Many of the other readers have written good, detailed reviews, and I just wanted to throw in another voice lamenting a book that got off to a fine start and then fell flat. I kept waiting and waiting for the point in the book where, even for a moment, Phoebe would understand that eccentricity must be constrained at times. she never does, and I'll admit that by the last page I rather loathed her. As I never disliked Sylvester, and ultimately his bad conduct gets excused as a result of the armor he wears to avoid getting hurt since his brothers death, I find Phoebe even more reprehensible.

I've seen this compared to Pride and Prejudice. Anyone who does so favorably has completely missed the point of Austen's book, in my opinion - for Lizzie is just as proud and just as prejudiced as Darcy is. Phoebe acknowledges from fairly early on that she is prejudiced against Sylvester and yet she never reflects on this or is called out on it in a way that makes any difference in her behavior. As the book progressed the number of scenes in which I wanted to slap her grew.

I'm shocked by how many fellow readers liked this book. Especially as I just read The Quiet Gentleman, which has worse reviews, and which I positively loved. I'm at least reassured that a minority of reviewers felt as I did on this book - I guess we each look for something a bit different in our romance novels. For myself, this one is decidedly being added to the "not keeping cause I don't ever want to read again" pile.