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Fate Takes A Hand
Too good to be true?
When Eulalia first met Fenno, she found him thoroughly irritating! So she was alarmed when her attraction to him escalated to uncomfortable levels. And it certainly didn't help that he was engaged to another woman. Eulalia had more important things to take care of--like finding a home for herself and her young cousin. But her mysterious inheritance of a country cottage made her suspicious. Was fate--or Fenno--giving her a helping hand?
When Eulalia first met Fenno, she found him thoroughly irritating! So she was alarmed when her attraction to him escalated to uncomfortable levels. And it certainly didn't help that he was engaged to another woman. Eulalia had more important things to take care of--like finding a home for herself and her young cousin. But her mysterious inheritance of a country cottage made her suspicious. Was fate--or Fenno--giving her a helping hand?
224 pages, Mass Market Paperback
Published May 25, 2004
90 people are currently reading
139 people want to read
About the author
Betty Neels
565 books418 followersEvelyn 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
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
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews
March 22, 2021
Still loved it!
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This was an engaging light read from Betty. I give it 3.5 stars, rounding to 4 because
√ Liked the name Eulalia. Liked Aunt Lally better (easier to say)
√ Loved the secondary romance. Ahhhhhh
√ Really liked the hero, so debonair (Rich Dutch Doctor)
√ Fantastic, really disturbing and vicious OW. (What a b#$@%)
√ Hero finally wises up and actually goes to break his engagement with OW! Yeah!
My only negative is I didn't get my "I'm dumping your sorry as#$" scene. Nope, instead hero walks into the room and finds her in the arms of another man. He does the happy dance (can't say I blame him) and leaves with a big smile on his face.
Damn! I so wanted a scene where OW gets put in her place.
_____________________________________
This was an engaging light read from Betty. I give it 3.5 stars, rounding to 4 because
√ Liked the name Eulalia. Liked Aunt Lally better (easier to say)
√ Loved the secondary romance. Ahhhhhh
√ Really liked the hero, so debonair (Rich Dutch Doctor)
√ Fantastic, really disturbing and vicious OW. (What a b#$@%)
√ Hero finally wises up and actually goes to break his engagement with OW! Yeah!
My only negative is I didn't get my "I'm dumping your sorry as#$" scene. Nope, instead hero walks into the room and finds her in the arms of another man. He does the happy dance (can't say I blame him) and leaves with a big smile on his face.
Damn! I so wanted a scene where OW gets put in her place.
January 11, 2021
I’m frankly astonished that after reading so many Betty Neels books this past year in my mission to read them all, I still am so delighted by so many new-to-me ones. Such is the case with Fate Takes a Hand (1995). Yes, her plots, characters, tropes boil down to just a few types (FTaH is one of her “hero engaged to another woman” stories, with a side of “hero rescues near-destitute heroine”), but she has a certain magic that just works for me so much of the time. I forgive a lot in Betty’s books—the autocratic, patronizing heroes (I just read them as “deliciously dommy” instead); the often blockheaded heroines; the anachronistic view that marriage is the ultimate goal and careers are just something to do in the meantime--because the world she conjures, with decency, duty, honor, good character so integral to her heroes and heroines, is compelling and comforting, particularly in these weird, unsettled times.
In part, it’s a sense of idealized nostalgia—one reviewer that fellow Goodreads reviewer Miss Bates mentions in her wonderful blog stated that Betty’s appeal is very like that of “favorite children’s books, not because [her books] are simplistic but because they come from the same time and place, mid-century Britain.” That rings very true to me—the typical old-fashioned, usually shabby-genteel backgrounds of Neels’ heroines recall the very British and vaguely Edwardian settings in which we found the Pevensie children visiting eccentric Professor Diggory before tumbling through the wardrobe to Narnia or E. Nesbit’s perfectly imperfect children casting their lots with Psammeads and Phoenixes in the early years of the 20th century. The type of magic that Neels writes about may be different, but it’s magic all the same, set in the same kind of comfortable idealized Hail Britannia world, occasionally rocked by the Bad Events (bombings, war, death) of the modern world, but nonetheless a world in which fated true love is not only possible, it’s inevitable.
Within that framework, Betty introduces us to plucky, stiff-upper-lip heroines with a stubborn core and a sense of idealized “British schoolboy” honor who generally are doing their best to build stable, independent lives until the vast, rich, kindly but often cranky or downright chilly Rich Dutch (or occasionally British) Doctors (or, rarely, non-doctors) swoop in to take charge of their lives and “rescue” them from, at best, a useful but dreary and lonely existence or, worse, abject penury. It’s an anachronistic fantasy where women only work until they can marry and marriage, especially marriage into wealth (but for love, rather than mercenary reasons), is the Happily Ever After. But one almost always has the sense that, come what may, Betty’s heroines would do just fine on their own if they had to—and I never fail to believe that they actually deserve the good fortune and love that they find. The doctors may be square-jawed, honorable, handsome Prince Charmings, but in this fairy tale, the heroines, whether Sleeping Beauties or Cinderellas, do as much rescuing as being rescued, as they save the heroes from horrible, shallow, mercenary Other Women or lives that may be professionally satisfying but lack the warmth and enduring comfort that true love, home life, and, eventually, children, will bring.
