Title: And Then He Kissed Her
Author: Laura Lee Guhrke
Publishing Date: March 2007
Genre: Historical
Rating: B-
Sensuality: Warm
Emma Dove, a practical, no-nonsense spinster, has been working for Harry Lord Marlow for five years as his secretary. She has always dreamed of writing etiquette books and feels that Harry is her best chance for publishing them. Harry, on the other hand, has been politely refusing to give them a chance because etiquette books won’t interest readers. With a bit of dumb luck, Emma finds out that he hasn’t even read her manuscript. She then decides she has had it with Harry and quits her job, leaving Harry to wonder how he will manage without his very capable secretary.
Emma is an awesome heroine. She is the historical equivalent to the modern day Martha Stewart (without the jail sentence, of course). She is intelligent, creative, and organized; there is no task she cannot complete. I was on Emma’s side right from the beginning. Henry is pretty much a horse’s ass. He’s arrogant, selfish and downright thoughtless towards others and, because of this, I thought Emma was too good for him. (He did win a few points from me for taking such good care of the women in his family).
I will say that Guhrke has a very pleasant, easy-going writing style that kept me turning the pages despite my dislike of Harry. It takes, pretty much, the whole story for Emma and Harry to fall in love. That is a nice change of pace from romance novels where the couple jumps into bed after they first meet. The ending was very sweet and had me sighing, “Awwwww”. In a side note; I will never look at peaches and honey the same way again.
11 comments:
I really didn't like Harry at first, either, but I think once he realized how awful he'd been, he really worked to change. That grabbed me. Emma was great, wasn't she? I loved that she didn't fancy herself in love wit him in the beginning, either. It was refreshing to see something different than the "I long for him" thing.
Harry grew on me, when he decided to look for Emma and started getting attracted to her. I like Guhrke books, I think they're refreshing, quite different from most historical romances... except for her latest one.
I have this one on my TBR pile! This author is new to me, Gotta give it a go.....
This is the second Ghurke book that I have read. The first one was Guilty Pleasures. I had the same problem with that book as well. I thought the heroine was too good for the hero. I do really like Ghurke's writing style though. Its just that she makes her heroines so great, the hero ends up looking like a jerk. That is just my humble opinion :)
Nath, what is her latest one? What is different about it?
Jill, her latest one is The Wicked Ways of a Duke.
I've gotten as far as chapter 7 of And Then He Kissed Her. I'm reading it a little at a time. So far I'm really loving Emma. Harry-is another story.
hey there Jill :) If you think that her heroes don't compare up, wait till you read The Marriage Bed ;) Although I enjoyed that one.
Brie has already answered your question. The Wicked Ways of a Duke wasn't bad, but it was a bit too common. It sounded like a bit more mainstream than most of her historicals and so I was a bit disappointed. I reviewed it on my blog back in January :)
Oh, I thought that half the fun was bringing Harry up to snuff. Wouldn't it be hard to have both characters amazingly perfect?
Heloise, You bring up a good point. I usually like my characters flawed in some way, perfect is boring. I guess Harry and I just didn't connect :)
I just finished reading this one and I loved it, left a hude smile on my face at the end. Love the style, it was light and easy-going as you said.
Have to agree with what you say about Harry too, not the most riveting of heroes, is he?
Ana,
Harry, just didn't do it for me. But I loved Emma. Oh well, different strokes for different folks! I am glad you liked the story. I'll be watching for your review.
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