Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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37 of 38 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A great romance - four great romances!, 5 Aug 2002
Stephanie Laurens has done it again. Or, as she in fact wrote it earlier in her career (this was the second book Laurens ever wrote), she has set the precedent for her future work. A well written, fast paced Regency Romance - in fact four for the price of one.Max Rotherbridge inherited more than a dukedom on the death of his father eighteen months previous to the opening of the book - unknown to him he also inherited 4 wards. An established rake, he is initially dismayed to learn of his responsibilities, but dismay quickly turns into something else when he is presented with the eldest of the four sisters, Caroline Twinning. It appears that Twinnings have something of a thing for rakes, as the four gorgeous sisters cut a swath through the ton and have the men at their feet. They may seem young, with the exception of 26 year old Caroline, but their eighteen months in America have given them a great deal of polish, and the freedom to discover what it is they really want in life. This is a truly delightful tale and for me the principle enjoyment is the relationship between the females in the story. Set in a time when women rarely triumphed, here Caroline and her sisters Sarah, Arabella & Lizzy, their chaperone (Max's aunt) and the friends they make in London are able to set their goals, pursue and obtain them - even if it takes a little scheming and risk to get what they want. Each is a true character in their own right, and yet takes comfort in the relationship with their sisters (in the modern sense). Their story is told with a great deal of humour and style. There has to be some sacrifice in squeezing four stories into one volume. This is firstly that Caroline and Max's is the main romance - the other three are something more than subplots and yet slightly less than a fully developed story in their own right. And finally, of course, is the improbability that all four romances should resolve themselves at the same time. To some extent this is satisfactorily dealt with by making the suitors either friends or relatives of Max. Each romance develops with a different plan of attack, and the charming thing is that although more confident than the typical deb, none of the four women are sure they will be able to hold out for marriage, as they themselves fall in love. If you enjoy romance and the Regency genre, you will enjoy this well written example. Regular readers of Laurens will not be disappointed - I certainly wasn't.
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29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Four-in-Hand. One of her funniest and best books, 3 Jul 2002
By A Customer
This was originally printed as a Mills and Boons book. It was very funny and kept up the fun all through the book. It was a laugh from start to finish. Four original sisters trap four Regency Rakes. All are used to women falling for them but do not like hearing the word marriage. It is a book you can enjoy a second or third time as you pick up the dialogue you may have missed the first time as you were laughong so much you hurried on to find the endings of each affair. After buying this book I made sure I had all her other ones. maureen
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13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Pre-Cynster Laurens: much better writing, but flawed, 21 April 2004
Stephanie Laurens is a talented writer and also reasonably knowledgeableabout her period, but in recent years she's been wasting that talentwriting 'historical romances' which are little more than Black Lace booksin disguise. This book, however, is one of her earlier romances, writtenat a time when she was still trying to stay true to the Regencyperiod.
This is somewhat reminiscent of Georgette Heyer's Regency Buck, in that wehave an arrogant, rakish lord who discovers that, along with the title hehas recently inherited (in this case, Duke of Twyford), he has alsoinherited some wards. Here, his wards are four beautiful sisters, allunmarried, all wealthy and all, he knows, who will be the targets of everyrake in town. He himself is hugely attracted to the eldest Miss Twinning,Caroline, and finds himself plotting to make her his mistress. Were shereally his ward, it would be contrary to any sense of honour - even hishonour - to seduce her, but under the terms of her parents' will, she isof age and so not his ward. Yet he pretends to her that she is, so thathe'll be free to be with her without any suspicion.
There are four romances in this book but, as some other reviewers havenoted, none of them is really satisfying. In an attempt to fit them allin, Laurens rushes through crucial developments - such as her heroesactually realising that they are in love with the women they're pursuing.Even Max - Twyford - whose story is the main one appears to fall in lovewithout the readers ever realising how this momentous event happens. Oneminute he is pursuing Caroline in order to make her his mistress; the next(and this is quite early in the book) we see him musing that seducing heris no longer his primary aim. Why not? What made him fall in love? Wedon't know, because Laurens doesn't show us. Similarly with Lord Darcy,the suitor of Sarah Twinning: Sarah rejects his attempts at seduction, andhe gives up, retiring to his Irish estate in order to show her that he'slost interest. And yet he comes back and pursues her again. Why? With whatobject?
This book does show signs of the pattern Laurens fell into with herCynster books: her heroes all seem to fall in love too quickly, withoutany showing on Laurens' part of why and how this happens. Given the rushednature of the individual love stories, which does leave readersunsatisfied, she would have been better advised to have made it afour-book series, culminating in Max and Caroline's story. Nevertheless,it's an entertaining read, and definitely far, far better than themajority of her later work.
wmr-uk
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