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Compass Club #3
All I Ever Needed
Lady Sophia Colley, daughter of the late Earl of Tremont, faces mercenary relatives demanding she marry for the money her funds-poor father failed to leave them.
Gabriel Whitney, Marquess Eastlyn (East to his friends), is tasked by the Crown with opening new trade with China. Calling upon his three boon companions: South, North, and West—The Compass Club—for aid, two things stand in East's way: The Society of Bishops, a group of men who were East's boyhood tormentors, and false rumors of his engagement to Lady Sophia Colley.
When East arrives at Lady Sophia's doorstep to dispel the rumor, the last thing he expects is to be entranced by a woman who's lived beneath his notice. East proposes on the spot. Sophie turns him down flat. The desire between them may be impossible to deny, but deny it she must to protect East from a past intrigue that is about to place them both in very present danger.
Gabriel Whitney, Marquess Eastlyn (East to his friends), is tasked by the Crown with opening new trade with China. Calling upon his three boon companions: South, North, and West—The Compass Club—for aid, two things stand in East's way: The Society of Bishops, a group of men who were East's boyhood tormentors, and false rumors of his engagement to Lady Sophia Colley.
When East arrives at Lady Sophia's doorstep to dispel the rumor, the last thing he expects is to be entranced by a woman who's lived beneath his notice. East proposes on the spot. Sophie turns him down flat. The desire between them may be impossible to deny, but deny it she must to protect East from a past intrigue that is about to place them both in very present danger.
377 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 1, 2003
131 people are currently reading
315 people want to read
About the author
Jo Goodman
60 books479 followersTo find characters to illustrate my first family saga, I cut out models from the Sears catalogue. I was in fourth grade, but it was a start. In seventh grade I wrote a melodrama about two orphan sisters, one of whom was pregnant. There was also a story about a runaway girl with the unlikely name of Strawberry and one about mistaken identities and an evil blind date. My supportive, but vaguely concerned parents, sighed with relief when I announced I was going to write children's books. They bought me an electric typewriter and crossed their fingers, but somehow PASSION'S BRIDE came out. No one was really surprised.
I graduated from Indiana University of Pennsylvania with a major in biology and a minor in chemistry and some notion that I would do marine research. Years of competitive swimming didn't help me anticipate seasickness. A career change seemed in order. I began working with adolescents and families, first as a childcare worker and later, after graduating from West Virginia University with a master's degree in counseling, as a therapist. I am currently the executive director of a child caring/mental health agency and find my work and my writing often compliment each other. One grounds me in reality and the other offers a break from it.
I graduated from Indiana University of Pennsylvania with a major in biology and a minor in chemistry and some notion that I would do marine research. Years of competitive swimming didn't help me anticipate seasickness. A career change seemed in order. I began working with adolescents and families, first as a childcare worker and later, after graduating from West Virginia University with a master's degree in counseling, as a therapist. I am currently the executive director of a child caring/mental health agency and find my work and my writing often compliment each other. One grounds me in reality and the other offers a break from it.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 58 reviews
December 29, 2015
No me ha gustado. Me ha parecido aburrido y tedioso, la relación entre ellos totalmente falta de pasión y la trama de espías muy floja.
Vamos, que no sé si es que lo he leído a ratos, pero se me ha hecho eterno.
El estilo de esta mujer no termina de convencerme
Vamos, que no sé si es que lo he leído a ratos, pero se me ha hecho eterno.
El estilo de esta mujer no termina de convencerme
December 13, 2025
Better than the first but...
(Book 2 didn't sound like something I might like, so I went directly to Book 3)
⋆⁺₊ ── •➽ The characters
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━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
🕮⋆˚࿔✎𓂃 𝐣𝐨𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐲 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
(Book 2 didn't sound like something I might like, so I went directly to Book 3)
⋆⁺₊ ── •➽ The characters
・
・
・
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
🕮⋆˚࿔✎𓂃 𝐣𝐨𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐲 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰
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November 6, 2013
This is my first Jo Goodman novel, and I was unexpectedly and happily surprised to discover a romance novelist that requires me to exercise patience and even reread multiple passages as the story slowly (almost painstakingly at time) unfolds. I came increasingly to take pleasure in how Goodman uses precise, but sensual descriptions and dialogue to reveal the characters’ thoughts and feelings, all through a dense blanket of darkness and psychological guardedness.
