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Never Laugh at Love

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NEVER LAUGH AT LOVE

Anthea Forthingdale had made the most costly mistake of her life.

Granted she needed money to ease her mother and three sisters out of their impoverished existence. And granted Anthea's cleaver caricatures of London high society had been a smashing success: even the Prince Regent chuckled at her witty anonymous parodies and a newspaper had offered her ten pounds outright for each drawing.

But to have submitted a caricature of her own alluring young Godmother with her illicit lover, the Duke of Axminster, for publication...Really, what had Anthea been thinking of? And now her Godmother's outraged husband was threatening his unfaithful wife with a messy divorce.

There was only one way out of this tempest Anthea had created with her silly scribblings. As the Duke proposed the solution , the poor young girl went cold with dread...

150 pages, Mass Market Paperback

Published October 1, 1976

15 people are currently reading
499 people want to read

About the author

Barbara Cartland

1,592 books834 followers
Born in 1901, Barbara Cartland started her writing career in journalism and completed her first book, Jigsaw, when she was just 24. An immediate success, it was the start of her journey to becoming the world’s most famous and most read romantic novelist of all time. Inspiring a whole generation of readers around the globe with her exciting tales of adventure, love and intrigue, she became synonymous with the Romance genre. And she still is to this day, having written over 644 romantic fiction books.
As well as romantic novels, she wrote historical biographies, 6 autobiographies, plays, music, poetry and several advice books on life, love, health and cookery – totalling an incredible 723 books in all, with over 1 billion in sales.
Awarded the DBE by Queen Elizabeth II in 1991 in honour of her literary, political and social contributions, she was President of the Hertfordshire branch of the Royal College of Midwives as well as a Dame of Grace of the Order of St John of Jerusalem and Deputy President of the St John Ambulance Brigade.
Always a passionate advocate of woman’s health and beauty, she was dubbed ‘the true Queen of Romance’ by Vogue magazine in her lifetime. Her legend continues today through her wonderfully vivid romantic tales, stories that help you escape from the day to day into the dramatic adventures of strong, beautiful women who battle, often against the odds, eventually to find that love conquers all.
Find out more about the incredible life and works of Dame Barbara Cartland at www.barbaracartland.com

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5 stars
82 (26%)
4 stars
94 (29%)
3 stars
94 (29%)
2 stars
37 (11%)
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8 (2%)
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
Profile Image for Gus.
605 reviews63 followers
April 9, 2021
--- Never Laugh at Love ---
Plot: Mengalir dengan instan tanpa drama yang diperpanjang.
Penokohan: Ok.

Karya Barbara Cartland pertama yang saya baca!
*Yay! Yoy! Yey! Yiy! Yuy!* //apaansih //supertakjelas XD.

Anyw.
Sebenarnya saya ragu mengambil judul BCarland karena jika membaca review dari--tentu saja--mayoritas orang barat, maka saya bisa menarik kesimpulan singkat jika karya BCartland mirip-mirip satu sama lain (kurasa plot rute yang mirip) dan endingnya kadang tidak terselesaikan secara menyeluruh, termasuk judul ini.



Tapi tetap saja.
Saya butuh sebuah buku.
Untuk memenuhi minimal pembelanjaan //penting >:D.
Iya. Karena itu. Buku ini sekarang ada di tangan saya! MWAHAHA-- /eh.

Inti dari segala inti... saya menikmati membaca buku ini.
Diantara BCartland yang dipajang di tempat saya beli, buku ini yang kovernya paling saya suka. Dan bahkan sesuai dengan adegan di dalam bukunya! //nilaiplus^^.
Plot utamanya sebenarnya agak umum, tetapi tokoh Anthea selaku tokoh utama perempuannya sangat menyenangkan dan membuat konflik klise itu terlupakan saat saya membacanya. Malah saat membayangkan adegannya, saya bisa ikut tertawa XD. Semanis itulah tokoh utama perempuannya. Hubungannya dengan saudara-saudaranya juga tidak kalah hangat <3.



Jika ada yang mesti dikeluhkan, mungkin memang bagian Countess Delphine yang seolah terlewatkan begitu saja. Tetapi mengingat novel ini bisa diibaratkan oneshot atau mini seri dua buku dalam dunia perkomikan, kadang-kadang ada hal yang harus ditambahkan sendiri dalam imajinasi.

.....Eh tunggu. Sepertinya bagian Anthea kabur juga lumayan rada-rada.

