The Engagement Effect: An Ordinary Girl\A Perfect Proposal

by Betty Neels, Liz Fielding

AN ORDINARY GIRL (NEELS): When Professor James Forsyth meets Philomena Selby it's love at first sight. But Philly knows he has a fiancée, and she can't hope to match such a glamorous woman.

A PERFECT PROPOSAL (FIELDING): A novella-length romance by the talented Liz Fielding. Mark Hilliard's daughter Shuli is three years old and wants a mother. He's been raising her by himself since shortly after her birth. After due consideration, Mark and Shuli decide his efficient secretary Jane Carmichael will do nicely. But what does Jane think?

Genres: Romance, Harlequin, Contemporary Romance, Clean Romance, Mills and Boon

192 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Evelyn Jessy "Betty" Neels was born on September 15, 1910 in Devon to a family with firm roots in the civil service. She said she had a blissfully happy childhood and teenage years.(This stood her in good stead later for the tribulations to come with the Second World War). She was sent away to boarding school, and then went on to train as a nurse, gaining her SRN and SCM, that is, State Registered Nurse and State Certificate of Midwifery.

In 1939 she was called up to the Territorial Army Nursing Service, which later became the Queen Alexandra Reserves, and was sent to France with the Casualty Clearing Station. This comprised eight nursing sisters, including Betty, to 100 men! In other circumstances, she thought that might have been quite thrilling! When France was invaded in 1940, all the nursing sisters managed to escape in the charge of an army major, undertaking a lengthy and terrifying journey to Boulogne in an ambulance. They were incredibly fortunate to be put on the last hospital ship to be leaving the port of Boulogne. But Betty's war didn't end there, for she was posted to Scotland, and then on to Northern Ireland, where she met her Dutch husband. He was a seaman aboard a minesweeper, which was bombed. He survived and was sent to the south of Holland to guard the sluices. However, when they had to abandon their post, they were told to escape if they could, and along with a small number of other men, he marched into Belgium. They stole a ship and managed to get it across the Channel to Dover before being transferred to the Atlantic run on the convoys. Sadly he became ill, and that was when he was transferred to hospital in Northern Ireland, where he met Betty. They eventually married, and were blessed with a daughter. They were posted to London, but were bombed out. As with most of the population, they made the best of things.

When the war finally ended, she and her husband were repatriated to Holland. As his family had believed he had died when his ship went down, this was a very emotional homecoming. The small family lived in Holland for 13 years, and Betty resumed her nursing career there. When they decided to return to England, Betty continued her nursing and when she eventually retired she had reached the position of night superintendent.

Betty Neels began writing almost by accident. She had retired from nursing, but her inquiring mind had no intention of vegetating, and her new career was born when she heard a lady in her local library bemoaning the lack of good romance novels. There was little in Betty's background to suggest that she might eventually become a much-loved novelist.

Her first book, Sister Peters in Amsterdam, was published in 1969, and by dint of often writing four books a year, she eventually completed 134 books. She was always quite firm upon the point that the Dutch doctors who frequently appeared in her stories were *not* based upon her husband, but rather upon an amalgam of several of the doctors she met while nursing in Holland.

To her millions of fans around the world, Betty Neels epitomized romance. She was always amazed and touched that her books were so widely appreciated. She never sought plaudits and remained a very private person, but it made her very happy to know that she brought such pleasure to so many readers, while herself gaining a quiet joy from spinning her stories. It is perhaps a reflection of her upbringing in an earlier time that the men and women who peopled her stories have a kindliness and good manners, coupled to honesty and integrity, that is not always present in our modern world. Her myriad of fans found a warmth and a reassurance of a better world in her stories, along with characters who touched the heart, which is all and more than one could ask of a romance writer. She received a great deal of fan mail, and there was always a comment upon the fascinating places she visited in her stories. Quite often those of her fans fortunate enough to visit Ho

Reviews

[Kathleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

AN ORDINARY GIRL is another strong entry from the somewhat restricted imagination of Betty Neels. Here we have a change of pace. No crazy Dutch names this time! It's Doctor James Forsyth falling for Philly Selby, with his fiancée, the spoiled but sleek Sybil, making every spiteful effort to keep his $$$$$ to herself.

The heroine, who is NOT a nurse (the mind boggles): "PHILOMENA SELBY, the eldest of the Reverend Ambrose Selby’s five daughters, was hanging up sheets. It was a blustery March morning and since she was a small girl, nicely rounded but slight, she was having difficulty subduing their wild flapping."

