The characters, storyline, and passion in this book are wonderful. Once I started, I didn't want to lay this book down. The heroine and hero are likable and Mcnaught weaves a credible story of love between them. Some of the dialogue is unforgettable. This one goes on my keeper shelf.

Judith McNaught has a style that you either hate or love. I happen to be one who loves her work. Her novels are not without flaws, sometimes quite corny but very endearing none the less.
I started reading her work about five years back and have recently started reading her books again. Almost Heaven still remains my all time favorite both in the genre as well as among her works.
Ian Thornton as a hero makes me sad. Sad because there are really no such men born that I know of. I am married to one of the best ones out there (lol) even then I could not help but pine for someone like Ian.
What always stirs me about the book is the aching romance that jumps out of the pages and gives you goose bumps.
In the beginning, Elizabeth asks Ian to dance and he refuses and then stunned by what she does, he asks her to... I mean the whole connotation of the scene is one of the best romance sequences that I have read.
I am not particularly fond of prose like romance novels where we are given a history lesson more than a romance. There are plenty of serious books and internet sites for that, and believe me I am a history buff.
But when I want to read a romance, I want romance.
Mcnaught's books have heroes who are strong, good looking :), rich, intelligent and everything else that are good.Why would we women read romance novels otherwise? :)
Misunderstandings are common in her work, but I'll tolerate all that only to read the beautiful, poignant way she brings the protagonists together again. I also happen to like the fact that almost all her heroines are virgins. I cannot tolerate idolizing sex and the city women as protagonists. (Although I really did like the show as a sitcom (lol!!)
Opinions and tastes however differ and I cannot make anyone like the books if they've decided not to. Personally I read a romance with very little expectation of getting a classic.
If you have not read Almost Heaven, get one copy and read it. Most of you won't be disappointed. Five Stars!

So I said I wouldn't read any more Judith McNaught books because her plot lines are always so similar and I hate the "bring 'em together and then split 'em up" thing she ALWAYS does. That being said, I still wanted to give this book a chance because it has gotten such glowing reviews. I was actually surprised to find myself enjoying the book and liking the main characters more than I did in any of her other books. I personally loved Elizabeth and her sweet spirit and witty mind. I thought Ian was swoon-worthy and I loved that he was half Scot. It was fun to see the contrast that she brought between him and other English men, particularly in how he was not afraid of public displays of affection and his attitude towards love and marriage. And the exchanges between Ian and Elizabeth fluctuated between passionate and sweet to hilarious.

But while I liked the premise of the book and the story itself, I was just waiting for JM to throw a big 'ole wrench in the happy wheel, which she is notorious for doing. I understand that life isn't perfect, but Judith McNaught's heroes without fail at some point in the story get overly angry, overly unforgiving, jump to conclusions, and then retaliate by just deciding they don't want to be married any more and either dropping their wive's like a hot rock or trying to divorce them. It is stressful, annoying, and frankly getting really really old!

I saw where she was headed so just skimmed through the big misunderstanding/seperation part of the story and got to the part where they finally realize what dummies they are and make up. So while I enjoyed the ending, I just really don't think I like this kind of story telling. I still wanted to give the book three stars and write a review because I did read it in a day, so the book had to have something going for it. I did truly love Ian and Elizabeth and as far as JM's books go, it was the best I've read of hers.

This book is one of the best books I've ever read. The storyline is believable and I fell in love with the characters. This is a love story and a very sweet one at that. I highly recommend this book to anyone and everyone.

This is my first review and second McNaught. My first was Something Wonderful. While I love that book and found the characters to be very endearing, I am sorely disappointed by this continuation of the first. I will not go into detail on the plot of the novel since many reviewers before me has done so. I will name my reasons for not liking this.

First off, I find both the heroine and hero to be exasperatingly dumb. Their first encounter was lackluster. Despite of what he says, the hero was attracted to her beauty, not her no called wit since it disappears everytime he kisses her. She, in turn, was attracted to the hero because he was handsome, dark, and different from the rest. I just didn't see how they could fall in love so fast with just a few short encounters, or how she (a supposedly smart woman) could act so recklessly and dumbly for just a few smothering looks and kisses.

Their misunderstanding was laughable as well. I mean, for such a supposedly "genius" hero he should've figured out that she would be shunned by the ton because of their encounters. So when he was shocked that she was outcasted I didn't understand why he would be so. And for the nerve of him to be so horrid to her in Scotland. And for her to be so forgiving and insipid to fall for him at every sweet word he managed to throw her way when he's not busy brooding at her...it was beyond me.

The bargaining for their marriage was not much of a bargaining at all since she didn't put up much a fight. If a guy had caused me much pain and misery for two years I would've put up a better fight than Elizabeth did. On that note, while Elizabeth's love for bargaining is endearing to most, I find it superficial because I find her character to be shallow, non-developed, foolish (don't even get me starting when she left with her brother), and spineless. I find the hero to be vengeful, reckless (in a bad way), narrow-minded, and yes, two-dimensional.

I was 3/4 through the book when I had to put it down and debated whether I should waste more time on it. At the end I had to endure the whole book and the ending was so horrid to me. While I find myself frustrated with the h/h 3/4 of the book, I wanted to throw rocks at them after I was done. Could she be more dumb and spineless? And could he be more hateful and appalling?

This book was read right after finishing The Secret Pearl and I couldn't help by compare both the h/h in that book to this book. What I love about Adam in The Secret Pearl is that he is worthy of being call a smart, honorable, and passionate man. He doesn't jump to conclusion. He doesn't automatically think the heroine is a slut everytime another man touches her. He's smart enough to dig deeper based on the heroine's actions rather than her words. He's loves unconditionally. Ian, on the other hand, is none of those things. He always jumped to conclusions about Elizabeth. He thinks that she's a slut because if she let him seduced her and kissed her, hell, of course she'll let others do the same. For someone that supposedly "put themselves in others shoes" he sure has a lousily way to show it. He never bothers to look further to find out what's really bothering Elizabeth instead jumped to conclusions about her. And despite of what others may think, he doesn't love unconditionally. He loves with the condition that the other person has to love him back the way he wants to be loved.

Sigh...with all the good reviews about this book I was hoping for a book that would take my breath away and leave me in awe...like Something Wonderful did. Instead it leaves me mad and frustrated and having to vent it out in a review for all to read. If Whitney, My Love is anything like this I think I may have to skip it altogether. The heroine in that book, based on the plot, seems to be too much like Elizabeth (beautiful, silly, and spineless) that I don't think I can endure another disaster.

The half star is for featuring Alex and Jordan from Something Wonderful.