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Reviews

I really liked this historical romance story. I loved the drama of Emily having to find a husband against her will otherwise her father will marry her off to some distant relative, and Brandon having sworn off marriage more or less to spite his father, and the fact these two fall in love while not knowing who the other is, but helping each other solve the highwaymen mystery. I think my only complaints are that I found the whole side-story with Sophie and Colin was a bit boring and this all seems to have taken place within less than a week's time and seems a bit impossible, but that's fiction for you and it made it no less enjoyable for me.

i must say that unladylike pursuits is now my number one favorite book of all time.. a chic book for sure and the best read!! i found myself laughing out loud and felt like i was actually there with the characters, wanting to find out what was going to happen next, yet not wanting the book to end.. this book is so cleverly written you will find yourself thinking about the characters long after the book is over.. i am anxiously awaiting anymore books from alyssa goodnight, and let anyone who asks me if i have read anything worth reading lately, that this is now my number one book and simply worth the time and money to own and to read this book.. you simply will not be disappointed!!

If a book has an overwhelming amount of 5-stars, I usually dismiss the one or two negative reviews when buying it, but this time I should have paid more attention to them. I will not rehash the plot, and will only say about the characters that the heroine acted more like a compulsive thirteen-year-old with total lack of judgment than a woman of twenty-five. This was a poorly connected story; the detailed explanations of what people were thinking and feeling-in case the reader was incapable to make her own conclusions-and the slow and convoluted way this tale developed were all lengthy and repetitious. I decided to skip pages to move things along on my own, only to find out that, no matter where I stopped to read, I seemed to be in the same place I'd left off. I agree with one of the reviewers that some parts were witty and well-written, and I especially agree that Ms. Goodnight needs, without a doubt, a better editor. I hope Ms. Goodnight does not do what I did and pay attention only to the 5-star reviews; this is just the beginning of her career and we welcome new writers and fresh ideas. I'll be looking for new titles under her name, as many will, too. Simplify, don't underestimate the readers' intelligence, learn to string events in a cohesive manner, live your characters and give them depth and consistency. In the meantime, I'm rereading my Lisa Kleypas' and my Julia Quinn's.

I LOVED this book. It had all of the elements that I look for when I want a great book...romance, mystery, and adventure! Goodnight made the characters come alive through fantastic description and conversation. I particularly liked that this was not just a story about one heroine, but I learned about the friendship of two young women as well as their romances. The mystery was a great element! I was guessing up until the end. If you're looking for a read that combines mystery, romance, adventure, and great writing, I would recommend this in a heartbeat!!!

Very promising new writer. I hope to see more from. Very fun regency, with a sexy hero! A lot of promise. I enjoyed it. Found it worth my time and money.

Reviews

This is just what Fairyville was missing! If you read and liked Fairyville then this is a must!

Not paticularly keen on regular printed pages to read a story. Would rather hold a real book in my hands.

It almost felt juvenile. It didn't leave me feeling excited or anything either, cause I was too caught up into trying to understand exactly what they were doing. At least it was only 50 cents.

Bought this and Fairyville at the same time but I forgot about it and it just sat in my computer. Well...Fairyville itself held some big surprises for me and I wrote a review for it. Mainly - not my cupa tea. I repeat - not my cup o tea. If you like male/male, male/male/male/woman references then go for it. But if you're like me and you don't think it would be particularly titillating to see your husband "do" and "be done" by another man then I think you should skip this one.

When I finished Fairville I wanted this scene!!! Why was it not in the book? Im not sure it works as a stand alone...who am I kidding...Its HOT without the book. Just know this is a missing group M/M/M/F sex from Fairyville.

Reviews

I think this book started off cute enough, with the hero and heroine stuck in an unlikely place together and developing a mutual affection for each other simply because of what they went through together. It felt very real to me because it might happen even in today's world. But after they parted, things kind of went tepid, and still the book dragged on for another good more than half of it. In the end, I agree with one of the reviewers below that the big secret was kind of disappointing. Yet more disappointing was the character development of Lucius Marshall, which was none. He struck me as an impulsive, love-struck man with nothing better to do but run around shopping with his sisters and taking care of his grandpa -- not very masculine indeed. I much prefer the first part of the book when he was at least making use of his muscles for chopping woods etc. She's this gorgeous Italian, olive-skinned goddess with a good head on her shoulders, and a good singing voice. I couldn't help thinking that she could do better. I finished it in less than a day, and unlike with Slightly Dangerous, had no wish to go back to it again.

I purchased this as a 49 cent download. It was a waste of 49 cents. You get only the first 2 chapters, which can be summed up as "boy meets girls in a snowstorm, and rescues her." The "short story" ends abruptly with their arrival at an inn. I cannot see that it is indicated anywhere on the purchase page that this is an excerpt from a book. Don't buy!

Okay, I had not read a romance novel in quite awhile, and I picked up this book at my local library's used book section (a wonderful place where you can buy used paperbacks for 50 cents.) And maybe I was just in the mood for a good romance novel. But, I was totally charmed by this book--loved the characters, the setting, and the writing. I couldn't put it down and at its conclusion, I immediately read Ms. Balogh's Simply Magic (which I had also purchased). I am now going to read her other two books in the series, Simply Love and Simply Perfect. I've read romance novels for many years (although I will admit I go through periods where I can't read them and need to read more "serious" stuff.) But I've read enough romance authors to know who's really good and Mary Balogh is truly gifted. Her character development is really wonderful--she creates people that you really care about and are multi-faceted (not just a pretty face)and her writing is so much better than many other novelists in her genre. I just picked up a different author's book (whom I had read in the past and thought was OK) and I couldn't read it--the book was written so poorly and so childishly--really terrible. Or maybe the comparison to Ms. Balogh's writing was too much to bear. Anyway, this book was wonderful and I recommend it to anyone who wants to escape for an afternoon to another time and place with some really satisfying and well written characters and really lovely love story. If you haven't read her novels before, it will probably start you on a love affair with Mary Balogh.