Anyway—FTAH is a fine outing from Betty with some memorably charming secondary characters who get a lot of page time (including a pair of faithful family retainers who get their own HEA!), a non-nurse heroine who cheerfully shoulders responsibilities well beyond her years, an arrogant hero she strikes sparks with, and a satisfyingly awful other woman (if a fiancée can be considered the OW) who serves as the impediment for just long enough for our MCs to stop bickering, get to know one another, and declare their love. It's not so much Fate that takes a hand as the smitten (but resisting) hero . It’s familiar fare from Betty (when isn’t it?), but as usual, she manages to write a story that somehow seems fresh, with characters who, despite their commonalities with characters from other BN books, come off with enough individual quirks and characteristics that, as comfortingly familiar as they may be, they are not boring and they somehow stand on their own merits. Another fine outing from Betty, from her later years (she would have been around 86 when this was written!).
BN Car Porn:
Hero drives a BN-hero standard-issue Bentley. I’m going to guess the Continental:
But it could be the Bentley Brooklands:
In part, it’s a sense of idealized nostalgia—one reviewer that fellow Goodreads reviewer Miss Bates mentions in her wonderful blog stated that Betty’s appeal is very like that of “favorite children’s books, not because [her books] are simplistic but because they come from the same time and place, mid-century Britain.” That rings very true to me—the typical old-fashioned, usually shabby-genteel backgrounds of Neels’ heroines recall the very British and vaguely Edwardian settings in which we found the Pevensie children visiting eccentric Professor Diggory before tumbling through the wardrobe to Narnia or E. Nesbit’s perfectly imperfect children casting their lots with Psammeads and Phoenixes in the early years of the 20th century. The type of magic that Neels writes about may be different, but it’s magic all the same, set in the same kind of comfortable idealized Hail Britannia world, occasionally rocked by the Bad Events (bombings, war, death) of the modern world, but nonetheless a world in which fated true love is not only possible, it’s inevitable.
Within that framework, Betty introduces us to plucky, stiff-upper-lip heroines with a stubborn core and a sense of idealized “British schoolboy” honor who generally are doing their best to build stable, independent lives until the vast, rich, kindly but often cranky or downright chilly Rich Dutch (or occasionally British) Doctors (or, rarely, non-doctors) swoop in to take charge of their lives and “rescue” them from, at best, a useful but dreary and lonely existence or, worse, abject penury. It’s an anachronistic fantasy where women only work until they can marry and marriage, especially marriage into wealth (but for love, rather than mercenary reasons), is the Happily Ever After. But one almost always has the sense that, come what may, Betty’s heroines would do just fine on their own if they had to—and I never fail to believe that they actually deserve the good fortune and love that they find. The doctors may be square-jawed, honorable, handsome Prince Charmings, but in this fairy tale, the heroines, whether Sleeping Beauties or Cinderellas, do as much rescuing as being rescued, as they save the heroes from horrible, shallow, mercenary Other Women or lives that may be professionally satisfying but lack the warmth and enduring comfort that true love, home life, and, eventually, children, will bring.
Anyway—FTAH is a fine outing from Betty with some memorably charming secondary characters who get a lot of page time (including a pair of faithful family retainers who get their own HEA!), a non-nurse heroine who cheerfully shoulders responsibilities well beyond her years, an arrogant hero she strikes sparks with, and a satisfyingly awful other woman (if a fiancée can be considered the OW) who serves as the impediment for just long enough for our MCs to stop bickering, get to know one another, and declare their love. It's not so much Fate that takes a hand as the smitten (but resisting) hero . It’s familiar fare from Betty (when isn’t it?), but as usual, she manages to write a story that somehow seems fresh, with characters who, despite their commonalities with characters from other BN books, come off with enough individual quirks and characteristics that, as comfortingly familiar as they may be, they are not boring and they somehow stand on their own merits. Another fine outing from Betty, from her later years (she would have been around 86 when this was written!).
BN Car Porn:
Hero drives a BN-hero standard-issue Bentley. I’m going to guess the Continental:
But it could be the Bentley Brooklands:
July 26, 2021
I am sitting on the other side of the fence with all my GR friends that are fans of Betty Neels when I rate Fate Takes A Hand. It must be a 'it's me, not you' moment. None of them awarded the story with less than 4 stars.
I tried, I really did. I read it in late 202o and couldn't get past one star. I decided to wait until I was in a better frame of mind. But no, nope, nada, nix...it still is one star.
I tried, I really did. I read it in late 202o and couldn't get past one star. I decided to wait until I was in a better frame of mind. But no, nope, nada, nix...it still is one star.
September 28, 2016
Eulalia Warburton is tall and curvy with SHORT dark CURLY hair (usually TGB's heroines have long straight hair) grey eyes and a pretty face. She's a flower shop assistant and lives with FFR Miss Trott, aka Trottie, and 8 year-old Peter, Eulalia's orphaned cousin. Between her wages and Trottie's pension, she just manages to keep food on the table and a roof overhead.
One day a giant of a man, handsome of course, comes in to the shop to send roses to a lady. Eulalia has to deliver them where they are rejected by Ursula Kendall, the giant's fiancée.
The giant is Fenno van Linssen, a Dutch orthopedic surgeon. He likes what he sees in Eulalia. They become better acquainted when Peter is hit by a motorbike and breaks his arm. Peter and Mr. van Linssen become friends. Of course, Fenno has an ulterior motive, although he doesn't quite know it at first. Peter spills all the family secrets and then it is Fenno, rather than fate, that takes a hand.