Goodman brings to this regency period novel an almost cinematic hyper reality, where the reader can feel by the quality of the descriptions just how the characters move through a room or garden, touch plants, furniture, fabric, or the pebbles beneath their feet. The descriptions of human posture, breath, taste, and movement felt perfect and added to this realism. At times, I could almost forget that I was reading a work of fiction, and simply allow myself to be carried by Goodman’s words deeper and deeper into the reality of her fictional regency world.
Still, this was a deeply romantic novel, with a satisfying romantic coupling. Both the hero (East) and the heroine (Sophia) are brilliant attractive individuals. Their love story, which begins tentatively, amidst an array of misapprehensions, eventually erupts into mutual and welcome passion. The complexity and darkness of the underlying mystery plot and the depth of the secondary characterizations intensify the pleasure of the ultimate blossoming of this slow burning romantic relationship
I look forward to reading the rest of Goodman’s Compass Club series!
Goodman brings to this regency period novel an almost cinematic hyper reality, where the reader can feel by the quality of the descriptions just how the characters move through a room or garden, touch plants, furniture, fabric, or the pebbles beneath their feet. The descriptions of human posture, breath, taste, and movement felt perfect and added to this realism. At times, I could almost forget that I was reading a work of fiction, and simply allow myself to be carried by Goodman’s words deeper and deeper into the reality of her fictional regency world.
Still, this was a deeply romantic novel, with a satisfying romantic coupling. Both the hero (East) and the heroine (Sophia) are brilliant attractive individuals. Their love story, which begins tentatively, amidst an array of misapprehensions, eventually erupts into mutual and welcome passion. The complexity and darkness of the underlying mystery plot and the depth of the secondary characterizations intensify the pleasure of the ultimate blossoming of this slow burning romantic relationship
I look forward to reading the rest of Goodman’s Compass Club series!
August 5, 2016
OMG – Just Say Yes!
All I Ever Needed is the third in the Compass Club series by Jo Goodman. When I started reading this story I liked it better than The Price of Desire. But then the annoying heroine presented herself to me. Lady Sophia Colley is one of those I-can-hop-into-bed-with-you-break-all-kinds-of-class-conscious-rules-but-I-can’t-marry-you heroines. What makes this one especially irritating is the fact that our hero East keeps asking and asking and asking and asking. As I look back on this book I have to say it’s too bad the author decided to put the I-can’t-marry-you device into this story because it was detrimental to what could have been a good story. It’s getting harder and harder for me to abide that particular heroine whine. For me to accept her no-no-no her reason for turning him down needs to be more than just a means to drag the story tension out longer. In All I Ever Needed the heroine's “turn down” went on way too long and then when the reason was revealed I had a “you’ve got to be kidding” moment.
Before I get distracted by my rant, here’s the plot and there may be a few spoilers ahead. Once upon a time there were some guys sitting under a tree laughing (our hero the Marquess of Eastlyn being one of them). Well, being the paranoid heroine that she is, Sophia just knows they are laughing at her. Of course there is that false rumor floating around that she is engaged to Eastlyn – that must be the reason they are laughing at her. Oh look – Eastlyn is approaching her. He is probably going to make fun of her, so she will be rude to him. Which she is. Eastlyn, who had approached Sophia for the purpose of straightening out the rumor, instead becomes captivated by her snootiness. Ah, he thinks - she’s a snarky person, she must not be as dull as he thought she was. He decides to marry her. This starts our poor hero down the road of asking for her hand in marriage, which she turns down.
Eastlyn, aka East, is really quite a nice hero, which makes Sophia’s stubbornness even more irritating. After all, why would any woman want to be married to a charming, intelligent, handsome man with loads of money who would give her anything she wanted. I feel myself digressing again. I don’t know who to blame in Romanceland for the overabundance of I-can’t-marry-you women, but puleese make it stop!
Back to the story. East is one of the four members of the Compass Club and he is instantly attracted to Sophia – sort of. He has forgotten that he met her years ago and hurt her little feelings because she had a crush on him and he, like most young men, was totally oblivious to a boring young girl’s crush. Anyway, Sophia is holding a grudge against him for being a typical male. Well, it turns out that the rumor was started by East’s cast-off mistress – an almost villain but not quite. Don’t worry about not being enough villains in this story because the mistress is only half a villain. There are oodles of villains. There’s the group of school chum bully villains from East’s younger days; the heroine’s dastardly villain Uncle and the secret head-honcho villain who reveals himself at the end with a lonnnng soliloquy as to why he did what he did when he did. He gets his comeuppance, the others get sent to the Island of Misplaced Villains. What do the villains have to do with the plot-line you may ask? Well, I don’t really know if the school boy bullies have anything to do with a lot of the story, but the Uncle and the secret villain do. You see, Sophia thinks someone poisoned her father.
