EVER YOURS

Author: Gabriella Anderson ISBN:082177445X 8/2003 HISTORICAL Publisher: KENSINGTON/ZEBRA
Time Period: Victorian - 1854

Could A Letter Change Her Life? Ivy St. Clair doesn't think so, but she's certain that the missive from eccentric Lord Stanhope, who has named her as one of his heirs, will at least provide adventure. And adventure is the one thing sure to be missing from her life when she marries Neville Foxworthy as her family expects her to do. To inherit from Stanhope, she must deliver a portrait to reclusive Auburn Seaton, Earl of Tamberlake. No one has seen the man, badly injured in a carriage accident, for more than five years. But Seaton's scars are far less interesting than his melancholy, and Seaton himself--gentle, kind, and dangerously appealing--is everything her distasteful fiancé is not. Before long Ivy realizes that the unlikely friendship they find together has deepened into the kind of love she will risk name and fortune to claim... For more information about Gabriella and her other books: http://www.gabianderson.com/

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

Aaaah. Another Beauty and the Beast, you think? Perhaps.

Then again, perhaps not. *G*

A Victorian-era romance, Ever Yours is a book that pretty much covers the gambit. Besides being very well written, it features a physically scarred and emotionally wounded hero, a spunky but plain heroine whose personality and vitality jumps from the pages, witty banter, a villain (or two?), and in-the-flesh secondary characters. Throw in a mix of whodunit mystery to accompany the Beauty and the Beast romance, and what more could you possibly want?

Based in Wales before moving to London, Ms. Anderson's skillful depiction of the beauty and wildness of that land comes across as the perfect background for the story's beginning and the secluded home of the elusive "Monster Earl". And Ivy, the "Beauty"? She's rendered as a bit frank, opinionated, stubborn, and imperfect, but at the same time a vivacious and witty woman who looks for more than the physical in people - she shoots straight for the heart. Both Ivy and Auburn (love that name) are extremely likable and flawed characters who, through Ms. Anderson's adept portrayal, breathe life into what could easily have been just another take on an old fairy tale.

This is the 4th book by writer Gabriella Anderson. While I've never read her work before, I found Ms. Anderson's prose to be solid and rhythmic, and Ever Yours to be an overall entertaining and witty romance that I happily recommend.

Nancy Davis