Knowing that Eulalia and Company want to return to the country, Fanno buys a cottage in the Cotswold village where both Eulalia and Trottie are from and gets the family solicitor to invent a recently deceased relative who lives the cottage to Eulalia, along with 56,000 pounds. He also contrives for his butler, Dodge, to meet Trottie, and his attempt at playing Cupid is quite successful, as the two of them quickly fall in love and decide to be married. Certainly they fall in love much more quickly then Eulalia does with Fenno. Of course, eventually Fenno acknowledges he wants Eulalia for his wife rather than the petulant Miss Kendall. And Eulalia finally has her DR. A trip to Holland so Eulalia and Peter can meet Fenno's mother (he intended to propose there but Eulalia was being distant, trying to hide her newly-discovered feelings), then back to England. Eulalia is applying for jobs so Trottie can get married, when Fenno walks in and finally we get to the declaration and proposal.
I really quite enjoyed this book. I love Fenno's inner monologue. The secondary romance between Dodge and Trottie is charming. Peter, although serving as a plot device, is a charming little boy and various village inhabitants round out the story nicely. Another four-star book.
******************************
Reread July 3, 2016. Found it even more charming than before. The conversations between Fenno and Peter are perfectly charming. Eulalia is a bit stubborn, but that's a very minor quibble. I loved Dodge and Trottie and their love story, too. Bumped to 5 stars and in my Top 25 Betty Neels list.
One day a giant of a man, handsome of course, comes in to the shop to send roses to a lady. Eulalia has to deliver them where they are rejected by Ursula Kendall, the giant's fiancée.
The giant is Fenno van Linssen, a Dutch orthopedic surgeon. He likes what he sees in Eulalia. They become better acquainted when Peter is hit by a motorbike and breaks his arm. Peter and Mr. van Linssen become friends. Of course, Fenno has an ulterior motive, although he doesn't quite know it at first. Peter spills all the family secrets and then it is Fenno, rather than fate, that takes a hand.
Knowing that Eulalia and Company want to return to the country, Fanno buys a cottage in the Cotswold village where both Eulalia and Trottie are from and gets the family solicitor to invent a recently deceased relative who lives the cottage to Eulalia, along with 56,000 pounds. He also contrives for his butler, Dodge, to meet Trottie, and his attempt at playing Cupid is quite successful, as the two of them quickly fall in love and decide to be married. Certainly they fall in love much more quickly then Eulalia does with Fenno. Of course, eventually Fenno acknowledges he wants Eulalia for his wife rather than the petulant Miss Kendall. And Eulalia finally has her DR. A trip to Holland so Eulalia and Peter can meet Fenno's mother (he intended to propose there but Eulalia was being distant, trying to hide her newly-discovered feelings), then back to England. Eulalia is applying for jobs so Trottie can get married, when Fenno walks in and finally we get to the declaration and proposal.
I really quite enjoyed this book. I love Fenno's inner monologue. The secondary romance between Dodge and Trottie is charming. Peter, although serving as a plot device, is a charming little boy and various village inhabitants round out the story nicely. Another four-star book.
******************************
Reread July 3, 2016. Found it even more charming than before. The conversations between Fenno and Peter are perfectly charming. Eulalia is a bit stubborn, but that's a very minor quibble. I loved Dodge and Trottie and their love story, too. Bumped to 5 stars and in my Top 25 Betty Neels list.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 18, 2017
Oh , so lovely !!
Fenno is so much like Mr.Darcy stepping in and helping Eulalia without hurting her pride . It was nice to read their story .
OW deserved shoes in her face , but H walks out happy and content that she is out of his hair now , that was little disappointing .
And I was looking forward for a grand proposal from H instead he just barges in and announces he set his mind to marry h , I wish there was more to that scene .
Fenno is so much like Mr.Darcy stepping in and helping Eulalia without hurting her pride . It was nice to read their story .
OW deserved shoes in her face , but H walks out happy and content that she is out of his hair now , that was little disappointing .
And I was looking forward for a grand proposal from H instead he just barges in and announces he set his mind to marry h , I wish there was more to that scene .
March 27, 2023
3.5 stars - just wasn't a fan of a certain element of this one but loved the characters, especially the supporting cast.
December 30, 2025
This had a few silly plot points, but all the main characters (and pets) were lovely. A solid Betty!
June 15, 2011
I've read almost all of Betty Neel's books and this is now one of my favorites.
Eulalia Warburton is working in a flower shop and struggling to make a life with her old friend, Trottie and her deceased cousin's eight year old son, Peter. Fenno van Linssen is a wealthy doctor who walks into her flower shop and much to her dismay, keeps showing up in her life. Fenno is engaged to a beautiful but selfish woman who is only marrying him for the prestige of being a doctor's wife. Fortunately, he realizes this before he marries her and works things out satisfactorily between him and Eulalia.
The characters are great, Peter and Trottie are especially well-written. There's even a second love story that will make readers smile.
Reading Betty Neels is like drinking hot chocolate on a cold winter's night, her books makes you feel warm and cozy.
