- Paperback: 384 pages
- Publisher: M & B (Mills & Boon) (17 Sep 2010)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0263877027
- ISBN-13: 978-0263877021
- Product Dimensions: 17.2 x 10.8 x 2.6 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 516,426 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
A Most Unconventional Match (MIRA)
and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle .
Learn more
| ||||||||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Plus, get an extra £5 Gift Certificate when you trade in books worth £10 or more before June 30, 2012. Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. |
Product details |
More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
"A Wanton Widow" - When Hal Waterman calls upon the newly-widowed Elizabeth Lowery, it is intended to be the chivalrous act of a gentleman. But Hal has secretly adored Elizabeth for years. Elizabeth's household is in turmoil and she has to support her young son. Hal's help is more than welcome - but his silent, protective presence arouses feelings in her that she does not understand. Elizabeth's marriage had been happy, but her husband had never aroused such confusing, exhilarating sensations in her...Elizabeth knows that society would condemn her, but Hal's attractions may well prove too much to resist!
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
THE ACT OF A GENTLEMAN
HAL WATERMAN'S CALLING ON THE NEWLY WIDOWED ELIZABETH LOWERY IS THE CARING ACT OF A GENTLEMAN. AND WITH HER HOUSEHOLD IN TURMOIL AND A YOUNG SON TO SUPPORT, SHE IS CERTAINLY GRATEFUL FOR HIS HELP. HAL FINDS ELIZABETH EVER MORE LOVELY THAN WHEN THEY FIRST MET, BUT KNOWS THAT SHE WILL ONLY SEE HIM AS A KIND AND OFTEN TACITURN FRIEND.
ELIZABETH FINDS COMFORT AND COMPANIONSHIP IN HAL'S CARING OF HER. BUT THEN A TANTALIZING DESIRE STARTS TO SIMMER. HIS REASSURING STRENGTH AND PRESENCE HAVE BECOME SO VERY ATTRACTIVE...SO ALLURING....
That's what's written at the back of the book. Maybe it will help you decide either way.
I have very high expectations for this book, having come across both protaganist in previous Julia Jutiss books. Especially in 'The untame heiress'. So I have certain ideas how Hal and Elizabeth would act - which didn't happen for me, I'm afraid.
She wasn't a very strong character - but I guess if she was then Hal wouldn't have felt the need to help and protect her. Also I thought that she would be more advance in her career in her painting.
But overall there is romance and what come across at the end of the story is the tenderness and gentleness of Hal.
Not too bad a book.
HAL WATERMAN'S CALLING ON THE NEWLY WIDOWED ELIZABETH LOWERY IS THE CARING ACT OF A GENTLEMAN. AND WITH HER HOUSEHOLD IN TURMOIL AND A YOUNG SON TO SUPPORT, SHE IS CERTAINLY GRATEFUL FOR HIS HELP. HAL FINDS ELIZABETH EVER MORE LOVELY THAN WHEN THEY FIRST MET, BUT KNOWS THAT SHE WILL ONLY SEE HIM AS A KIND AND OFTEN TACITURN FRIEND.
ELIZABETH FINDS COMFORT AND COMPANIONSHIP IN HAL'S CARING OF HER. BUT THEN A TANTALIZING DESIRE STARTS TO SIMMER. HIS REASSURING STRENGTH AND PRESENCE HAVE BECOME SO VERY ATTRACTIVE...SO ALLURING....
That's what's written at the back of the book. Maybe it will help you decide either way.
I have very high expectations for this book, having come across both protaganist in previous Julia Jutiss books. Especially in 'The untame heiress'. So I have certain ideas how Hal and Elizabeth would act - which didn't happen for me, I'm afraid.
She wasn't a very strong character - but I guess if she was then Hal wouldn't have felt the need to help and protect her. Also I thought that she would be more advance in her career in her painting.
But overall there is romance and what come across at the end of the story is the tenderness and gentleness of Hal.
Not too bad a book.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
12 reviews
31 of 33 people found the following review helpful
"A Most Unconventional Match" is a most uncommon winner!
28 July 2008
Format:Mass Market Paperback
This is one of those surprising novels that Harlequin publishes in a rare blue moon. Every once in a while, they put out a romance that is shockingly good. I hope more readers discover this gem. Most romance readers bypass Harlequin as elementary and poorly written. But, Julia Justiss has done a remarkable job of writing an intelligent novel with great dialogue and indepth characterization. The hero, in particular, is a refreshing character who never really speaks in complete sentences throughout the book due to a childhood stutter. I thought that would get on my nerves, but interestingly enough, never bothered me. In fact, his discomfort with the spoken word made him seem more real and novel in the often boring world of pattern-card rakes and noblemen in Romance. The story is well-told and never dull. There are plenty of dramatic climaxes and a very satisfying ending. But, for the most part, I was so pleasantly surprised by Justiss's knowledge of Regency England. She uses offhand details about the time period as if it's just throwaway information instead of calculatedly placing the hist. info like other authors do. Additionally, she almost never resorts to modern, colloquial language (which absolutely drives me nuts with other historical romances...Julia Quinn anyone?). Her characters speak in the context of the times. All in all, this was a wonderful find. I hope readers discover this tucked away on the Harlequin stand. I almost passed it by and am so glad I didn't!
15 of 15 people found the following review helpful
A Most Unconventional Match
7 Aug 2008
Format:Mass Market Paperback
Newly widowed, Elizabeth Lowery is at her wit's end. Her much older husband and his spinster sister had always taken care of the finances and household, leaving her to concentrate on her painting and her son. Now her husband is gone, leaving more problems than she could have anticipated, her own family is out of the country, and her sister-in-law has taken to her bed out of grief. Overwhelmed and still grieving herself, Elizabeth isn't sure what to do.
Due to his aversion to beautiful women and his own awkward nature, Hal Waterman has avoided Elizabeth for years. As the best friend of her sister's husband, however, he knows it is his duty to help her straighten out her finances. Determined to keep his interactions with her brief and businesslike, he comes during her painting time. Then he meets her adorable young son and begins to see that Elizabeth is nothing like what he thought she was. Could she ever feel more than friendship for a man like him?
A Most Unconventional Match is a most unconventional Regency. In a genre often populated by heroines who are anachronistically independent or too stupid to live, Elizabeth stands out. I normally hate indecisive and helpless women, yet I liked Elizabeth very much and found her realistic. Her air of helplessness is not due to a weak character, but to shyness and her husband and sister-in-law's overprotective actions. She wants to run her own life, she just doesn't know how. Hal also stands out amongst the crop of rakes, dukes, spies, and scarred, tortured heroes of most Regencies. Although he is a large man (which he sees as a flaw) and his manner of speaking is awkward, he's basically just a decent, kind man who is understandably insecure at times. He doesn't fit any of the hero molds, which only makes him more appealing. The romantic tension between the two of them was very well done. The conflicts in A Most Unconventional Match are interesting without being overdramatic or unrealistic. I love Regencies, but I admit to being tired of many of the clichéd plots, which is why I found A Most Unconventional Match so refreshing. It's a sweet, engaging love story about two people who aren't quite what others would want them to be, trying to make their own ways in the world. I'll be waiting for Julia Justiss's next book!
Cassie
reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed
Due to his aversion to beautiful women and his own awkward nature, Hal Waterman has avoided Elizabeth for years. As the best friend of her sister's husband, however, he knows it is his duty to help her straighten out her finances. Determined to keep his interactions with her brief and businesslike, he comes during her painting time. Then he meets her adorable young son and begins to see that Elizabeth is nothing like what he thought she was. Could she ever feel more than friendship for a man like him?
A Most Unconventional Match is a most unconventional Regency. In a genre often populated by heroines who are anachronistically independent or too stupid to live, Elizabeth stands out. I normally hate indecisive and helpless women, yet I liked Elizabeth very much and found her realistic. Her air of helplessness is not due to a weak character, but to shyness and her husband and sister-in-law's overprotective actions. She wants to run her own life, she just doesn't know how. Hal also stands out amongst the crop of rakes, dukes, spies, and scarred, tortured heroes of most Regencies. Although he is a large man (which he sees as a flaw) and his manner of speaking is awkward, he's basically just a decent, kind man who is understandably insecure at times. He doesn't fit any of the hero molds, which only makes him more appealing. The romantic tension between the two of them was very well done. The conflicts in A Most Unconventional Match are interesting without being overdramatic or unrealistic. I love Regencies, but I admit to being tired of many of the clichéd plots, which is why I found A Most Unconventional Match so refreshing. It's a sweet, engaging love story about two people who aren't quite what others would want them to be, trying to make their own ways in the world. I'll be waiting for Julia Justiss's next book!