Sophia and her father. As I have said before, I found Sophia to be truly annoying, but the flashback scenes between her and her father are very memorable. I loved the relationship between the two of them, it was so touching, so poignant – there were times that I had moisture forming in my eyes. And, it wasn’t from allergies. I just wish Sophia had been presented as this caring, loving person throughout the entire story.
The real kicker. We already know I found Sophia to be annoying but I still held out hope that somewhere along the way she would turn over a new leaf – but then she stepped on every one of my nerves. As anyone who has ever read a romance book which has the I-won’t-marry-you heroine in it knows - that even though these women won’t marry the hero, they have no qualms about jumping into bed with them. Even though I could strike up a rant about the realities of a historical, sheltered, innocent woman jumping into bed with a man without the hope of marriage, I won’t. What I will rant about is this: Sophia finds herself pregnant. What does she do? Well, she writes our hero a letter informing him of the fact and telling him she is going to raise the child on her own. Yep, she makes up her mind to bring a child up – in Regency England – as illegitimate. She makes the decision to separate that child from his father and his grandparents without any thought as to what this might do to that child. She has no visible means of support, but somehow manages to rent a cottage. I think she may have been a secret writer, I forget. On top of that, she knows by this time that she has feelings for East and she suspects he has feelings for her. But no, she can never marry him. She would rather her child grow up shouldering the pretty heavy burden of illegitimacy than say yes to marriage. It was pretty unbelievable. At this point Sophia went from being annoying to being totally unlikable.
I wanted to like this book soooooo much. I think Ms. Goodman writes terrific prose – but in this book she gave me a heroine who's actions I could find no way to justify. When the eventual reason for her refusal of East’s many proposals is revealed, it was not powerful enough to counter-balance the many “no’s” and the extremely selfish decision to separate father from child.
All I Ever Needed is the third in the Compass Club series by Jo Goodman. When I started reading this story I liked it better than The Price of Desire. But then the annoying heroine presented herself to me. Lady Sophia Colley is one of those I-can-hop-into-bed-with-you-break-all-kinds-of-class-conscious-rules-but-I-can’t-marry-you heroines. What makes this one especially irritating is the fact that our hero East keeps asking and asking and asking and asking. As I look back on this book I have to say it’s too bad the author decided to put the I-can’t-marry-you device into this story because it was detrimental to what could have been a good story. It’s getting harder and harder for me to abide that particular heroine whine. For me to accept her no-no-no her reason for turning him down needs to be more than just a means to drag the story tension out longer. In All I Ever Needed the heroine's “turn down” went on way too long and then when the reason was revealed I had a “you’ve got to be kidding” moment.
Before I get distracted by my rant, here’s the plot and there may be a few spoilers ahead. Once upon a time there were some guys sitting under a tree laughing (our hero the Marquess of Eastlyn being one of them). Well, being the paranoid heroine that she is, Sophia just knows they are laughing at her. Of course there is that false rumor floating around that she is engaged to Eastlyn – that must be the reason they are laughing at her. Oh look – Eastlyn is approaching her. He is probably going to make fun of her, so she will be rude to him. Which she is. Eastlyn, who had approached Sophia for the purpose of straightening out the rumor, instead becomes captivated by her snootiness. Ah, he thinks - she’s a snarky person, she must not be as dull as he thought she was. He decides to marry her. This starts our poor hero down the road of asking for her hand in marriage, which she turns down.
Eastlyn, aka East, is really quite a nice hero, which makes Sophia’s stubbornness even more irritating. After all, why would any woman want to be married to a charming, intelligent, handsome man with loads of money who would give her anything she wanted. I feel myself digressing again. I don’t know who to blame in Romanceland for the overabundance of I-can’t-marry-you women, but puleese make it stop!
Back to the story. East is one of the four members of the Compass Club and he is instantly attracted to Sophia – sort of. He has forgotten that he met her years ago and hurt her little feelings because she had a crush on him and he, like most young men, was totally oblivious to a boring young girl’s crush. Anyway, Sophia is holding a grudge against him for being a typical male. Well, it turns out that the rumor was started by East’s cast-off mistress – an almost villain but not quite. Don’t worry about not being enough villains in this story because the mistress is only half a villain. There are oodles of villains. There’s the group of school chum bully villains from East’s younger days; the heroine’s dastardly villain Uncle and the secret head-honcho villain who reveals himself at the end with a lonnnng soliloquy as to why he did what he did when he did. He gets his comeuppance, the others get sent to the Island of Misplaced Villains. What do the villains have to do with the plot-line you may ask? Well, I don’t really know if the school boy bullies have anything to do with a lot of the story, but the Uncle and the secret villain do. You see, Sophia thinks someone poisoned her father.
