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The Calhoun Chronicles #1-3
The Calhoun Chronicles Bundle
Award-winning "New York Times" bestseller and consummate storyteller Susan Wiggs brings you three enthralling historical romances about unconventional women and the men who learn to love them. Included in this bundle are "The Charm School, The Horsemaster's Daughter" and "Halfway to Heaven,"
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First published August 1, 2007
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About the author
Susan Wiggs
170 books7,463 followersSusan Wiggs's life is all about family, friends...and fiction. She lives at the water's edge on an island in Puget Sound, and she commutes to her writers' group in a 17-foot motorboat. She serves as author liaison for Field's End, a literary community on Bainbridge Island, Washington, bringing inspiration and instruction from the world's top authors to her seaside community. (See www.fieldsend.org) She's been featured in the national media, including NPR's "Talk of the Nation," and is a popular speaker locally and nationally.
According to Publishers Weekly, Wiggs writes with "refreshingly honest emotion," and the Salem Statesman Journal adds that she is "one of our best observers of stories of the heart [who] knows how to capture emotion on virtually every page of every book." Booklist characterizes her books as "real and true and unforgettable." She is the recipient of three RITA (sm) awards and four starred reviews from Publishers Weekly for her books. The Winter Lodge and Passing Through Paradise have appeared on PW’s annual "Best Of" lists. Several of her books have been listed as top Booksense picks and optioned as feature films. Her novels have been translated into more than two dozen languages and have made national bestseller lists, including the USA Today, Washington Post and New York Times lists.
The author is a former teacher, a Harvard graduate, an avid hiker, an amateur photographer, a good skier and terrible golfer, yet her favorite form of exercise is curling up with a good book. Readers can learn more on the web at www.susanwiggs.com and on her lively blog at www.susanwiggs.wordpress.com.
According to Publishers Weekly, Wiggs writes with "refreshingly honest emotion," and the Salem Statesman Journal adds that she is "one of our best observers of stories of the heart [who] knows how to capture emotion on virtually every page of every book." Booklist characterizes her books as "real and true and unforgettable." She is the recipient of three RITA (sm) awards and four starred reviews from Publishers Weekly for her books. The Winter Lodge and Passing Through Paradise have appeared on PW’s annual "Best Of" lists. Several of her books have been listed as top Booksense picks and optioned as feature films. Her novels have been translated into more than two dozen languages and have made national bestseller lists, including the USA Today, Washington Post and New York Times lists.
The author is a former teacher, a Harvard graduate, an avid hiker, an amateur photographer, a good skier and terrible golfer, yet her favorite form of exercise is curling up with a good book. Readers can learn more on the web at www.susanwiggs.com and on her lively blog at www.susanwiggs.wordpress.com.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
December 13, 2012
The Charm School: I actually liked this one. A shipboard romance, go figure! It takes place in the early 1850's, partly in Boston, partly in Rio de Janeiro and on the journey there. Ryan Calhoun and Isadora Peabody are a nice lead couple and her transformation from ugly duckling to swan was about as organic as such a story line can get.
The Horsemaster's Daughter: Interesting premise, fairly boring execution. Hunter Calhoun, widowed father of two young children, and Eliza Flyte -- a woman raised on an island by an expert horse master -- are good characters as far as the basic sketch goes, but they have the same arguments over and over and over. They get boring and Hunter's motivations become obnoxious over time. The epilogue is nice, though, and brings some satisfaction.
Halfway to Heaven: Sorry, but I'm outraged by some background story that basically took all enjoyment from the romance. Jamie Calhoun is a man with a past he can't leave behind. Totally believable. And unbelievable that he actually can -- only about 2 years after it happened. I'm sorry, but it's just a huge, dark smudge on the story and I couldn't stop thinking about it when I was supposed to be focusing on the happy couple. I kept thinking it would be made right, since the opening was there, but it isn't. ETA: I want to clarify that I understand that horrible things happen to good people and it shouldn't be left out of fiction, but if you choose to go that route, then you have to deal with everything that goes with it. So you can be realistic and hit the reader with that horror, but the aftermath has to be realistic as well and it might just screw up your happy little romance. I did not feel it was dealt with in a way that matched the enormity of the impact something like that would have.
Abigail Cabot is perfectly fine as a heroine although she's basically a retread of Isadora Peabody (from The Charm School), but her obsession and totally believable love for another man took far too long to resolve. When it takes that long, we tend to get a few vague paragraphs and the whole thing happens off page. Not satisfying. And with that other huge thing just kind of hanging over the whole story like a smudgy pall, the story is just totally unsatisfying.
The only one I could really recommend is the first. It's all downhill from there, IMO.
The Horsemaster's Daughter: Interesting premise, fairly boring execution. Hunter Calhoun, widowed father of two young children, and Eliza Flyte -- a woman raised on an island by an expert horse master -- are good characters as far as the basic sketch goes, but they have the same arguments over and over and over. They get boring and Hunter's motivations become obnoxious over time. The epilogue is nice, though, and brings some satisfaction.
Halfway to Heaven: Sorry, but I'm outraged by some background story that basically took all enjoyment from the romance. Jamie Calhoun is a man with a past he can't leave behind. Totally believable. And unbelievable that he actually can -- only about 2 years after it happened. I'm sorry, but it's just a huge, dark smudge on the story and I couldn't stop thinking about it when I was supposed to be focusing on the happy couple. I kept thinking it would be made right, since the opening was there, but it isn't. ETA: I want to clarify that I understand that horrible things happen to good people and it shouldn't be left out of fiction, but if you choose to go that route, then you have to deal with everything that goes with it. So you can be realistic and hit the reader with that horror, but the aftermath has to be realistic as well and it might just screw up your happy little romance. I did not feel it was dealt with in a way that matched the enormity of the impact something like that would have.