Cassie
reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Refreshingly Delightful Regency
14 July 2008
Format:Mass Market Paperback
Seven years prior, Hal Waterman had met Elizabeth Lowery - one look at the exquisite beauty and he'd run the other way - she was just too beautiful for the likes of him. Now Hal finds himself calling on the newly widowed Elizabeth to find her lovelier than ever with her household in an uproar. Knowing her family including his very best friend Nicky to be away, Hal knows he must step up and offer his assistance to look after Elizabeth and her charming son David until his return. As much as he is attracted he knows that Elizabeth would never consider him anything other than a friend because of his speech impediment, reticent ways, and evasion of society strictures which make most people avoid him.
Tending to be a bit on the reclusive side herself, Elizabeth finds Hal to be a comforting presence not only to her but to young David. As much as Elizabeth loved and cherished her dear departed husband, he never aroused the passionate feelings she was now guiltily experiencing when in the company of Hal Waterman, this most handsome, gentle, and kindly giant.
*** What an original and creative break from the usually perfect heroes that most romance authors create these days. Ms. Justiss has written one of the loveliest romances I've read this year with a hero who can't express his true feelings or carry on a conversation with anything but the briefest of comments. Highly intelligent and extremely wealthy, Hal is usually frozen with fear and totally tongue tied when in the vicinity of beautiful women. This behavior expertly shown, was a result of his beautiful mother who was horridly unfeeling towards him as a child and loved nothing more than to indulge herself with his fortune.
Hal has escaped his mother's attempts at marrying him off for years as she parades a multitude of insipid beautiful prospective brides in his vicinity. Hal believes that like his mother, beautiful debutantes do not see him, but only his deep pockets. Because of this, and Elizabeth's great beauty, Hal originally thought Elizabeth was cast from the same mold as most beautiful women, but the author draws great depth in showing how misguided his original opinion has been, especially where Elizabeth is concerned.
Ms. Justiss took great care in developing her characters and the leads, along with young David were lovingly created, along with the overbearing mother from hell. The romance and the obligatory hurdles (evil money lenders, a disreputable rake, and an over-eager debutante) to overcome gave this story additional interest and very entertaining scenarios. Hal's blunt speaking, when he could find the words, was truly an inspired touch.
Bottom line: This was a totally refreshing Regency that held me captive from the moment I turned the first page combining sweet sensuality and beautifully crafted characters. Highly recommended.
Marilyn Rondeau, for www.ck2skwipsandkritiques.com
Tending to be a bit on the reclusive side herself, Elizabeth finds Hal to be a comforting presence not only to her but to young David. As much as Elizabeth loved and cherished her dear departed husband, he never aroused the passionate feelings she was now guiltily experiencing when in the company of Hal Waterman, this most handsome, gentle, and kindly giant.
*** What an original and creative break from the usually perfect heroes that most romance authors create these days. Ms. Justiss has written one of the loveliest romances I've read this year with a hero who can't express his true feelings or carry on a conversation with anything but the briefest of comments. Highly intelligent and extremely wealthy, Hal is usually frozen with fear and totally tongue tied when in the vicinity of beautiful women. This behavior expertly shown, was a result of his beautiful mother who was horridly unfeeling towards him as a child and loved nothing more than to indulge herself with his fortune.
Hal has escaped his mother's attempts at marrying him off for years as she parades a multitude of insipid beautiful prospective brides in his vicinity. Hal believes that like his mother, beautiful debutantes do not see him, but only his deep pockets. Because of this, and Elizabeth's great beauty, Hal originally thought Elizabeth was cast from the same mold as most beautiful women, but the author draws great depth in showing how misguided his original opinion has been, especially where Elizabeth is concerned.
Ms. Justiss took great care in developing her characters and the leads, along with young David were lovingly created, along with the overbearing mother from hell. The romance and the obligatory hurdles (evil money lenders, a disreputable rake, and an over-eager debutante) to overcome gave this story additional interest and very entertaining scenarios. Hal's blunt speaking, when he could find the words, was truly an inspired touch.
Bottom line: This was a totally refreshing Regency that held me captive from the moment I turned the first page combining sweet sensuality and beautifully crafted characters. Highly recommended.
Marilyn Rondeau, for www.ck2skwipsandkritiques.com
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
- Books > Romance > Historical
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