Sophia and her father. As I have said before, I found Sophia to be truly annoying, but the flashback scenes between her and her father are very memorable. I loved the relationship between the two of them, it was so touching, so poignant – there were times that I had moisture forming in my eyes. And, it wasn’t from allergies. I just wish Sophia had been presented as this caring, loving person throughout the entire story.
The real kicker. We already know I found Sophia to be annoying but I still held out hope that somewhere along the way she would turn over a new leaf – but then she stepped on every one of my nerves. As anyone who has ever read a romance book which has the I-won’t-marry-you heroine in it knows - that even though these women won’t marry the hero, they have no qualms about jumping into bed with them. Even though I could strike up a rant about the realities of a historical, sheltered, innocent woman jumping into bed with a man without the hope of marriage, I won’t. What I will rant about is this: Sophia finds herself pregnant. What does she do? Well, she writes our hero a letter informing him of the fact and telling him she is going to raise the child on her own. Yep, she makes up her mind to bring a child up – in Regency England – as illegitimate. She makes the decision to separate that child from his father and his grandparents without any thought as to what this might do to that child. She has no visible means of support, but somehow manages to rent a cottage. I think she may have been a secret writer, I forget. On top of that, she knows by this time that she has feelings for East and she suspects he has feelings for her. But no, she can never marry him. She would rather her child grow up shouldering the pretty heavy burden of illegitimacy than say yes to marriage. It was pretty unbelievable. At this point Sophia went from being annoying to being totally unlikable.
I wanted to like this book soooooo much. I think Ms. Goodman writes terrific prose – but in this book she gave me a heroine who's actions I could find no way to justify. When the eventual reason for her refusal of East’s many proposals is revealed, it was not powerful enough to counter-balance the many “no’s” and the extremely selfish decision to separate father from child.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 4, 2017
Different than I thought it would be from how it was teased in the past few books, but still sweet!
March 1, 2019
Loved this one too!
August 13, 2016
All I Ever Needed, Jo Goodman - This is the third installment from Goodman's Compass Club series that I'm working my way through. Many of the aspects of her first two books that I really enjoyed are here as well, including the romance of two attractive and appealing leads. Sophie is similar to the heroines of the first two books in that she is victimized by people in her life and in need of rescue, but as with the other two women, she is more than willing to fight back. East is a compelling hero for her. One plot twist that I greatly enjoyed was the initial premise that jump-starts their romance, which is a rumor started by a scorned ex-lover that East and Sophie are engaged. East believes Sophie to be dull and wants to rebuff her in a gentle and honorable way, only to find in the process that he's unexpectedly charmed by her. I liked that East has to come to terms with his infatuation for Sophie, and I was entertained by his comeuppance and the blows to his pride as she continuously rejects him. Sophie has a few secrets that take time to emerge, including her long unrequited love for East. I like too that she's not what she seems and that this keeps him in a constant state of imbalance. He dearly comes to regret all of his previous remarks and negative thoughts about Sophie. I have to admit though that I found this book a bit repetitive with respect to the mystery and had some difficulty at times separating it from the first two. This could also just be due to reading them too closely to each other, and so I need to space out the final installment to do each one justice. Overall though, I really like Jo Goodman and find her books very romantic.
June 13, 2013
There's a story behind this book, and this is it:
Once upon a time, okay not really, but a long time ago when my grandmother was still alive, she was really into Harlequin, etc..., and used to buy books from them. One of the series she followed was the Compass Club, a 4 book series that she accidently only ended up getting 3 of: 1, 2, and 4. When she passed these books to me I was about 16. I've been searching ever since in used bookstores, and the like.
And now, at 21, I've finally found the last book. And all I did was turn around and see it, like it was waiting for me.
Review
It took me 5 or 6 years to find this book, and about five minutes to realize I was going to hate it.
In the last two books of the Compass Club series, we have had a hero and a sad little heroine who's supposed to be a cold hearted spitfire with a terrible secret they must protect from their lovers and thus act the way they djo; an excuse no better then the bad boy but secretly loves her jackassery I see too much of in YA. All I Ever Needed was no exception to this formula, and featured a very stupid heroine with a stupider secret that crumbled the logic needed for this plot to function.
