With numerous variations on the Pygmalion storyline in existence, it would be easy to pass over this little gem of a book while thinking, “Been there, done that.” We’ve all read stories where a lady (or gentleman) who is rough around the edges is transformed into a refined specimen worthy of polite society. While Nearly…
Sometimes, as a reader, I must admit defeat: An author just isn’t for me. I don’t consider her characters appealing or her jokes funny, and what I ought to do, is just stop reading her books. Unfortunately, when I am reviewing a book, I can’t just DNF and leave it at that, however much I…
When it comes to authors Missing In Action, I really miss Jan Freed. She wrote some of the best Harlequin Superromance titles ever including this Pygmalion inspired little gem – My Fair Gentleman. It’s one of my all-time favorite comfort reads and one of the books I simply must have on the desert island. If…
Sadly, my friends, reality television has now entered into the world of books and Ms. Kelly is an author at the forefront of this new breed of stories. But, frankly, it is not nearly as fun reading about a fictional character humiliating herself as it is to see a real human being do so in…
I’m always up for a fairy tale, but this one leaves a lot to be desired. With a plot that never quite made sense and characters who do a lot of “telling”, there’s nothing here that comes even remotely to life. It’s not terrible, mind you, just…well, lackluster. When Nicolas Argyle, fifth viscount of Newbern,…
My sister highly recommended Female Intelligence, and so I read it. The payoff was only so-so, however. This was an amusing book with an interesting (and familiar) premise and good humor, but, unfortunately, it also had a slow start, rather poor characterization and a plot that did not engage. Lynn Wyman has made a career…
Goshdurnit, I c’n shure appreciate a well-written dialect as much as th’ next gal. But I ain’t got no stomach fer readin’ an entire book with a heroine who ain’t got no book learnin’ an’ speaks accordin’ly. And the heroine of McAllister’s Crossing doesn’t know any high fallutin’ words like “accordingly.” Poor Callie Burgess has…
The Pygmalion myth gave George Bernard Shaw the idea for his play Pygmalion which was turned into the wonderful musical My Fair Lady. Judith Ivory takes this story and gives it a twist, (and a lot more romance than grumpy old GBS did). Edwina Bollash, linguistics expert and tutor of gauche young ladies in the…
Most people are familiar with the Pygmalion myth in which a sculptor creates the perfect woman who then comes to life. In Heaven’s Rogue, Colleen Shannon’s heroine doesn’t create her perfect man, she literally stumbles upon him during a hiking trip in Italy. At the bottom of a Roman cistern, Dr. Honoria Fitzhugh discovers a…
In Fairest of Them All, Josette Browning has written an updated nineteenth century potboiler, reminiscent of Edgar Rice Boroughs’ Tarzan of the Apes with a Pygmalion twist. This highly unusual romance novel imitates a Victorian popular novel including its sensibilities about sex and social rank. The result makes for a sometimes disturbing read. The book…
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