It's insta-lov, when James meets Philly, stopping his Bentley to ask her for directions: "There are crossroads at the end of the village. Go right, and after a mile you’ll see a lane signposted to Netherby House. Can you remember that?’ she asked anxiously.

She looked at him then; he had a handsome, rather rugged face, close-cropped dark hair and blue eyes. They stared at each other for a moment, and she had the strange feeling that something had happened… ‘I shall remember,’ he told her, and smiled."

Their eyes meet again a month later, when a spring snowstorm smothers the country roads. James (and Sybil) seek refuge at the vicarage overnight, along with several other stranded motorists:

"With the prospect of the weather clearing, breakfast was a cheerful meal. The porridge was eaten with enthusiasm— although Sybil nibbled toast, declaring that she hadn’t slept a wink and had no appetite. But her complaining voice was lost in the hubbub of conversation, heard only by the doctor sitting next to her."

(James, now 6.5 feet, learned long ago to eat all his porridge.)


‘If the snowplough gets through we will be able to leave later today,’ he told Sybil, and then, hearing Philly saying in a worried voice that the hens would be snowed in, he volunteered to shovel a path to their shed."



We go from there. It's just lovely, and nothing new from Neels. Recommended for those who want a serene, predictable day in the English countryside.

Quibbles: I don't normally like romances with a third party, especially where the hero is already engaged, but in this case, we get to hear James's thoughts enough to compensate.

Ps. There are two stories in this book. A PERFECT PROPOSAL, by Liz Fielding, is on my to-read-someday list.

[Grrrrace · Rating 3 out of 5]

A two-fer that I bought for the Betty Neels novella, but I ended up enjoying Liz Fielding's slow-burn MoC story as well. The cover by Will Davies (I am pretty sure) doesn't really reflect any scenes in either book, since in both cases the heroes and heroines don't come together until the very end.

BN's An Ordinary Girl (2001) was one of Betty's very last books (it appears second to last on the list I have). She was 92 the year of its publication! Her prose was still as sharp and engaging as ever, characterized by the brisk pace and multi-POV of her later books. If you've ever thought you were too old to begin something new, just think of Betty, becoming a writer at age 60 or so and writing into her 90s, capturing readers' imaginations and hearts for decades afterward simply by writing the kind of stories she liked to write, without regard to publishing trends and societal changes.

AOG is a "hero engaged to OW" story, and a charming one it is, simple and straightforward and perfect for the shortened format of a novella. Heroine Philomena (Philly) Selby is a vicar's daughter, the oldest of 5 girls and the only one who didn't inherit her father's blond/blue-eyed good looks (to her father's delight, since Philly's the only one who takes after the wife he considers beautiful). She's an old fashioned country girl, happy with her peaceful but busy life in the wonderfully named village of Nether Ditchling in the Sussex Downs (see Ditchling for the real place).

The hero, Professor James Forsyth, is an Rich British Doctor--a pediatrician--engaged to the beautiful but typically shallow and selfish OW, Sybil. Having landing her rich fiance, Sybil is in no hurry to interrupt her partying lifestyle by getting married any time soon, but she is quite determined to hang onto her eminent, handsome, and very wealthy fiance, even if she's bored by him. James is a typical BN hero who has allowed himself to become entangled with a trophy-wife-to-be, to the dismay of his faithful family retainers. But when he and the heroine meet by chance when he and Sybil become lost and ask for directions, something profound seems to happen when their eyes meet--an instant and deep connection that each feels, as if they've known one another their entire lives and are happy in each other's company.

Fate continues to throw Philly and James together, first when he and Sybil are forced to shelter at the vicarage during a blizzard (where Sybil acts like a spoilt brat) and later when Philly accompanies a local mom with a sick child to the London hospital where James works. Neither of them can get the other out of their minds, to their mutual dismay, and while James at first tries to rekindle whatever feelings he had for his fiancee by taking precious time off work to take her out, he soon acknowledges that he and Sybil are ill matched and that her feelings were never engaged outside of landing her Big Fish, whereas he had made a mistake in "falling in love with a lovely face. [A mistake] which he would have to rectify if he could."