Maybe my grandmother bought only the first two and the last novels in this series on purpose. The emoness of the other books aside, All I Ever Needed is so goddamn emotional it drove me nuts. The heroine, the hero, the heroine, the heroine, did I mention the heroine yet? Her character, by far, was the worse part of the novel, closely followed by whatever plot it was supposed to have.
I suppose the hero is considerably better than both in order for the novel's core audience, women!, to fall in love with him or something. Maybe that's why the heroine is such an idiot...
All I Ever Needed was nothing I ever needed or wanted or even will put up with again. I finished it solely to finish the series; a decision I sort of regret now after encountering such a montage of weak women who are portrayed as strong and plots that revolve around sex, both bad and good, and heroes who save the day while I gag off in the corner.
A typical Harlequin experience?
1.5/5
Once upon a time, okay not really, but a long time ago when my grandmother was still alive, she was really into Harlequin, etc..., and used to buy books from them. One of the series she followed was the Compass Club, a 4 book series that she accidently only ended up getting 3 of: 1, 2, and 4. When she passed these books to me I was about 16. I've been searching ever since in used bookstores, and the like.
And now, at 21, I've finally found the last book. And all I did was turn around and see it, like it was waiting for me.
Review
It took me 5 or 6 years to find this book, and about five minutes to realize I was going to hate it.
In the last two books of the Compass Club series, we have had a hero and a sad little heroine who's supposed to be a cold hearted spitfire with a terrible secret they must protect from their lovers and thus act the way they djo; an excuse no better then the bad boy but secretly loves her jackassery I see too much of in YA. All I Ever Needed was no exception to this formula, and featured a very stupid heroine with a stupider secret that crumbled the logic needed for this plot to function.
Maybe my grandmother bought only the first two and the last novels in this series on purpose. The emoness of the other books aside, All I Ever Needed is so goddamn emotional it drove me nuts. The heroine, the hero, the heroine, the heroine, did I mention the heroine yet? Her character, by far, was the worse part of the novel, closely followed by whatever plot it was supposed to have.
I suppose the hero is considerably better than both in order for the novel's core audience, women!, to fall in love with him or something. Maybe that's why the heroine is such an idiot...
All I Ever Needed was nothing I ever needed or wanted or even will put up with again. I finished it solely to finish the series; a decision I sort of regret now after encountering such a montage of weak women who are portrayed as strong and plots that revolve around sex, both bad and good, and heroes who save the day while I gag off in the corner.
A typical Harlequin experience?
1.5/5
January 20, 2018
l enjoyed the banter between the H/h. The story is filled with suspense, twists, intrigue and for me at times aggravation. Why aggravation, you may ask, because it wasn't until about 2/3rds into the book that we find out the reason our h kept turning down the H in everything. It was very frustrating to say the least. So until you hit that mark, yes the banter kept it going, but my not understanding her motives was keeping me from fully enjoying the storyl
This is the first book I've read of the series, and I wasn't lost, so it is a stand alone. But, I want to read the stories about North and West for sure.
There is very descriptive lovemaking, a lot outside of marriage and then some within. It was filled with passion after I understood the h's reasons.
There are a lot of villains, and some were hard to keep track of. I dislike with an author using similar last names, makes keeping track confusing at times - such as last names of Tremont and Trumbull. I know when you look at them you can tell, but when they are not on the same page, and you have many character's it was confusing at times to me.
Also, you would be reading and it was like DID I MISS SOMETHING, because the story seemed it picked up in the middle. First someone is missing, and then they are together in a room. The author does later explain how the mystery was solved, but this happened several times and I would keep going back to see if I skipped pages, until I realized this is how the author tells her stories. She solves the problems then describes how it was solved. After I got you to that, it was an easy read.
There is no cliffhanger, we do get HEA and a very bumpy rough road to read it. We are treated to an epilogue, but one question is not answered and I am assuming that will be in book 4.
You really get your monies worth in this story, so I do recommend it. I am not going into the blurb as I can't improve on the author's description, just what you may get out of reading it. (ljb)
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This is the first book I've read of the series, and I wasn't lost, so it is a stand alone. But, I want to read the stories about North and West for sure.
There is very descriptive lovemaking, a lot outside of marriage and then some within. It was filled with passion after I understood the h's reasons.
There are a lot of villains, and some were hard to keep track of. I dislike with an author using similar last names, makes keeping track confusing at times - such as last names of Tremont and Trumbull. I know when you look at them you can tell, but when they are not on the same page, and you have many character's it was confusing at times to me.