Eulalia Warburton is working in a flower shop and struggling to make a life with her old friend, Trottie and her deceased cousin's eight year old son, Peter. Fenno van Linssen is a wealthy doctor who walks into her flower shop and much to her dismay, keeps showing up in her life. Fenno is engaged to a beautiful but selfish woman who is only marrying him for the prestige of being a doctor's wife. Fortunately, he realizes this before he marries her and works things out satisfactorily between him and Eulalia.
The characters are great, Peter and Trottie are especially well-written. There's even a second love story that will make readers smile.
Reading Betty Neels is like drinking hot chocolate on a cold winter's night, her books makes you feel warm and cozy.
February 16, 2012
Pretty standard Betty Neels romance, as usual very old-fashioned. A quote that pretty much captures the whole book in a nutshell:
I usually read Neels as a kind of sedative - they're not bad to fall asleep to. There's no suspense or action to keep you awake, and since they're so formulaic, there's nothing to jolt the brain into sleeplessness. I always know what to expect, and although it's not liberated or independent heroines (if they are independent, it's only until they can find someone to make that unnecessary), usually I can tolerate this aspect. Nevertheless, I was quite surprised to find this was published in 1995.
Later...she sat in the kitchen, staring at the wall, wishing with all her heart that by some mysterious means Fenno van Linssen would come and sort out her life for her.
Had she but known, that was exactly what he was doing.
I usually read Neels as a kind of sedative - they're not bad to fall asleep to. There's no suspense or action to keep you awake, and since they're so formulaic, there's nothing to jolt the brain into sleeplessness. I always know what to expect, and although it's not liberated or independent heroines (if they are independent, it's only until they can find someone to make that unnecessary), usually I can tolerate this aspect. Nevertheless, I was quite surprised to find this was published in 1995.
January 16, 2015
There are times I want to really shake Betty's heroes. This was one of them. Even though I basically knew everything would wrap up nicely at the end, secretly I was wishing for the hero to not be able to get out of his obligation. He was taking his sweet time and was really leaving it up to his fiance to either go ahead with the marriage or dissolve the engagement. I felt like he couldn't have really loved our heroine that much if he was willing to be married to his ghastly fiance until 18 pages before the very end. I felt he considered marriage to Eulalia as a nice thing to have but it wasn't anything he would disturb his path of life for.
September 7, 2020
Another BN that I've never read (thank you Harlequin Treasury)...And what a treat this was even though, for the life of me, I will never know how to pronounce Eulalia.
A bit of the standard Betty Neels large Dutch surgeon who's engaged to the wrong woman and meets Eulalia storyline, but there is an orphaned young cousin and a secondary romance that adds even more to the usual charm of Betty Neels' romance.
ETA: Found this on Prime Reads so I indulged in a re-read today. Still sweet and savory and very Betty.
A bit of the standard Betty Neels large Dutch surgeon who's engaged to the wrong woman and meets Eulalia storyline, but there is an orphaned young cousin and a secondary romance that adds even more to the usual charm of Betty Neels' romance.
ETA: Found this on Prime Reads so I indulged in a re-read today. Still sweet and savory and very Betty.
March 10, 2023
This delightful story gives us capable Eulalia, living in a London basement with an older housekeeper/friend and a young orphaned cousin. Our heroine works at a flower shop, and it is there she meets a RDD, when he comes in to order roses as an apology for his fiance. The fiance eventually gets our heroine fired, her cousin is injured, and the RDD takes everyone into his capable hands. There's a nice touch with a relationship for some older characters, too.
It is nice, sometimes, to read a story in which hard work is rewarded, several people find love, good meals are cooked, flowers arranged and dogs and cats always behave. It's an idealized world that almost feels real. Neels creates such a world in this book, and I thoroughly enjoyed spending a few hours in it with the brave and cheerful Eulalia and her friends.
It is nice, sometimes, to read a story in which hard work is rewarded, several people find love, good meals are cooked, flowers arranged and dogs and cats always behave. It's an idealized world that almost feels real. Neels creates such a world in this book, and I thoroughly enjoyed spending a few hours in it with the brave and cheerful Eulalia and her friends.
March 2, 2021
Swoon
A feel good romance, it’s relatable in a lot of ways and that is what I’m gravitating to lately. The hero steps in and takes care of not only the lead lady but secondary characters also.
Very tame in heat department but well worth it.
A feel good romance, it’s relatable in a lot of ways and that is what I’m gravitating to lately. The hero steps in and takes care of not only the lead lady but secondary characters also.
Very tame in heat department but well worth it.
November 21, 2025
3.7 stars. h Eulalia (Lally) is a big beauty who works in a flower shop and, though impoverished, works hard to care for her orphaned young cousin and her devoted old housekeeper friend. H Fenno is an RDD. they meet when he comes into the flowershop to order apology flowers for his fiancee. he notices her right away but is chilly and inscrutable. she is cheery and nice. she is used as a dogsbody at the flowershop, doing everything, so she is the one who delivers the flowers to the fiancee who thows them back at Eulalia, who reflects that the fiancee no doubt has good reason to be mad at the icy H.
anyway, h and H meet again a couple of times and he is chilly with her each time. then one day her 8 Yr old boy cousin gets run over by a motorbike and breaks his leg, and it turns out H is an orthopaedic surgeon at the hospital and he goes out of his way to help the boy even though he is not meant to be working.
Fenno then starts to pop in to give the boy lifts to the hospital for checkups because he knows eulalia is working and the housekeeper trottie is old. he becomes a mentor/friend to the lonely kid who hero worships him.
