STORY: At the behest of three of the most talented historical romance authors writing today, you are cordially invited to a ball. No, a party. No . . . a kidnapping.
Taran Ferguson, laird of his clan, is determined that his ancient (if not so honorable) birthright be secured before he dies. When both his nephews refuse to wed, the old reprobate takes matters into his own hands: he raids a ball and makes off with four likely brides . . .
Miss Marilla Chisholm—the bonniest lass in Scotland, and an heiress to boot.
Miss Fiona Chisholm—her older sister, another fine choice (but for that tiny stain on her reputation).
Lady Cecily Tarleton—true, she’s an English beauty, but very, very rich.
Miss Catriona Burns—without name or fortune, clearly someone made a mistake.
Oh, yes. And one very irate duke.
Because somewhere there must be one lady most willing to love a Scottish lord.
REVIEW: This collaborative story is the second one for these three bestselling authors and as of now it’s been for 2 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list.
If you’ve not read the previous collaborative work from these women, then you might not realize that this is one continuing story through the book, woven by all three authors. This kind of collaboration doesn’t happen often because all three stories must align seamlessly in order for the book, as a whole, to be fully enjoyed.
I am sorry to say that I found that in this case they didn’t. If I can tell which parts were written by Julia and Eloisa, being more familiar with their work, then the collaboration wasn’t a full success, in my opinion. The story in itself, as predictable as I found it, wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t as good as I expected, especially coming from the authors I have such great respect and love for.
All three stories left me in want of something more, something a bit deeper, a bit meaningful and less predictable. The writing was good, plot so-so and pace varied from author to author, which in the end wasn’t a bad thing. Maybe that’s why in the end of it, I was left conflicted about which parts I liked and which left me cold.
My conclusion was, despite good and familiar writing of the two authors I greatly admire, I enjoyed it less because all three stories felt rushed thus the book felt incomplete even though everyone reached their happy ending. Don’t misunderstand me. I liked it, I just didn’t love it.
Book provided by Avon through Edelweiss.
bookworm2bookworm's Blog 
I have been waiting for a long time t read this novel and am hoping that I find it as good has the hype has been. When I first heard about it, I thought it was written only by Julia Quinn. I admit that I was a bit disappointed to find that it was another
“shared” novel. Some of these are good while some aren’t. I like the way Julia Quinn writes and I’m hoping to find a lot of her signature humor in it. Crossing my fingers that I get the book soon and will be satisfied with it.
Con!
I would love it if you read it and then came back and shared your thoughts with us ;D
All reviews are subjective and I can only try and do my best in relaying my honest thoughts about what I read. At times, my feelings are not gonna mesh with other reviewers, and that’s perfectly all right. It’s the diversity of opinion that in the end helps us decide whether to buy a product, rent it or just not bother with it. Right?
Always glad to see you here 😉
I, too, could tell which author wrote which part. JQ has back way, way far away from including love making scenes as part of her story. She’s a great author, but since my favorite of her books was her steamiest, and I personally prefer steamy, it was easy to pick out her portion. I did, however, love the book! Predictable? Yes. Left me wanting more? Yes! However, since these are three of my favorite authors, and I went in with the understanding that it would be basically three back-to-back novellas with a shared storyline, I was very pleased with the whole of it. They also write these books very quickly since they have to get together to write and usually do so around a conference. (I follow all three on facebook and crack up at their posts about who’s writing and who’s slacking… on facebook! ha!) If they decide to do this again, I think it would be interesting to see if they could do it with slightly longer stories. I’m imagining their publisher and/or editors limit page numbers, but with these three brilliant ladies writing, limiting the pages on this kind of book is rather like torture to the reader. But I still loved the Seven Brides for Seven Brothers-type storyline and cracked up about who ended up with whom at the conclusion. (And they did a great job making the one sister completely irritating to the point I wanted to slap her myself! ha!) I gave it four out of five stars personally. I would recommend it most definitely!
Hey Candice!
Glad you liked this book. I completely understand your point! It took me a few times to come up with this review. I just love JQ to pieces! Have all her books IN PRINT! I honestly believe that if any of the three authors wrote this story in its entirety, it would have been better tenfold and I would have no real issue with it.
I read another collaboration awhile back from Susan Donovan & Celeste Bradley called “A Courtesan’s Guide to Getting Your Man” [which coincidentally is reissued under a new title and in eVersion as “UNBOUND”. Now I think that was seamless. Couldn’t tell which one was which. Have you read it?
Hold the phone…how have I totally glossed over the fact that it is one continuous story? I wonder how they managed that. What a challenge.
I think if you really like an author you can start to pick out their voice, and sounds like you certainly were able to Mel.
Lex!
You’re right on the money! But in my opinion, the trick is NOT to be able to tell where one author ends and another begins. That was achieved with Susan Donovan & Celeste Bradley in “UNBOUND” [ebook which is like $10 bucks!!!] or a copy under the original title “A Courtesan’s Guide to Getting Your Man”. I swear to you I couldn’t tell the voice apart!
Have I said thanks for always stopping by?! NO?! Shame on me!
THANK YOU BUNCHES!
I actually have read books by all 3 of the authors & like all 3 of them. I got this book, but haven’t read it yet. Sorry you were disappointed in it, but I will probably still like it. I don’t have to write any reviews (LOL!), so I don’t have to critique the styles. I would be mostly oblivious, probably! Thanks for the review!
Sharlene,
I love reading anything by JQ. Rarely do I find anything to critique about it. They are always so good and I read a few of EJ’s books as well, but awhile ago. I have a few of CB’s books on my TBR list [but they’re a part of the series and not in order so I’m waiting to have them all], and I did give the book 4 * [after all, I did like it] but I just wqsn’t loving it…you know, like when you read a book and in the middle of it you’re just bursting to call your best friend and tell her all about it…and like once you see that you’re close to the end, you’re starting to read it slower, so that the book can go on & on & on….like that ;D
Would you mind stopping by after you read it? Tell me what you think ;D
Thanks for stopping by and sharing your thoughts with us ;D
HUGS!
Mel
That seems to be the way of it with novellas. Some are good and some feel rushed. All three of these authors write wonderful stories and I’d give this one a try. 🙂