He applies logic to choose his future duchess and decides on Miss Frederica St. Claire. He hopes to gain her hand before the ton's matchmaking mamas realize that he is looking for a wife. Unfortunately for Griffith, trying to find time alone with Miss St. Claire is proving to be a challenge. More often than not, he finds himself in the presence of her cousin, Miss Isabella Breckenridge, this season's Incomparable. He is attracted to her, but doesn't want to get caught up in the drama of trying to compete with the rest of the throng clamoring for Isabella's attentions. He also is resistant to giving up the choice that he made from his decision making process, to the amusement and chagrin of his relations who know perfectly well that Griffith is a goner where Isabella is concerned.
While Griffith is struggling with his reluctance to set aside his pride in pursuing Isabella, Isabella is struggling with her conscience. She has come to London for the season to aid her uncle's political efforts, in exchange for financial assistance for her family. However, their plans require her to pretend and act in ways that conflict with her spiritual beliefs. By the time Isabella discovers that Griffith is the kind of man that she has always hoped to marry, she realizes that her actions in town will make any genuine romantic relationship between the two of them impossible. Who will Griffith make into his duchess? Will Isabella be able to be true to herself, and help her uncle achieve his political goals so that he is willing to help her family?
I like this novel. I like Griffith. If you are looking for a lot of stolen kisses, you won't find them in An Inconvenient Beauty...Griffith is a nice and respectful man. If it helps to draw you in, there is a secret dance on an upper balcony. In my opinion, Griffith is an attractive alpha male character who displays a satisfying amount of power in being able to solve problems and get things done. This is enough for me to award him a high swoon factor as a romantic hero. He's also self aware enough to realize that he can be arrogant due his station and upbringing, and that he needs to exercise his influence with care, so as to not abuse his position as a duke.
I found Isabella to be okay. She is a pleasant enough character who doesn't let her beauty go to her head. She cares for her family and is willing to sacrifice her reputation and be thought of as a coquette in order to help them.
It was fun reading some of the interactions between Griffith, his siblings, and brothers-in-law. Most of them know him quite well, and tease him over his courtship plans for Miss St. Claire. However, the love that binds them together is good and light hearted. It is nice to read about relatives who get along with each other and who try to help each other out. It was also nice to be able to visit with characters that appeared in earlier novels of the Hawthorne series.
Even though An Inconvenient Beauty is the last of the series, it can be read as a stand-alone book. In fact, I still haven't read Georgina's and Colin's story (An Elegant Façade) yet, although I have read all the other novels. I'm glad that I still have one more story to read about the Hawthorne Family. If you are looking for clean regencies that feature characters who have faith, then you may wish to consider reading books from the Hawthorne series if you haven't looked into them yet.
Thursday, 2 November 2017
Review: A Betty Neels Christmas by Betty Neels
"A Betty Neels Christmas" actually contains two stories written by, of course, Betty Neels. They are "A Christmas Proposal," and "A Winter Wedding." Both are stories about handsome, older, mature doctors who eventually fall in love with plain looking, gentle hearted women who believe that no one will ever ask them to marry. These two stories follow the same general plotline of practically every Betty Neels story that I've read so far: a plain looking woman (often a nurse) harbours an impossible attraction to an older accomplished and handsome man (usually a doctor, and usually of Dutch descent). Eventually, somehow, the plain looking nurse catches the doctor's attention, but is unaware of her effect on the doctor. She believes herself to be unable to compete with another gorgeous woman who appears to be a more suitable mate for the doctor.
All you have to do is substitute the names of Bertha Soames (who is not a nurse, but rather a sheltered young woman who is also plain looking), and Oliver Hayes-Smith (an English doctor, not Dutch) into "A Christmas Proposal." Bertha is competing with her step-sister, Clare, for the attentions of the doctor. In "A Winter Wedding," Emily Seymour, a plain looking, but competent nurse, and Professor Renier Jurres-Romeijn (definitely a Dutch doctor) are the characters that appear in that story. Renier has to convince Emily that he is not interested in two other girls who vie for his attention, one of whom is her own sister, Louisa.