In contrast, Philly is perfect for him, loving the same quiet country pursuits that he does and showing a kindness and care for other people--especially children--that he shares. He soon finds himself making excuses to see her, taking his old Nanny (who is now the housekeeper for his country cottage retreat) to the village fete in Nether Ditchling, where they spend an old-fashioned and fun day with Philly and her family. Soon afterwards, Philly spends a few days in London, at the insistence of her family who have realized that she has been upset by the advent of the engaged hero in her life and that she needs opportunities to spend time with people her own age. She runs into Sybil at an art opening she attends with her friend, and James shows up just in time to hear Sybil making fun of her. He gives Philly a ride back to the house where she's staying, and before she goes in, she asks when he's getting married and impulsively tells him "You mustn't marry her--she'll make you very unhappy." She scampers off, appalled at what she said, but for once an RDD doesn't turn icy and remote at a heroine's "interference," because our good RBD has already come to that same realization.

Sybil's no fool, and after a few broken dates and attempts by the hero to have a "serious talk" with her, she knows that he's slipping away and resolves to do something about it. She's extra sweet and accommodating all of a sudden, while managing to avoid any opportunities for him to talk to her about breaking things off--but she knows drastic action is called for. She arranges for her cousin, as idle and selfish and amoral as she is, to arrange a meeting with Philly and her family by pretending interest in a house the vicar is showing on behalf of a local seller. Cousin Gregory, recovering from a skiing accident, is bored enough to do it, and begins to hang around Nether Ditchling. Philly doesn't like him and has little to do with him, but between them, Gregory and Sybil contrive to let James think that Gregory and Philly have fallen in love and plan to marry. James doesn't quite buy it, but when he asks Philly directly if she's planning to marry Gregory, she refuses to say anything and tells him to go away. He asks her mother instead, hee, and is told that Philly doesn't like Gregory at all, let alone plan to marry him. Our RBD knows now that he needs to move things along! (But first he goes back to the hospital: "Philly might be the love of his life, but his work was his life too." A true BN hero! Hee.)

But he chases down Sybil and her cousin in short order and leaves them in no doubt that he's aware of their scheming. "If you so much set foot in Nether Ditchling again, I'll break every bone in your body," says our big, not-to-be-trifled-with RBD to the faux OM. And Sybil doesn't get off lightly either: "What a despicable pair you are" he says, and let's Sybil know that their engagement is at an end. When she protests that she'll marry him whenever he wants, he tells her coldly that "I don't want" and walks away.

In typical RBD fashion, work demands prevent him from seeing Philly right away (nothing less than the direst of emergencies--like a runaway heroine--will ever keep our RBD/RDDs from their work! It is a fact of life in BN's universe that the heroines have to accept and live with--and they do, uncomplainingly.) But eventually he gets there, where he finds Philly arranging flowers in her father's church. "Philly, will you leave your flowers for a moment and come with me?" he asks, and she turns to him, alight with happiness, and leaves with him hand in hand. "We will talk later," said the professor, and took her in his arms and kissed her in a masterful fashion." Philly's more than happy to leave the talking until later and we have an abrupt but satisfying HEA.

I really liked this one--the shorter format kept the story tightly focused, and The Great Betty's usual skilled mix of dialogue, description, exposition, and action kept things moving briskly along. We still have the wonderful descriptions that are such a hallmark of her stories and the skillfully sketched and distinctive secondary characters that add so much color to her stories. Even at 92, Betty could hang with the best of 'em. All hail Betty!

Liz Fielding's A Perfect Proposal is the second novella in this two-fer and it's a nice companion piece to the BN novella. We have a classic MoC story from LF, with a smitten heroine, who is the hero's secretary, becoming his platonic wife and caretaker for his little daughter. Hero Mark is more beta than alpha, and he's been unable to move on from his wife's death and in a bind when his daughter keeps giving her nannies such a hard time that they invariably leave after a short time. The heroine--"good old Jane, who could always be relied on, no matter the crisis...the perfect secretary, hiding her love for her heartbreakingly handsome boss"--sees an opportunity to become an even more essential part of his life and perhaps allow proximity to do what time has not: get the hero interested in her. She goes about it in a roundabout way: drafting a personal ad for him, with the advice that he needs to meet women and find his daughter the mother she's clearly longing for. When he is completely unenthusiastic about the process, although he agrees with her, she proposes that perhaps SHE might be the perfect candidate for the position. And he very quickly agrees.

It's a sweet slow burn as these two find the attraction between them growing and Mark begins to open up to her about his so-called "perfect" first marriage and wife, which were not so perfect after all, and is able to let go the grief and trauma of his past. It doesn't take too long for him to realize he's in love with the heroine, and the arrival of her family and their help with his plans to make it clear to the heroine how he feels lead to a really sweet romantic reveal and HEA. This made for a nice duo with the BN story.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 ⭐️ “An Ordinary Girl” - the Betty half - was a sweet story with a loving family and a very slow professor engaged to a mean socialite. He finally figured plain Philly (Philomena) is the love of his life and now she will be Philly Forsyth. ❤️😂❤️

[Evelyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Both stories were a nice light reading. Although, Betty Neels did seem to abruptly finish her story.