SPOILERS
Fenno feels pity for the hardworking eulalia and finds himself sometimes thinking of her, especially when his fiancee is being petty and shallow and selfish. it makes him realise just how much his fiancee cares only for his money. he very much proposed to her for a MOC thinking she was v suitable but now she has shown her true colours, selfish behaviour, and recently she had refused to live in Holland with him even though she always knew he is Dutch and his home is there. she doesn't even want to meet his family. she wants to be a London socialite and has screamed at him about not wanting to go to holland.
the fiancee gets wind that H is spending time with Eulalia and the boy and she is furious. she says some vicious things to eulalia, accusing her of being a promiscuous manstealer and she gets eulalia fired from her job, leaving eulalia destitute.
when H sees Eulalia working on the streets in the rain trying to scrape a living from a temp job, he is v upset. he finds out it was his fiancee who got her fired, and he comes up with a plot to help eulalia.
he had learned from his visits to the boy that eulalia's small family dream of returning to their countryside village to have a country life but can't afford it. the boy wants a garden so he can have a cat and dog and rabbit. lally dreams of starting her own flower shop. H tracks down her old village and old family lawyer and he buys an old cottage and asks the lawyer to make it look like eulalia has inherited the cottage and a large sum of money from a distant long lost relative.
for eulalia, who is at her wits end trying to scrape a living from odd jobs, this is a godsend. her household prepare to move to the countryside and eulalia is a little sad thinking she will never see the doc again as she has been growing to like him and sees he is a kind man even if she doesn't quite like his chilly manner towards herself.
they move to the countryside and the doc is gone for a while to Holland, but then he turns up to see the boy and bring him a puppy. he comes back a couple of times to help with various problems the boy secretly alerts him to.
eulalia spends her time renovating the cottage to modernise it and, just when she is making plans to start her own flower shop, she discovers by accident that it was really the doc who gave her the cottage and the money. she is devastated and humiliated and angry. she goes to London and confronts him but he is his usual uncommunicative and yet civil self, high handedly making her stay at his home overnight because she had missed her last train home and not commenting on her anger or her insistence on paying him back and paying rent. he acts like he doesn't care. she tells him she despises him and doesn't want to see him again.
she returns home devastated. she says to trottie that she feels like a beggar that he threw crumbs to in the street. she determines to pay him back through the lawyer and never see him again.
but fate intervenes and her old housekeeper trottie breaks her leg quite badly. the boy calls the doc, so he sweeps in to save the day.
THE STORY PROBLEM
anyway, this point of the story is when i felt things went downhill. Fenno became this Godlike figure who kept solving all Eulialia's problems like deus ex machina, which rendered her this helpless thing who had to keep going along with it all. it made her look so ineffectual and created a huge unpalatable power balance in their relationship. and for the rest of the book it pretty much went on like that. he kept solving her problems while she had a small self pity fest about them. she was unable to be as independent and headstrong as other betty heroines because she was lumbered with a child to care for so she couldn't just leave the cottage behind and flee from his well menst but high handed interference. another problem for me was that neither h nor H discovered or acknowledge their feelings even to themselves until much later in the story, therefore there was mo pining or angst on either side. I do love a bit of pining and longing in a romance, whereas this story just trundled along without it.
ecentually Fenno decides he's had enough of his fiancee and that he loves eulalia and he better do something about it even if she won't admit that she loves him, or so he arrogantly says to himself. so he goes to break things off with his fiancee and conveniently finds her in another man's arms. then he takes eulalia to Holland for a holiday and she can't say no because the boy wants it so much and also because by then trottie and Fenno's trusty butler have fallen in love and the holiday will give the old couple a rare chance to spend time alone together.
every problem felt like tokenism towards the latter part of the story and didn't create any real angst for eulalia because fenno swept in to save the day almost immediately afterwards before she had much chance to struggle and try to solve things herself. the Holland trip felt rushed and the incommunation between them and fenno's frustrations at her remaining aloof during the holiday weren't fully explored so weren't gratifying to read. it was all a bit too pat. a bit rushed.
they return to England and she is sad she might never see him again. but after a while he comes to see her again, calls her an abominable girl for being so cool towards him in Holland and not giving him the chance to propose like he'd hoped to. he confesses his love, says he'd walk across the planet for her if he had to, proposes and she accepts. kisses. the end.
it was not a gratifying ending for me. all story tension had fizzled out probably by the 60% mark. no ending conflict and drama and angst. went out with a mere sputter. i had kept reading because it was interesting enough but i was expecting the gratification of some ending drama, but none materialised. what a let down! also, she had pawned her grandmother's watch and we didn't get to see H get it back for her, which would have been a nice touch.
I think this story is better for those who want a gentler read and don't want angst or drama. it was still a good book and very readable, no boring dragging bits, but it just didn't have the depth of story or emotion I had hoped for which the Betty masterpieces have. it only rose above 3.5 stars for me because I like an icy and aloof hero and fenno was certainly that. a pity the rest of the story didn't give the right foil for his personality to create max angst.
anyway, h and H meet again a couple of times and he is chilly with her each time. then one day her 8 Yr old boy cousin gets run over by a motorbike and breaks his leg, and it turns out H is an orthopaedic surgeon at the hospital and he goes out of his way to help the boy even though he is not meant to be working.