Abigail Cabot is perfectly fine as a heroine although she's basically a retread of Isadora Peabody (from The Charm School), but her obsession and totally believable love for another man took far too long to resolve. When it takes that long, we tend to get a few vague paragraphs and the whole thing happens off page. Not satisfying. And with that other huge thing just kind of hanging over the whole story like a smudgy pall, the story is just totally unsatisfying.
The only one I could really recommend is the first. It's all downhill from there, IMO.
May 21, 2012
Loved these three books. I would also give this 4.5 stars if I could. I think my favorite of the three was Charm School. I really enjoyed the Ryan Calhoun and Isadora Peabody characters. The stories were pretty predictable but who cares, they were fun to read!!
September 13, 2023
I couldn't find an option for just the "Halfway to Heaven" book, but to be clear, that is the only book I've read in this series.
Typically I read novels in this time period which are set in England, not America, so I kept having to try and change the character's voices in my mind from British to southern, lol. It was an OK story; minimal swearing, one sex scene, (not too graphic). There were several "woke" turns of phrase sprinkled throughout, along with modern feminist ideas of a woman putting a career before family life, so I could tell it was written fairly recently. It's irritating because it's very anachronistic to give female characters in this time period those sorts of ideals.
I did like how the author made the "pretty" sister still likable, and how the reader witnessed some character growth and resolution between the main character and her father. I wouldn't read it again though, and I'm not intrigued enough to read any other parts of the series. The love between the two main leads just wasn't sweet enough, for whatever reason.
Typically I read novels in this time period which are set in England, not America, so I kept having to try and change the character's voices in my mind from British to southern, lol. It was an OK story; minimal swearing, one sex scene, (not too graphic). There were several "woke" turns of phrase sprinkled throughout, along with modern feminist ideas of a woman putting a career before family life, so I could tell it was written fairly recently. It's irritating because it's very anachronistic to give female characters in this time period those sorts of ideals.
I did like how the author made the "pretty" sister still likable, and how the reader witnessed some character growth and resolution between the main character and her father. I wouldn't read it again though, and I'm not intrigued enough to read any other parts of the series. The love between the two main leads just wasn't sweet enough, for whatever reason.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 8, 2017
The story lines are very good but the author filled the pages with too much fluff. The main character's thoughts were rambling on and filled paragraphs, which in turn filled the pages of repeated storage. I found myself scanning paragraphs and pages finding the same content over and over.
May 19, 2024
The Charm School: This is the only one that really deserves to get a much higher rating! I loved the story of the shipboard romance and that this was based in the Americas.
The Horsemaster's Daughter: I felt that this one had a certain charm to it and deserved somewhere around 3 - 3.5 stars. Although the hero and heroine argue about the same thing repeatedly, I felt that it was the hero's reluctance to open up his heart and truly listen that led to the repetition. The ending of the book was so lovely that it almost reduced me to happy tears!
Halfway to Heaven: I was really looking forward to this book because I enjoyed the first two books. However, when I started reading it, I was really confused since I felt that I had somehow missed something. He says that he is Charles Calhoun son, but when we last saw Charles, it was in the Horsemaster's Daughter. Somehow, I just couldn't get into the flow of the book after that and I doubt I'll finish it.
The Horsemaster's Daughter: I felt that this one had a certain charm to it and deserved somewhere around 3 - 3.5 stars. Although the hero and heroine argue about the same thing repeatedly, I felt that it was the hero's reluctance to open up his heart and truly listen that led to the repetition. The ending of the book was so lovely that it almost reduced me to happy tears!
Halfway to Heaven: I was really looking forward to this book because I enjoyed the first two books. However, when I started reading it, I was really confused since I felt that I had somehow missed something. He says that he is Charles Calhoun son, but when we last saw Charles, it was in the Horsemaster's Daughter. Somehow, I just couldn't get into the flow of the book after that and I doubt I'll finish it.
April 25, 2017
The Charm School
Read in January, 2013, read count: many
Format Mass Market Paperback
Review great twist on the Pygmalion / My Fair Lady story
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Halfway to Heaven
Read in January, 2013, read count: many
Format Mass Market Paperback
unconventional pairings and great lessons learned when you look beneath the surface
Read in January, 2013, read count: many
Format Mass Market Paperback
Review great twist on the Pygmalion / My Fair Lady story
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Halfway to Heaven
Read in January, 2013, read count: many
Format Mass Market Paperback
unconventional pairings and great lessons learned when you look beneath the surface
September 27, 2011
I really enjoyed these 3 stories. The women are strong and independent Interesting storylines and ancillary characters are believable.
December 7, 2011
read the first two books they were great still need to read the third one
September 15, 2013
I could not get into the third book, about Jamie Calhoun. I liked the book about Ryan, but I loved the book about Hunter.
March 14, 2014
Good!!
April 27, 2015
Over the stars
This book is truly a love story of many depths, with out a dought many a hearts were turned with this story and many starry eye to booth.
This book is truly a love story of many depths, with out a dought many a hearts were turned with this story and many starry eye to booth.
not-finished
May 26, 2022-The Charm School-book #1- rated ****
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews