TILL NEXT WE MEET

Author: Karen Ranney ISBN: 006075737X 5/2005 HISTORICAL Publisher: HARPER COLLINS/Avon
Time Period: 1761

Catherine Dunnan is devastated when her beloved goes off to war -- and only his promise to write often can sustain her in her loneliness. And what letters they are, filled with heartfelt emotions that move her to respond in kind. But then the unthinkable occurs. He is cruelly lost to her, and his beautiful words of passion and devotion cease forever. When Moncrief agreed to write warm and loving missives in a fellow officer's name, he never expected he'd become so enamored of the incomparable lady who answered them, a woman he has never met. Returning to England to assume the unexpected title of duke, Moncrief is irresistibly drawn to the beauty who has unwittingly won his heart. More than anything, he yearns to ease Catherine's sadness with his tender kisses. But once she learns his secret, will his love be spurned?

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:1/2

The most near perfect romance book I've ever read was a book published several years ago. The emotional depth and involvement between the two lead characters in that story was literally breathtaking—I'd never read anything like it before, where there was so much connection between two people, so much development and understanding of their characters, that as a reader I really felt and understood what made them soul mates. That book was AFTER THE KISS by Karen Ranney, and while in my estimation she still hasn't surpassed that amazing work, the same feelings she conveyed to me then in her storytelling, she comes awfully close to repeating in TILL NEXT WE MEET.

I am simply mind boggled how Karen Ranney does it. She seems to have this "otherworldly" gift for delving deep into her characters' psyches and understanding what makes them tick. Every emotion they feel, every nuance of thought they express, whether conscious or subconsciously, every behavior they exhibit, is written like poetry in motion. In both ATK and TNWM, the lead characters are exposed as naked and vulnerable, yet become strong and spiritually connected as their relationship developes over time, enmeshing a reader's own emotions into the character's with some of the most fluid and beautifully written prose you will ever have the privilege of reading.

There are a few things, however, that kept TILL NEXT WE MEET from rising to the same high pedestal I've put AFTER THE KISS upon. In TILL NEXT WE MEET, Catherine becomes addicted to laudanum, a not uncommon occurrence for the times, yet her struggle with the withdrawal she surely must have faced and had to endure, Ranney seems to shy away from. I think that struggle would have served this story far much better than the weaker villainous plot, which in the end just seemed to fall rather flat.

Otherwise, the bottom line? For readers looking for emotionally charged and intelligent writing, unexcelled depth to and emotional connections between a romance's characters, and sensual prose that will literally take your breath away, none can compare with Karen Ranney. TILL NEXT WE MEET is just one more wonderful example.

Nancy Davis

P.S. Across one of my email lists I subscribe to, someone made issue with the use of the word "Till" in the title of TILL NEXT WE MEET. Not that Ranney or her editor need my defense in any way, but just for those who might be wondering if that was an error, from dictionary.com the following:

... Till is actually the older word, with until having been formed by the addition to it of the prefix un-, meaning “up to.” In the 18th century the spelling 'till became fashionable, as if till were a shortened form of until. Although 'till is now nonstandard, 'til is sometimes used in this way and is considered acceptable, though it is etymologically incorrect.

You can still learn something new every day. *G*