Fenno then starts to pop in to give the boy lifts to the hospital for checkups because he knows eulalia is working and the housekeeper trottie is old. he becomes a mentor/friend to the lonely kid who hero worships him.
SPOILERS
Fenno feels pity for the hardworking eulalia and finds himself sometimes thinking of her, especially when his fiancee is being petty and shallow and selfish. it makes him realise just how much his fiancee cares only for his money. he very much proposed to her for a MOC thinking she was v suitable but now she has shown her true colours, selfish behaviour, and recently she had refused to live in Holland with him even though she always knew he is Dutch and his home is there. she doesn't even want to meet his family. she wants to be a London socialite and has screamed at him about not wanting to go to holland.
the fiancee gets wind that H is spending time with Eulalia and the boy and she is furious. she says some vicious things to eulalia, accusing her of being a promiscuous manstealer and she gets eulalia fired from her job, leaving eulalia destitute.
when H sees Eulalia working on the streets in the rain trying to scrape a living from a temp job, he is v upset. he finds out it was his fiancee who got her fired, and he comes up with a plot to help eulalia.
he had learned from his visits to the boy that eulalia's small family dream of returning to their countryside village to have a country life but can't afford it. the boy wants a garden so he can have a cat and dog and rabbit. lally dreams of starting her own flower shop. H tracks down her old village and old family lawyer and he buys an old cottage and asks the lawyer to make it look like eulalia has inherited the cottage and a large sum of money from a distant long lost relative.
for eulalia, who is at her wits end trying to scrape a living from odd jobs, this is a godsend. her household prepare to move to the countryside and eulalia is a little sad thinking she will never see the doc again as she has been growing to like him and sees he is a kind man even if she doesn't quite like his chilly manner towards herself.
they move to the countryside and the doc is gone for a while to Holland, but then he turns up to see the boy and bring him a puppy. he comes back a couple of times to help with various problems the boy secretly alerts him to.
eulalia spends her time renovating the cottage to modernise it and, just when she is making plans to start her own flower shop, she discovers by accident that it was really the doc who gave her the cottage and the money. she is devastated and humiliated and angry. she goes to London and confronts him but he is his usual uncommunicative and yet civil self, high handedly making her stay at his home overnight because she had missed her last train home and not commenting on her anger or her insistence on paying him back and paying rent. he acts like he doesn't care. she tells him she despises him and doesn't want to see him again.
she returns home devastated. she says to trottie that she feels like a beggar that he threw crumbs to in the street. she determines to pay him back through the lawyer and never see him again.
but fate intervenes and her old housekeeper trottie breaks her leg quite badly. the boy calls the doc, so he sweeps in to save the day.
THE STORY PROBLEM
anyway, this point of the story is when i felt things went downhill. Fenno became this Godlike figure who kept solving all Eulialia's problems like deus ex machina, which rendered her this helpless thing who had to keep going along with it all. it made her look so ineffectual and created a huge unpalatable power balance in their relationship. and for the rest of the book it pretty much went on like that. he kept solving her problems while she had a small self pity fest about them. she was unable to be as independent and headstrong as other betty heroines because she was lumbered with a child to care for so she couldn't just leave the cottage behind and flee from his well menst but high handed interference. another problem for me was that neither h nor H discovered or acknowledge their feelings even to themselves until much later in the story, therefore there was mo pining or angst on either side. I do love a bit of pining and longing in a romance, whereas this story just trundled along without it.
ecentually Fenno decides he's had enough of his fiancee and that he loves eulalia and he better do something about it even if she won't admit that she loves him, or so he arrogantly says to himself. so he goes to break things off with his fiancee and conveniently finds her in another man's arms. then he takes eulalia to Holland for a holiday and she can't say no because the boy wants it so much and also because by then trottie and Fenno's trusty butler have fallen in love and the holiday will give the old couple a rare chance to spend time alone together.
every problem felt like tokenism towards the latter part of the story and didn't create any real angst for eulalia because fenno swept in to save the day almost immediately afterwards before she had much chance to struggle and try to solve things herself. the Holland trip felt rushed and the incommunation between them and fenno's frustrations at her remaining aloof during the holiday weren't fully explored so weren't gratifying to read. it was all a bit too pat. a bit rushed.
they return to England and she is sad she might never see him again. but after a while he comes to see her again, calls her an abominable girl for being so cool towards him in Holland and not giving him the chance to propose like he'd hoped to. he confesses his love, says he'd walk across the planet for her if he had to, proposes and she accepts. kisses. the end.
it was not a gratifying ending for me. all story tension had fizzled out probably by the 60% mark. no ending conflict and drama and angst. went out with a mere sputter. i had kept reading because it was interesting enough but i was expecting the gratification of some ending drama, but none materialised. what a let down! also, she had pawned her grandmother's watch and we didn't get to see H get it back for her, which would have been a nice touch.
I think this story is better for those who want a gentler read and don't want angst or drama. it was still a good book and very readable, no boring dragging bits, but it just didn't have the depth of story or emotion I had hoped for which the Betty masterpieces have. it only rose above 3.5 stars for me because I like an icy and aloof hero and fenno was certainly that. a pity the rest of the story didn't give the right foil for his personality to create max angst.
February 8, 2014
Eulalia is the typical good hearted heroine struggling to provide a good home for her orphaned cousin Peter who is still at school.
Fenno van Linssen is an eminent Dutch surgeon, engaged to an irritatingly selfish woman who is obviously unsuited.
When Fenno becomes involved in her life after Peter has an accident, he finds himself wanting to smooth her road and he does so fairly competently. Of course Eulalia is gifted with plenty of stubborn pride so she doesn't take kindly to all this charity.
A very sweet story with a secondary romance between Eulalia's old family retainer Trottie and Fenno's servant Dodge.
Fenno van Linssen is an eminent Dutch surgeon, engaged to an irritatingly selfish woman who is obviously unsuited.
When Fenno becomes involved in her life after Peter has an accident, he finds himself wanting to smooth her road and he does so fairly competently. Of course Eulalia is gifted with plenty of stubborn pride so she doesn't take kindly to all this charity.
A very sweet story with a secondary romance between Eulalia's old family retainer Trottie and Fenno's servant Dodge.
June 20, 2021
This is one of my favorite Betty Neels books. It has it all, the famous Dutch surgeon, his lovely mother, his nasty fiancee (but not too much), an old retainer or two, dogs, cats, and friendly village neighbors. Fenno takes a liking to Peter, Eulalia's nephew, who lives with her and Trottie (the old retainer). After he fixes Peter's broken arm, they are fast friends. Wouldn't it be nice if Fenno and Eulalia could get married and he could live in Fenno's house, and become a great surgeon like him? We shall see. PS ~ It's just as good the second (or third or fourth) time around. I hope I don't wear out my copy.
October 15, 2017
“Flores para la novia” en esta novela corta tenemos a Eulalia una empleada de una florería y al cirujano el Dr Fenno Van Linssen. Es un relato largo innecesariamente,es hasta ahora el que menos me ha gustado de Betty Neels.el protagonista masculino es odioso y pretensioso. Pero ella es una heroina mediocre,no me gustó.
April 15, 2021
I read this on the kindle but the synopsis is wrong for this book
It seems that these later books the Synopsis are wrong this is about the 3rd book not including the next book
The book was still a good one just don't go by what it says
It seems that these later books the Synopsis are wrong this is about the 3rd book not including the next book
The book was still a good one just don't go by what it says
March 31, 2010
Lovely, traditional Neels. Unusually, there is a secondary romance between the heroine's housekeeper/gramma sort and the doctor's butler/houseman.
July 11, 2013
4 1/2 STARS
February 11, 2014
I like this one, but doesn't Fenno sound like something you should find in your spice rack?
January 29, 2016
One of her best.
August 1, 2021
This was okay. Not one of my favorites fr Betty Neels.
October 7, 2018
3.75*!!! 1995
Another delightful story though it had an engaged hero Fenno, renowned orthopaedic surgeon RDD. Our Olivia heroine, Eulalia, or Lally, was kind of pig headed but she had spirit! And such a loving heart for a poor orphan. Her love for young Peter and Trottie was touching. Peter was a precocious and precious boy, and was really important in bringing Fenno and Lally together haha! Sneaky Fenno using a lil boy!
Spoilers Spoilers
I love the secondary romance! Sneaky Fenno and our author Betty. I do believe it's the first pairing of two Faithful Family Retainers from each household! Delightful! And sweet, how Dodge kissed Trottie when Eulalia wasn't watching haha!
Unlike other engaged heroes, a trop I dislike, Fenno was quick to see how unsuitable and fake his fiancée Ursula was. He had been ready to break off the engagement in good time unlike some of the typical Neels heroes, and how convenient and soothing for his conscience when Ursula already found a rich American playboy to replace him! Ursula was obnoxious from the start to finish, except when she broke off the engagement! Credits to her for offering to return the diamond ring though Fenno declined. Actually without her, Fenno and Lally would not have come to be; it was to send her flowers that Fenno ventured into Lally's shop. Then it was because Ursula was such a b!tch and got Lally fired, that Fenno decided to make amends by buying them the lovely cottage. Sigh~~~
I really felt for Lally when she was fretting over money and their livelihood after Trottie announced she was getting married! While she's happy for dear Trottie, Lally wondered how they would survive without Trottie's pension. My heart broke when she pawned her treasured gold watch before the Holland trip. While I'm sure Fenno would drape her with jewels if she so wished, the watch was special and irreplaceable in sentimental value. Hope Fenno redeemed it back for her!
There wasn't much romantic alone times between our couples, but what Fenno did throughout the book, and the ultimate proposal scene, awww! The house tour of love might be short but so full of meaning haha! That queen's room he must show her, gosh! I'm pretty sure that's the marital bed chamber!
One of my favourite bits had to be how Fenno's mother described her son to us readers. Hidden underneath all that professionalism and bland face was a romantic! And when he TOLD Lally in his love declaration he had this sentimental notion of proposing to her in his own home, like Lally my heart melted! Gosh the two of them were really good at pushing each other away, both thinking they disliked each other, so they were cautious not to show too much. But the mixed signals muddled up things so the planned proposal did not take place in the Dutch marital home. But what did happen was pretty perfect.
Short ending but oh so satisfying, his kisses of "a flesh and bone man" haha!
In fact Fenno while not liberal with his kisses to Lally, made sure each one counted LOL.
Love this!