Both stories are contemporary, but they seem to take place (in my opinion) in the sixties...maybe up until the eighties. There is no mention of the electronic devices that we are familiar with today (no cell phones, smart phones, Blackberry machines, iPods, etc., although there are references to getting bleeped (I assume this is from a pager of some sort). Social media is not mentioned at all. Of course, Betty Neels passed on in 2001, before the advent of Facebook.
I like that Betty Neels' stories are clean, but I find some of her heroines to be pushovers. Bertha Soames falls into this category. Other heroines are more belligerent when the hero says something that hurts their feelings as Darcy does to Elizabeth in Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice when he declares that she is not handsome enough to tempt him. Emily Seymour fits this type.
As for Oliver and Renier, both act similarly enough in that they really make it difficult for their respective objects of affections to realize that they are interested in them...especially when the men appear to continue paying court to the competition. I sometimes find this a bit annoying: when the men discover that their ladyloves misunderstand the nature of the relationships with the competition, they often continue to allow the heroines to remain unenlightened about their real feelings. Often there is a big reveal later, which is usually tied to some big romantic gesture that the men do to demonstrate the depth of their affections. There's only so much extra angst that I can take, and I think that reading the same formulaic development in each of these stories has left me rather unenthusiastic about the women being kept in the dark and having their romantic suffering prolonged every time. I wonder what would have happened if a male lead actually revealed the truth of his feelings right when he realized that there was a misunderstanding, or if a female lead recognized the feelings of the hero rather than remaining obtuse and clueless.
That being said, I will probably still continue reading Betty Neels' books. As I mentioned before, they are clean, and I enjoy the romantic tension that is built between the heroes and heroines in her novels.
All you have to do is substitute the names of Bertha Soames (who is not a nurse, but rather a sheltered young woman who is also plain looking), and Oliver Hayes-Smith (an English doctor, not Dutch) into "A Christmas Proposal." Bertha is competing with her step-sister, Clare, for the attentions of the doctor. In "A Winter Wedding," Emily Seymour, a plain looking, but competent nurse, and Professor Renier Jurres-Romeijn (definitely a Dutch doctor) are the characters that appear in that story. Renier has to convince Emily that he is not interested in two other girls who vie for his attention, one of whom is her own sister, Louisa.
Both stories are contemporary, but they seem to take place (in my opinion) in the sixties...maybe up until the eighties. There is no mention of the electronic devices that we are familiar with today (no cell phones, smart phones, Blackberry machines, iPods, etc., although there are references to getting bleeped (I assume this is from a pager of some sort). Social media is not mentioned at all. Of course, Betty Neels passed on in 2001, before the advent of Facebook.
I like that Betty Neels' stories are clean, but I find some of her heroines to be pushovers. Bertha Soames falls into this category. Other heroines are more belligerent when the hero says something that hurts their feelings as Darcy does to Elizabeth in Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice when he declares that she is not handsome enough to tempt him. Emily Seymour fits this type.
As for Oliver and Renier, both act similarly enough in that they really make it difficult for their respective objects of affections to realize that they are interested in them...especially when the men appear to continue paying court to the competition. I sometimes find this a bit annoying: when the men discover that their ladyloves misunderstand the nature of the relationships with the competition, they often continue to allow the heroines to remain unenlightened about their real feelings. Often there is a big reveal later, which is usually tied to some big romantic gesture that the men do to demonstrate the depth of their affections. There's only so much extra angst that I can take, and I think that reading the same formulaic development in each of these stories has left me rather unenthusiastic about the women being kept in the dark and having their romantic suffering prolonged every time. I wonder what would have happened if a male lead actually revealed the truth of his feelings right when he realized that there was a misunderstanding, or if a female lead recognized the feelings of the hero rather than remaining obtuse and clueless.
That being said, I will probably still continue reading Betty Neels' books. As I mentioned before, they are clean, and I enjoy the romantic tension that is built between the heroes and heroines in her novels.
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