Tapi hey! Dramanya tidak berkepanjangan, jadi tidak masalah! XD
[8/10]
Profile Image for عُلا الفوارس.
Author 2 books328 followers
June 13, 2014
جميلة تلك الروايات الكلاسيكية التي تتحدث عن زمان لا يشبه زماننا ..عن نبلاء باخلاقهم وان اخطاؤوا
احببت الاجواء العامه وتضمينها وصفا لمعركه واترلو واحببت النهايه السعيده طبعا


^_^










Profile Image for Alexandria.
159 reviews2 followers
September 1, 2010
Usual Barbara Cartland story line. Girl meets guy, girl ends up saving guy from something at some point or other. Nice light read that requires no brain power. Enjoyable.
Profile Image for Rae.
2 reviews
September 11, 2011
This is my FAVORITE book that she's written, I love it!
Profile Image for MissKitty.
1,747 reviews
April 3, 2023
This was one of the good ones by Dame Cartland, because the story was quite interesting but as a romance I’m a bit conflicted on how to rate it because for more than half the book the Hero is actually the lover of the OW.

The heroine Anthea, lives with her widowed mother and sisters in the country. She’s happy with their lives and, although they are of the gentry class (as all of Barbara Cartland’s main characters are) they are quite poor.

Anthea’s mother is a bit absent minded and when someone mentions to her that her eldest daughter might want a season in London to find a husband, she latches on to the idea without any thought to the cost. She immediately writes to the heroine’s Godmother, whom they have not heard from in years and asks that she sponsor the heroine.

The Godmother, who is quite a few years younger than the mother, so she is still youthful (in her 30’s) immediately writes back welcoming Anthea to her home. Everyone is so excited and happy, although the heroine is worrying about the cost, thinking that the Godmother is the most generous of friends ever!

The Godmother’s husband, an Earl, wants to return to their country seat, but Godmother has a lover (H) and wants to stay in London. So the letter from her old friend is quite timely and gives her the perfect excuse to stay in town.

The heroine arrives in London and is warmly welcomed by the Godmother, who does not particularly take note of the heroine’s dowdy clothes and brings her along to a ball with the Hero. The heroine later finds out that the Hero is in fact the lover of her Godmother and although she is shocked, she is not a tattletale. Godmother doesn’t know this though and is a bit apprehensive so she showers the heroine with some nice gowns.

The heroine is hoping to find a husband whom she can care about but who is rich enough to be able to help out her family. She actually doesn’t really pay much mind to the lovers. Alas, despite her good looks she does not manage to catch a worthy husband. However before leaving London, she finds out that she has a talent for caricature and that she can sell some of the drawings of the high society she has been associating with, for a good price. So she does so anonymously. She is then able to take home a good amount of money for her mother and sisters.

Unbeknownst to Anthea, Godmother’s husband has seen one of the published caricatures and now suspects his wife has a lover. The only way she alleviates his suspicions and his threat to drag them both into a scandal, is to say that the Duke (H) has been visiting Althea and is engaged to marry her. Godmother convinces the Duke that it is a good plan since he eventually needs to marry and get some heirs anyway. The Duke (H) goes to find Anthea in the country and propose. Of course she refuses, so he needs to confide in her, and he tells her of the threat coming from the husband.

The heroine was actually fond of her Godmother and feels guilty that it was one of her caricatures that put her in hot water. So guilt makes her agree to the plan.

It is after the wedding that Anthea and the Duke are forced to spend time with each other that they find a lot in common and actually do enjoy each other’s company.

In the end they fall in love and the H simply says that now he has experienced the real thing, none of his other affairs even came close to how he feels about the heroine. The reader just has to assume by this statement that the Godmother falls into the category of all past affairs.

So yes while the overall story was good and engaging there was still something off putting about having your Godmother’s left overs. 😒
Profile Image for Elizabeth.
292 reviews2 followers
October 5, 2020
Unexpectedly touching and very romantic. The dropped storyline with the godmother is what keeps it from being better though.
Profile Image for Truly.
2,764 reviews13 followers
March 22, 2017
Demi masa lalu, saya selamatkan buku ini dari meja swap saat IRF kemarin.
Saya ingat zaman SMA dulu. Salah seorang sahabat mama dan sepupu jauh saya meminjamkan banyak buku Barbara Cartland plus aneka novel lainnya. Kata mereka biar bacaan saya beragam. Sudah besar kok masih baca buku anak seperti Trio Detektif dll. Ih apa yang salah dengan selera saya coba *ngak paham sampai sekarang* Demi menyenangkan mereka saya coba membaca beberapa.

Ada beberapa kisah yang membuat saya cekot2. Tapi ada juga yang bisa saya nikmati.
Seperti buku ini, lumayan bisa saya ikuti walau sempat gemas juga pada beberapa bagian. Mungkin disanalah kekuatan kisah ala BC, membuat pembacanya penasaran dan gemas. Emosi ikutan terbawa.

Saya jadi ingat pengetahuan dasar untuk membaca buku ini, pahamai strata bangsawan, minimal tahu ^_^.
Jadi anak pertama raja (laki-laki) disebut Prince, kedua disebut Duke, ketiga disebut Earl. Jangan tanya anak selanjutnya ya, saya juga tidak tahu. Anak Duke tertua panggil Marquis, selanjutnya menjadi Lord atau Lady. Earl merup[akan gelar yang paling tua sebelum ada Duke. Gelar tersebut setara dengan Count di Eropa, hingga istrinya selain dipanggil Lady juga bisa disebut Countess.

Eh soal kisah...., begitulah ^_^

Profile Image for Kimberly Karalius.
Author 7 books232 followers
March 11, 2021
Anthea ends up going to London to experience the all the parties and fun she’d been deprived of since her father died and she had to support her poetry-writing mother and three younger sisters (who are all delightful and totally responsible for the higher rating).

How does she get to London? Because her mom’s friend—Anthea’s godmother—needed a reason to stay behind in London to be with her lover, Duke Garth, while her husband returned to the country. What’s great about this book is the twist that Anthea draws caricatures—and her caricature of Garth and her godmother gets them all in trouble when Anthea sells it and her godmother’s husband finds out.

To avoid public humiliation and Godmother’s divorce, Garth pretends that he fell for Anthea at first sight and proposes to her. They end up getting married for real and the slow burn between them is actually pretty good. I enjoyed the use of “there was only one bed” trope at the end—even better that it’s a giant bed.
Profile Image for مريم.
135 reviews2 followers
January 2, 2023
نبذة:

تذهب أنيتا إلى لندن من أجل الزواج برجل ثري يُعيلها ويوفر لأخواتها حفلات تقديمهن للمجتمع الراقي من أجل أنقاذ عائلتها من الفقر المُحتم الا أنها بدل أن تتزوج ترتكب خطًأ يؤدي به�� إلى مُصيبة تقلب خططها في نهاية المطاف !

رأيي :

رواية ممتعة جداً، ألتهمتها بسرعة الضوء.
الأحداث رائعة وعادلة وشعرتُ بإنها مُكتملة حقاً.
شيء آخر رائحة الرواية زكية جداً أتمنى أن أفردها وأحشر فيه أنفي إلى الإبد.
تعرفتُ في هذا الكتاب عن بعض الفنانين الكاريكاتوريين ومنهم جايمس غيلاري وتوماس رولاندسن وجورج كريكشانك.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
42 reviews
September 1, 2019
Although I love this book and it engrossed me after reading so many similar Barbara Cartland books, the ending kind of felt incomplete to me. I mean, what happened to the Countess the Duke was seeing and was so enamoured by? And The Countess herself was so obsessed with the Duke and wanted to keep him all for himself. They don't mention her later when they should have ideally.
Profile Image for Carine Gomes.
29 reviews6 followers
August 11, 2021
As histórias de Barbara Cartland me acompanham desde a adolescência... Inocentes, repletas de descrições de fatos históricos, heroínas destemidas e belos e valorosos heróis... Uma leitura leve, perfeita para relaxar...
4 reviews
July 29, 2025
i liked the vibes they are so good and warm , calm and the end was wonderful and pleasant as all the other books in this seires
Profile Image for Karen-Leigh.
3,011 reviews25 followers
March 10, 2023
Anthea Forthingdale had made the most costly mistake of her life.

Granted she needed money to ease her mother and three sisters out of their impoverished existence. And granted Anthea's cleaver caricatures of London high society had been a smashing success: even the Prince Regent chuckled at her witty anonymous parodies and a newspaper had offered her ten pounds outright for each drawing.

But to have submitted a caricature of her own alluring young Godmother with her illicit lover, the Duke of Axminster, for publication...Really, what had Anthea been thinking of? And now her Godmother's outraged husband was threatening his unfaithful wife with a messy divorce.

There was only one way out of this tempest Anthea had created with her silly scribblings. As the Duke proposed the solution , the poor young girl went cold with dread...
1 review
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March 18, 2018
idk
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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