Love Remembered [Paperback]

"Love Remembered" is fun to read. The verbal battles between Gwaltney (despised by high society mainly because he despises himself) and Cordelia (a shrew in need of taming) remind me of Shakespeare's repartee between Beatrice and Benedict.

Gwaltney, a claustrophobic self-made man, who's trying to insert himself into the Tidewater aristocracy of the pre-Revolutionary period, needs a respectable wife. Cordelia was jilted once and ever since, has fended off possible suitors with a scathing tongue and spinster-ish attire. They of course must marry (the author sets up a plausible rationale) and learn to live with each other. Their mutual loathing gradually turns to love, and reading the transformation is one of the fun parts of the novel. The author details how each slowly learns to trust and love the other.

Fisher throws in little asides that let us know she's Done The Research (for example, sugar was imported into the colony in cones), which add interest and verisimilitude to the story. There's a mysterious attacker who wants to kill Gwaltney, and a romantic sub-plot between Cordelia's sister and Gwaltney's friend.

Fun light reading.

As an indepth review on the plot of this book has already been done, I'll just comment on how I felt about the book. I really enjoyed reading this book. I think the author did a very good job with her characterizations and the plot was very interesting. This is not an easy to read love story. As noted in another review, Cordelia and Gwaltney are verbally abusive to one another, but without that, there is no book. It's the driving force of who Cordelia is and is the framework of the relationship between Cordelia and Gwaltney. There were times when I cringed when they talked to one another, which means the author did her job. These are two people with very deep seated issues who did not love one another when they got married. They made assumptions about each other that weren't true and that led to some very hurtful behavior from both of them. I liked the way Cordelia grew as a person and admired her honesty with herself. She was able to recognize her mistakes and admit her faults. Gwaltney started out as the more giving of the two, but as the book went on, he became the one to lash out worse than Cordelia because he didn't thust her. As in real life, their behavior became a cycle, hurts feeding off of hurts. They were able to forge a relationship because Cordelia was willing to do what needed to be done, and Gwaltney was finally able to allow Cordelia to see him as a flawed individual. This book isn't a light, fluff romance. It is a meat and bones love story where two people have to work hard to get their HEA and I recommend this book to anyone who likes a good, realistic historical romance.

I don't even know where to begin with this review, I really am at a loss for words. Love Remembered was not at all what I was expecting when I sat down to read this book. When I realized that this story was set in the eighteenth century, I started to put it down. Then I thought maybe the characters were going to travel through time, by sci-fi means, or becoming Vampires. I know you're probably wondering why I thought that, but the truth is the only book of Ms. Fisher's that I had previously read was a sci-fi futuristic fantasy Romance. I assumed this book would fall in that genre as well, I could not have been more wrong. I know you're probably saying to your self "why doesn't she know more about the book she's reading". The truth is I was so excited that an author who's work I admired, offered me a copy of her book to review. I didn't care about the details. That being said, I am so glad I didn't put this book down, the best thing I could have done for myself was read this book. It had been so long since I read a historical romance, I didn't realize how much I missed them. The funny thing about it is, I thought I had been successfully transformed into a paranormal/urban fantasy romance junkie. Ms. Fisher's book has proved that I was wrong, I loved this story.

Qwaltney made his fortune as longhorn hunter, and now he's a tobacco grower in colonial Virgina. He is despised by the gentry because of his heritage. The only thing he wants is respectability, but no matter what he does it's unattainable. When his best friend approaches him with the idea of marrying respectability. Qwaltney thinks it over, and realizes maybe that will be the answer to his problems. Qwaltney doesn't know what a challenge he is in for, nor does he realize his best friend has other motives for wanting to help his friend. Qwaltney is also suffering from his own personal demons, and the atrocities done to him by his father in his child hood.

Cordelia vows that she will never get married, no matter what her father says or how many eligible bachelors he sends her way. She has decided to live the rest of her life as a spinster, and has made herself as unattractive as possible. She longs to get the attention her beautiful sister does, but because of a past betrayal she has hardened her heart against anything like that ever happening. Because of how unattractive she has made herself, and her sharp merciless tongue, she believes she can drive any man away from her until she meets Qwaltney Harris. No matter how mean she is or how hard she tries she can't drive Qwaltney away. Cordelia is torn between how she feels about Qwaltney, and she doesn't believe he wants anything more from her then the promise of respectability by marrying her.

This story was wonderfully written, I immediately fell in love with Qwaltney and Cordelia's characters. Don't get me wrong there were many frustrating moments in the book when they were mean to each other. Some of the banter back and forth between them had me wincing when I was reading it. That being said I never wanted A couple to have a HEA more then I wanted this couple to. Qwaltney with his tortured memories, and self loathing for himself touched me. I hated that he didn't believe in love, or even believed that he was worthy of love. I thought it was funny that he loved so fiercely his dead sister, and his orphaned niece, but didn't realize that it was love. Cordelia never wanted to love any man, but she couldn't help the feelings that Qwaltney was starting to inspire in her. She slowly realized that she was caring for him, but that he might not ever care for her.

This book had so many memorable moments in it, that it's hard to pick one. Even the secondary characters Jonathan, and Elsabeth Cordelia's sister were very memorable. Jonathan and Elsabeth romance is like another little story inside of this story. It all went together so well. Ms. Fisher also kept the story interesting with true facts about Virginia, the tobacco industry, and slavery. I was happy that she kept true to the times, as a native Virginian it was exciting to read true facts about my state's history.

All in all this was a fabulous story to read, I loved the humor that came from the banter between Cordelia and Qwaltney. The love scenes were hot and memorable, the characters were easy to fall in love with. The best compliment I can give Ms. Fisher is, she made me want to pick up another historical romance when I finished reading her book. If you knew how unbelievable that is to me, then you would recognize that's the highest form of praise for this book that I'm capable of giving.

If you are into historical romances, and you want to read a true love story that will transport you back in time. I highly recommend this book to you.