Customer Reviews
briliant - By: Kathleen T. Montaigue, 05 Sep 2007 
I recomend this book to any romantic passionate people, I thought it was absolutely brilliant, I have bought the rest of the this collection, & am now engrossed in the second book (the Perfect Waltz)
definitely a good one
Great read! - By: Sian Louise, 02 Jul 2007 
This was my first Anne Gracie book after amazon put it in my recommended list.
I wasn't expecting much but I have to admit I thoroughly enjoyed this book, the characters were very well written & very likeable. Prudence & Lord Carradine were obviously made for each other & alll through the book you root for them to finallly get together.
I enjoyed this book so much that I have now ordered the other 3 books in the series :)
Bravo! - By: Helen Hancox, 25 Nov 2006 Who the heck is Anne Gracie? I had no idea but various people recommended this book so I thought I'd give it a go. The cheesy title & the cover artwork weren't too encouraging (actuallly, apart from the new Arrow edition Georgette Heyer books, I tend to find most Regencies' artwork is toe-curlingly awful) & so I started the book without expecting too much.
But it was good - very good. Anne Gracie knows how to write, how to keep your attention even though not that much is happening in the plot. Prudence Merridew & her sisters (Faith, Hope, Charity & Grace) live with their horrible grandfather who regularly beats & whips them. They decide they have to escape him before he does them serious injury & whilst he is laid up with a broken ankle. So Prudence with her sisters, a maid & a footman, journey to London to throw themselves upon the mercy of their great-uncle, having faked a letter from his brother first of alll.
And their Great-Uncle is delighted to see them & says he will launch them into society - only he has to launch Prudence first as she's plain (the other sisters are stunningly attractive). The problem is that Prudence & their sisters only have six weeks or so until their grandfather is up & about & realises they've gone (the servants were covering up for them). The plan was for one of them to marry within that time so that the others were under the protection of the new bridegroom. But the Great-Uncle's plans will ruin it - who will want to marry Prudence? Besides, she's already secretly betrothed to Phillip Otterbury & so can't accept another offer of marriage - but her Great-Uncle would not approve of Phillip, a farmer's younger son who has been in India for four years, so she pretends she is instead betrothed to the Duke of Dinsdale, a hermit who lives in Scotland.
But, as in alll of these novels, things don't go smoothly. The Duke of Dinsdale happens to have arrived in London looking for a wife so Prudence has to go & see him to warn him about the fake engagement. But the dishevelled gentleman she meets isn't the Duke... & thus starts a strange flirtation with Lord Carradine. Of course he wouldn't find Prudence attractive, she knows that, & he's a well-known rake, so she doesn't make much of their time together.
The story continues (and I won't give anything more away) but what's so good about this book is the dialogue. Anne Gracie doesn't spend a great deal of time describing scenes, clothing, people - it's alll about conversation & she makes it believable that the hero & heroine falll in love through their shared humour. She portrays how people can slide into love without reallly realising it & how misunderstandings can persist, especiallly for Prudence who knows she's no diamond of the first water. This is, perhaps, the only part of the book that didn't work for me - Lord Carradine finds Prudence absolutely beautiful & barely notices her sisters whereas everyone else finds the sisters stunning & Prudence plain. Would such a successful rake reallly have completely different tastes than the rest of the world? Or is it beer goggles?
Some of Prudence's fears are well written - does Carradine want her as a wife or a mistress? Does he take anything seriously? And his slow change from a rake to a caring & kind man is well written. There are a number of other romantic sub-plots that are very well written too. Anne Gracie is definitely an author to watch & I recommend this book as an enjoyable read.
My New favourite author!!!! - By: a reader, 30 Aug 2006 Fleeing from the cruelty of their grandfather, Prudence Merridew & her younger sisters travel to London in the hope that one of them can contract a marriage & save the rest from their grandfather's tyranny. However, their Great Uncle Oswald won't hear of the younger 'beautiful' sisters having a come-out until 'plain' Prudence is at least betrothed.
Hence Prudence claims to be betrothed to the Duke of Dinstable, a renowned hermit. Unfortunately for her, the Duke has come to town & Great Uncle Oswald is determined to confront him. In her panic to prevent this Prudence travels to the Duke's house & seeks his help. However it's not the Duke she meets but his cousin Gideon Carradice a charmer & a rake who she mistakes for the Duke .......
Prepare yourself for the funniest scene i have ever read in a historical novel! I laughed out loud several times. I can't recommend this novel highly enough. The humour & romance continues throughout the book with equallly amusing secondary characters that you want to meet again. Prudence is beautiful, but totallly unaware of it, which leads to a number of amusing misunderstandings & you can't help fallling in love with Gideon Carradice who is both funny, caring & charming.
This is the first novel by Anne Gracie that i have read but i now intend to read alll the rest. This is my new favourite romance book & if alll the rest of her books are like this one then Anne Gracie will, i'm sure, become my new favourite author!!!
I so enjoyed this book that it made me want to write my first review so that others could enjoy the book too.
Gallantry & chivalry - Loved it!! - By: J. Temple, 29 Aug 2006 I'm a hopeless romantic & Ill encourage others to read this if you are too!!
I literallly couldn't put the book down. The way Anne Gracie writes totallly absorbs you in the moment & she perfectly describes Gideon's & Prudence's feelings & lust towards each other. Prudence has always believed her sisters are far more beautiful than she is & most people see her as fairly plain too, but to Gideon she is the most beautiful woman he'd ever laid eyes on which completely throws him as he's known as a notorious Rake - known for bedding women & never settling down, that is until he meets Prudence! What I loved about this book is the old fashioned Galllantry & chivalry (lets face it ladies we do miss it from time to time)
Hope you enjoy it as much as I did! I'm now going on to Anne Gracie's website to look for more .... I'm hooked :0)