Another delightful story though it had an engaged hero Fenno, renowned orthopaedic surgeon RDD. Our Olivia heroine, Eulalia, or Lally, was kind of pig headed but she had spirit! And such a loving heart for a poor orphan. Her love for young Peter and Trottie was touching. Peter was a precocious and precious boy, and was really important in bringing Fenno and Lally together haha! Sneaky Fenno using a lil boy!
Spoilers Spoilers
I love the secondary romance! Sneaky Fenno and our author Betty. I do believe it's the first pairing of two Faithful Family Retainers from each household! Delightful! And sweet, how Dodge kissed Trottie when Eulalia wasn't watching haha!
Unlike other engaged heroes, a trop I dislike, Fenno was quick to see how unsuitable and fake his fiancée Ursula was. He had been ready to break off the engagement in good time unlike some of the typical Neels heroes, and how convenient and soothing for his conscience when Ursula already found a rich American playboy to replace him! Ursula was obnoxious from the start to finish, except when she broke off the engagement! Credits to her for offering to return the diamond ring though Fenno declined. Actually without her, Fenno and Lally would not have come to be; it was to send her flowers that Fenno ventured into Lally's shop. Then it was because Ursula was such a b!tch and got Lally fired, that Fenno decided to make amends by buying them the lovely cottage. Sigh~~~
I really felt for Lally when she was fretting over money and their livelihood after Trottie announced she was getting married! While she's happy for dear Trottie, Lally wondered how they would survive without Trottie's pension. My heart broke when she pawned her treasured gold watch before the Holland trip. While I'm sure Fenno would drape her with jewels if she so wished, the watch was special and irreplaceable in sentimental value. Hope Fenno redeemed it back for her!
There wasn't much romantic alone times between our couples, but what Fenno did throughout the book, and the ultimate proposal scene, awww! The house tour of love might be short but so full of meaning haha! That queen's room he must show her, gosh! I'm pretty sure that's the marital bed chamber!
One of my favourite bits had to be how Fenno's mother described her son to us readers. Hidden underneath all that professionalism and bland face was a romantic! And when he TOLD Lally in his love declaration he had this sentimental notion of proposing to her in his own home, like Lally my heart melted! Gosh the two of them were really good at pushing each other away, both thinking they disliked each other, so they were cautious not to show too much. But the mixed signals muddled up things so the planned proposal did not take place in the Dutch marital home. But what did happen was pretty perfect.
Short ending but oh so satisfying, his kisses of "a flesh and bone man" haha!
In fact Fenno while not liberal with his kisses to Lally, made sure each one counted LOL.
Love this!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 4, 2024
This funny-ish romp is made even more fun to read after you read @Grrrrace’s review which as fans of Betty Neels works, beautifully puts to words our collective sentiments towards all her books in general. It really does feel like one has jumped through a rabbit hole into a world that has gone by. At times so far gone by that one is reminded of Corgi regency romances but with cars and nursing jobs for the heroines which one feels is a step up for them from being only fit as companions and governesses.
I am very entertained that Betty Neels utterly ignores the fact that for all intents and purposes most of her heroines are themselves the other women, therefore her heroes being honourable gentleman tie themselves into knots and jump through various hoops to get their wrongly chosen fiancés break up with them before allowing themselves declare their feelings to their heroines. In this one it’s more funny because the hero being completely out of touch with his feelings doesn’t even realise he loves the heroine when he’s arranging things with her solicitor in order to conjure a “forgotten inheritance” for the heroine so as to ease her life. The secondary characters here are all very sweet as well.
I am very entertained that Betty Neels utterly ignores the fact that for all intents and purposes most of her heroines are themselves the other women, therefore her heroes being honourable gentleman tie themselves into knots and jump through various hoops to get their wrongly chosen fiancés break up with them before allowing themselves declare their feelings to their heroines. In this one it’s more funny because the hero being completely out of touch with his feelings doesn’t even realise he loves the heroine when he’s arranging things with her solicitor in order to conjure a “forgotten inheritance” for the heroine so as to ease her life. The secondary characters here are all very sweet as well.
June 27, 2020
A Sweet Read That Satisfies
Both characters were the right amount of stubborn to cause just enough misunderstandings. I really liked how Fenno didn't let his fiance's had attitude leave Eulalia and her family destitute. I couldn't understand why he stayed engaged to her after continuously listing her bad qualities, even hinting that he didn't find her body shape attractive. Well if he didn't find it attractive, why propose marriage? But I guess we wouldn't have any drama of he had done that. But overall one of the better Betty Neels books I've read recently.
Both characters were the right amount of stubborn to cause just enough misunderstandings. I really liked how Fenno didn't let his fiance's had attitude leave Eulalia and her family destitute. I couldn't understand why he stayed engaged to her after continuously listing her bad qualities, even hinting that he didn't find her body shape attractive. Well if he didn't find it attractive, why propose marriage? But I guess we wouldn't have any drama of he had done that. But overall one of the better Betty Neels books I've read recently.
May 9, 2017
Bentley
Another winner from La Neels.
Another winner from La Neels.
August 10, 2018
Lovely
If you enjoy your romances clean, light, fluffy and vintage then you will enjoy the wonderful work of Betty Neels
If you enjoy your romances clean, light, fluffy and vintage then you will enjoy the wonderful work of Betty Neels
May 5, 2019
love all betty neels books/stories!
July 27, 2020
Entertaining
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