Helpful Score: 1
I have been in a Cartland mood lately and just want to read some quick, sweet romances. Sometimes all her rhetoric about "divine, magic love" gets to be a little tedious but I still enjoy the stories.
This was a rather interesting tale because the heroine's father was an Ornithologist and we were introduced to a lot of bird lore. Mina (our heroine) was a very petite woman who could pass for younger than her eighteen years. Her close school friend, Christine, is in a fix. Her stepmother plans to have her current lover, the Marquis of Ventnor, host the sixteen year old Christine at his country home for a year as a companion to his grandmother and also teach her some town polish. The ultimate goal is for him to marry her step-daughter. (We do find out later that he did not agree to this - and the arrangements cannot be undone by the time "Christine" is sent to him.) Christine sends Mina in her place, while she herself travels to Italy to her Uncle's home to marry her true love, Harry, the younger son of Lord Hawkstone.
Since Mina has just lost her father and as an orphan has few options left, she reluctantly travels to Vent Royal to stay with the Marquis. Once there, Mina charms all on the country estate including Tian, the Marquis. She has a mystical quality with animals and tames the many birds and other animals on the estate. She calms one of the feistier horses and enjoys spirited horse rides with the Marquis. The Marchioness (grandmother) turns out to be a lovely woman. She raises doves, which of course enchants Mina with her love of birds. The birds gather around her and land on her shoulders and hands (hence the cover picture actually matches one of the scenes!).
It was nice that you got to glimpse the Marquis' psyche and come to understand him somewhat. Also, Tian seemed to realize he had fallen in love long before Mina and I liked that aspect. But Mina's previous arrangements with Christine force the visit to end and endanger their fledgling love. Of course, we know the situation will resolve itself and a happy ending inevitable! But I enjoyed this pleasant tale, which had other interesting scenes with animals, angry ex-mistresses and discussions about birds.
This was a rather interesting tale because the heroine's father was an Ornithologist and we were introduced to a lot of bird lore. Mina (our heroine) was a very petite woman who could pass for younger than her eighteen years. Her close school friend, Christine, is in a fix. Her stepmother plans to have her current lover, the Marquis of Ventnor, host the sixteen year old Christine at his country home for a year as a companion to his grandmother and also teach her some town polish. The ultimate goal is for him to marry her step-daughter. (We do find out later that he did not agree to this - and the arrangements cannot be undone by the time "Christine" is sent to him.) Christine sends Mina in her place, while she herself travels to Italy to her Uncle's home to marry her true love, Harry, the younger son of Lord Hawkstone.
Since Mina has just lost her father and as an orphan has few options left, she reluctantly travels to Vent Royal to stay with the Marquis. Once there, Mina charms all on the country estate including Tian, the Marquis. She has a mystical quality with animals and tames the many birds and other animals on the estate. She calms one of the feistier horses and enjoys spirited horse rides with the Marquis. The Marchioness (grandmother) turns out to be a lovely woman. She raises doves, which of course enchants Mina with her love of birds. The birds gather around her and land on her shoulders and hands (hence the cover picture actually matches one of the scenes!).
It was nice that you got to glimpse the Marquis' psyche and come to understand him somewhat. Also, Tian seemed to realize he had fallen in love long before Mina and I liked that aspect. But Mina's previous arrangements with Christine force the visit to end and endanger their fledgling love. Of course, we know the situation will resolve itself and a happy ending inevitable! But I enjoyed this pleasant tale, which had other interesting scenes with animals, angry ex-mistresses and discussions about birds.