The first in Mary Balogh's Simply Quartet, SIMPLY UNFORGETTABLE was unfortunately not so for me. I am a huge Mary Balogh fan, but this is my least favorite book of hers and I actually had to stop myself from skimming parts at the end (which is just unheard of for me). Meanwhile, I have continued on to the second book of the Quartet, Simply Love, and found that book highly enjoyable - I recommend just skipping to that one. The middle section of this book was actually quite enjoyable; it was in the beginning (read my comments below) and in the end (which is supposed to be the best part!) that things fell apart for me. The section that takes place in Bath is fun to read and the interactions between Frances and Lucius are enjoyable, but once things move forward after that ... the book lost me and by the end, I was so sick of the back and forth that like I said above, I had to stop myself from just skipping to the end and finishing it already. PROBLEM WITH THE PREMISE: This is a matter of personal preference, but I don't usually like the "one night of passion with a stranger" premises in historical romances. I don't read many contemporary romances, but I don't mind them in that genre. However, when you're dealing with a historical romance, it just doesn't really fit with the times unless the woman is "loose," which of course the heroine never is. When the author writes a heroine who is supposedly prim and proper (Frances is such a heroine), it's very hard to have that type of character engage in one night of passion with some mystery man and maintain a sense of continuity or cohesiveness with how she's supposed to be the rest of the time. SIMILAR BOOKS: If you like books where the hero and heroine have one night of passion as strangers and later fall in love, check out the following: ~ Slightly Wicked (Bedwyn Family, Book 2) by Mary Balogh ~ The Secret Pearl by Mary Balogh - a spin on the "one night of passion" ~ When We Meet Again (Effington Family, Book 10) by Victoria Alexander ~ Her Highness, My Wife (Effington Family, Book 5) by Victoria Alexander - premise isn't exactly the same, but similar enough ~ Let It Be Love (Effington Family, Book 11) by Victoria Alexander ~ It Happened One Night, anthology - I haven't read it, but I think it is similar BOTTOM LINE: Balogh is a wonderful author, but from this book you wouldn't perhaps know it. Skip it and read one of her other books: you can skip to SIMPLY LOVE, which is second in the Simply Quartet; read The Secret Pearl, a great stand-alone; or settle in to enjoy the wonderful Bedwyn series, starting with A Summer to Remember (Bedwyn prequel) and Slightly Married (Bedwyn Book 1).

Simply said...one of the best series and authors I have ever read. To the woman who reviewed this in 2005...if you knew anything about natural talent you would know it's just there. You don't need to practice everyday of your life. Since this is a piece of fiction as well, I'm sure Frances did practice once she started to perform in public, but we don't need to know that. We do need to know that Frances and Lucius end up happy. Again, Brava to Ms. Balogh for a great series of historical romances.

Reviews

This is Great!! The screen is nicer than my wife's Kindle when looked at side by side. It will fit in my pocket in cargo pants. Less than 200$ at newegg. No DRM'd books will work, but there are lots of classics and bittorrent and a program called 'dedrm'. [You BUY the book first, then dedrm it.] I have enough books for 800-1000 years of solid reading now. I find I read books it portrait mode mostly [sideways] and I can read books without my glasses. The reader seems fairly well built and it is easy to use. You can even store files on it and put your books in folders of your own! Anything can be nit-picked to death, but this is great for the money!

I have had a white version of the JB-5 model for about 6 months now. I recommend it. This is a good general purpose eReader and mp3 player. On the plus side: 1. It hasn't gotten dirty or broken (not even the little hingey thing that covers the SD card area) yet. And I am not exactly kind to my electronic equipment. 2. It feels good in my hand, and my hands don't get tired holding it. The buttons are easy to use to change font size or open a dictionary or locate a bookmrk. Turning the page is easy with either the right or left hand. 3. The resolution of the screen is great. I can use the smallest of settings and still read text. And blowing up the text to a huge size is easy too (and still legible). 4. There is no flash, when I turn pages - and it is fast to open the larger books and files, I have on my SD card. 5. It is ridiculously easy to rotate the screen from portrait to landscape. -- which turns out to be necessary for one of the pdf poetry books, I was reading (artwork was across two pages). 6. I have a Mac and I have absolutely no problem downloading onto this eReader. 7. Some of the emerging authors are selling their books a chapter at a time or are selling their eBook directly from their own site. And for the authors I am following, they publish in txt, pdf, or fb2 formats. So this is great (and cheap) for me. 8. Ectaco will help me find specific books in electronic format-- even when it seems that only a hardcopy is available. All I have to do is ask. On the cool side, but I haven't used the feature much: 1. The dictionary area is set up for something like 6 or 7 different languages (and their conversions from one language to another). And the CD comes with a bunch more. On the minus side: 1. It looks like the publishing industry is going through the same pains that the music industry went through with CDs and mp3 files. They can't figure out what method they want to standardize on - and they are afraid the whole world is going to share their best books for free, rather than paying for them. So this eReader doesn't read the proprietary formats that are out there.