A Lady Never Tells (Willowmere)

I liked that it arrived on time. It is a book so obviously I use it to read and entertain myself.

I found this historical romance novel to be interesting I enjoyed all five of Royce’s marriage proposals. Royce couldn’t keep his hands off Mary although he was the perfect gentleman. I also enjoyed the mystery.

Candace Camp is a consistently good romance writer, and I do not think I have ever read a "bad" book by her. That said, this book is not very good. It is primarily worth reading because it's Candace Camp and it's the first book of her new series. It is about four American sisters - the Bascombes - who arrive in London in search of their grandfather, an English earl. Their late mother had eloped against his objections over 25 years ago, and there has been no contact since the - the earl did not even know his daughter moved to America or had any children.Unfortunately, the earl has passed away but his heir, the girls' straight-laced cousin Oliver, agrees to take them in. The sisters are a bit wild and outspoken and need of some refining before they are introduced into society. Oliver enlists the aid of his cousin Charlotte and his stepbrother Sir Royce Winslow to help turn them into proper English ladies. From the start, Royce and the eldest sister Mary have a sort of animal attraction to each other that is difficult for them to control. Alas, nothing can come of it because Royce is dead set against marriage...or is he?Although Ms. Camp's writing style is good, the chemistry between the leads is weak and Mary's behavior is often irritating. There is not much going on between Royce and Mary other than physical attraction. Royce is fine as the hero (brave, thoughtful and wealthy), but Mary grates as the heroine. She is stubborn and unreasonable and is reckless in the face of danger. It is hard to understand what Royce sees in her. At times I had to push myself through the story, because Mary's annoying behavior made me want to just give up. I was particularly bothered by how purposely obtuse she was about the threat facing the Bascombe sisters - she consistently ignored obvious warnings and clues. Finally, the sisters were entirely too modern in their attitude, outlook and behavior, as well as over-the-top wild in their behavior. They were like caricatures of "ugly Americans".A weak three stars, and then only because of the writing quality...certainly not the content!

I read Candace Camp years ago and slowly switched out of Historicals to Romantic Suspense. I am beginning to lose interest in Vampire stuff and if I read one more book about hot FBI agents I am not sure what I would be capable of doing. I decided to just see what Candace Camp has been up to in the last few years. I was almost afraid that the American girls were going to be "Annie Get Your Guns" wannabes, however, it was a delightful story. One that I thought if British society acted in any way like described in this book and a billion others, I am afraid I would have to agree with the Sisters.I re-discovered an old friend today as I lay out on my back deck on the first warm day of the year, thank you Candace and I am anxiously awaiting the next book.

I great story with detailed character development, fantastic dialog, mystery, and adventure as well. I especially enjoyed the moments of psychological dialog that are dispersed through this book. It's A great read. Love this author.

I recently discovered Candace Camp and I have been reading her books faithfully. This one did not quite measure up to the others that I have read. First of all the story takes place in 1824. The sisters brought their birth certificates from Pennsylvania to England. I don't think so! The earliest some counties in Pennsylvania issued them were 1852-1854. The State of Pennsylvania first registered them January 1906.I do not care for brash characters and I thought Mary was brash, she was also silly at times and I really wanted to slap her. There was little chemistry between Mary and Royce. Lust was all there was. I did enjoy the story line very much.I absolutely loved "Pirate" the dog. I hope he was included in the other books in this series.

Well...I've read most of her books. However, this is not a favorite as a romance.It's readable in the manner of those overall stories involving lots of characters with an OK plot which has no surprises. One easily figures out the plot right away except for small details here and there. This 'romance' has no magic!!Mostly, it's about the interactions of the many characters and it does have wonderful descriptions of the period.Unfortunately for me, Mary and Royce don't set my world on fire.They are rather dull and totally lack romantic tension/passion. They don't really inspire. They do have fairly good sex and some scenes together, but there is a feeling that they spend quite a bit of time apart, as well (down time in the story).Something was definitely lacking as I spent the entire book wishing that the story would be about the Earl of Stewkesbury (Oliver) and Lady Vivian!!!

This book was very good. The storyline was original and the characters were endearing. Some of the situations the girls were in just made you laugh. I will say that I have read Candace Camp for years. I like both her historical books and modern day ones. Anyone who likes just the right amount mystery and humor will love not only this book, but any of her work.

book in good condition, enjoyed reading

kept reading, curious what will happen next

I've really enjoyed some of Camp's previous books and I often think that in this genre books work best where they are in a series with some continuing characters, so I was looking forward to getting my teeth into the Willowmere series.This is the first book in said series and although I didn't actively dislike it, I did find it a bit mediocre. A lot of plot elements seemed very reused and I always find the 'American girls coming over to England and catching eligible aristocratic batchelor' a bit too Mary-Sue-ish.I didn't find it easy to like the heroine in this book all that much and it was difficult to see quite why the hero (who was likeable) would fall in love with her. Mary (or Marigold!) brings her sister to England to find their English family after their mother dies and they want to escape a somewhat unpleasant stepfather, but after this they all, but Mary in particular, do some pretty silly things. OK, they may not be up on British aristocratic ettiquette, but they seem to loose all common sense sometimes! Mary deliberately decides to conceal some important information and they go off on a jaunt whenever they feel like it, despite being attacked and suffering attempted abductions, and they seem to think it is unreasonable that the gentlemen taking responsibility for them want to try and stop them exposing themselves to danger!Hopefully the next two books will be better.

Good story,enjoyed

it was good