[Aayesha · Rating 3 out of 5]

An Ordinary Gil by Betty Neels

This was a very sweet, slow read by BN. She never disappoints :") I gave it a lower rating than I normally would have because the characters in this book (namely, the heroine) didn't connect with me, and I just didn't feel the book like I normally do with BN.

The hero was amazing, the connection they felt was obvious right from the beginning. And we see a lot of the hero's POV, which is characteristic of the later BN books. We hardly saw any hero POVs in her earlier work (which I liked better, I don't like knowing the hero's POV and like being kept in suspense of his feelings - but writing the hero's POV also works very well with Betty.)

The heroine was our regular Mary Sue heroine by BN. I think the world should exchange the "Mary Sue" signifier to "Betty Neels heroine", because it is much better suited. I love me my Mary Sue (oh wait, Betty Neels) heroines :3
What I did have a problem with was that she didn't admit her love for the hero, all throughout the book - not even to herself. And I love BN books because the heroines are in love with the heroes. (Well, that is one of the reasons :P)

The OW was one of the most vicious I have ever seen. She went as far as to make her cousin pretend to be interested in the h and drag her along to keep the hero away from her! That has never been done before in a BN!

ALSO, I LOVED HOW HE BREAKS OFF HIS ENGAGEMENT WITH THE OW AT THE END! THAT HAS NEVER, EVER, EVER BEEN DONE BEFORE IN A BN! WHOOP WHOOP! GO HERO!!! IT WAS SUCH A KICK ASS MOMENT!

All in all, it was a slow, super sweet read, as is characteristic of BN :3

A Perfect Proposal by Liz Fielding
Currently reading

[Fiona Marsden · Rating 5 out of 5]

An Ordinary Girl-Not read yet.

A Perfect Proposal by Liz Fielding

This is a novella length story originally written in 2001 for this duet and reissued for the 100th Birthday Collection in it's own cover. It has a sticker "Exclusive to WHSmith"

This is the story of Mark Hilliard who lost his wife when their baby Shuli was a newborn. Not long after, Jane Carmichael came to be his perfect secretary. Shuli was in the office and Jane fell hard for both of them.

Now Shuli is three and she wants a mother. Jane has a plan and it is almost too easy for Mark to decide that marriage to his ordinary but efficient secretary is just what his daughter needs.

But of course it isn't as easy as that and Jane has to go through quite a bit of heartache while she hopes Mark will come to see her as more than a substitute nanny.

This is a very emotional read. Liz Fielding has a wonderful way of speaking to the heart even in a short story like this. I loved the story and the ending was deeply satisfying.

[Michael Murphy]

Never Assume

More worldly than most Betty Neels’ books.
Good character developments for both major and minor characters.
Interesting settings.
Costume descriptions of clothing most readers will never wear or even see...mores the pity

[Library_Dweller89 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was just reading this book for the Betty Neels story, it did not disappoint. It was so charming and felt very English countryside. I look forward to more of her romances.

[Marybelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although both stories are entertaining, An Ordinary Girl, by Betty Neels is by far the better of the two. The relationship between Philly and the Professor is a sweet, old fashioned love story. The other story, although okay has rather two dimensional characters. They are a little difficult to connect with; especially a three year old that acts more like a Tween.

[Cindy · Rating 3 out of 5]

4 stars for Betty, 2.5 for Liz

[Pamela Shropshire · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a perfectly charming little romance. Philomena Selby is the eldest of five daughters of a country vicar. She is very domestic, a little shy, and (mostly) content to remain at home, helping her mother with the household and parish duties. That is, until a good-looking man in a Bentley stops to ask her for directions. She promptly dumps her package of sausages and stewing steak in the lap of the gorgeous female with him. He and she exchange a long look and both know that something momentous has just happened.


He is Professor James Forsyth, an eminent paediatrician. The gorgeous female is our resident Veronica, named Sybil. Sybil is the source of all angst. Most of the book consists of James grasping every opportunity to see Philly and we see a lot of his POV. Simple and accelerated, because it's a novella, but quietly lovely.

[Hopefulpuffin · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 for the Neels
2 for the other