Also, you would be reading and it was like DID I MISS SOMETHING, because the story seemed it picked up in the middle. First someone is missing, and then they are together in a room. The author does later explain how the mystery was solved, but this happened several times and I would keep going back to see if I skipped pages, until I realized this is how the author tells her stories. She solves the problems then describes how it was solved. After I got you to that, it was an easy read.
There is no cliffhanger, we do get HEA and a very bumpy rough road to read it. We are treated to an epilogue, but one question is not answered and I am assuming that will be in book 4.
You really get your monies worth in this story, so I do recommend it. I am not going into the blurb as I can't improve on the author's description, just what you may get out of reading it. (ljb)
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June 30, 2024
Dieses Buch ist der dritte Band der „Club der Lords“-Reihe von Jo Goodman und spielt zeitlich ziemlich parallel zu Band eins und zwei der Reihe. Die Protagonisten sind Gabriel Whitney, achter Marquess von Eastlyn, und Lady Sophia Colley. Die Geschichte beginnt, als das Gericht kursiert, dass die beiden verlobt seien. Es gibt sehr viele Irrungen und Wirrungen in der Geschichte, und erst nach und nach findet man heraus, wer dieses Gerücht verbreitet hat, was es mit Sophies Familie und deren Verhalten auf sich hat und welche Aufträge East eigentlich von Colonel Blackwood erhalten hat.
Ich mochte die Geschichte der beiden sehr gerne, was wohl auch ein großes Stück durch meine Sympathie Sophie gegenüber kommt. Sie ist eine wirklich starke Frau und lässt sich nicht davon entmutigen, wenn Männer meinen, über ihr zu stehen. Außerdem sagt sie ihre Meinung und ist unfassbar schlau, sodass sie so einige Zusammenhänge weit vor East erkennt und sie mischt auch deutlich bei den Geschehnissen mit.
Viele Zusammenhänge habe ich auch sehr spät verstanden, was natürlich damit zusammenhängen kann, dass ich die ersten Bände der Reihe schon vor circa einem Jahr gelesen und einiges wieder vergessen habe. Beim Lesen kam es mir allerdings so vor, als würden die Charaktere ständig in Rätseln sprechen, einiges habe ich vermutlich noch immer nicht kapiert (das Rätselraten hat aber tatsächlich viel Spaß gemacht). Am Ende wird zwar alles schön aufgelöst, ich würde aber dennoch empfehlen, die Bücher in nicht allzu langen Zeitabständen zu lesen, um Verständnisproblemen vorzubeugen.
Alles in allem lässt sich sagen: ich mochte dieses Buch ganz gerne und ich fand es teilweise auch etwas anspruchsvoll zu lesen – vor allem durch die ganzen sehr subtilen Hinweise, durch die man eventuell auch das Ende hätte vorhersehen können. Wenn ihr das allerdings mögt, kann ich euch das Buch definitiv empfehlen 😊
Ich mochte die Geschichte der beiden sehr gerne, was wohl auch ein großes Stück durch meine Sympathie Sophie gegenüber kommt. Sie ist eine wirklich starke Frau und lässt sich nicht davon entmutigen, wenn Männer meinen, über ihr zu stehen. Außerdem sagt sie ihre Meinung und ist unfassbar schlau, sodass sie so einige Zusammenhänge weit vor East erkennt und sie mischt auch deutlich bei den Geschehnissen mit.
Viele Zusammenhänge habe ich auch sehr spät verstanden, was natürlich damit zusammenhängen kann, dass ich die ersten Bände der Reihe schon vor circa einem Jahr gelesen und einiges wieder vergessen habe. Beim Lesen kam es mir allerdings so vor, als würden die Charaktere ständig in Rätseln sprechen, einiges habe ich vermutlich noch immer nicht kapiert (das Rätselraten hat aber tatsächlich viel Spaß gemacht). Am Ende wird zwar alles schön aufgelöst, ich würde aber dennoch empfehlen, die Bücher in nicht allzu langen Zeitabständen zu lesen, um Verständnisproblemen vorzubeugen.
Alles in allem lässt sich sagen: ich mochte dieses Buch ganz gerne und ich fand es teilweise auch etwas anspruchsvoll zu lesen – vor allem durch die ganzen sehr subtilen Hinweise, durch die man eventuell auch das Ende hätte vorhersehen können. Wenn ihr das allerdings mögt, kann ich euch das Buch definitiv empfehlen 😊
November 8, 2025
**MINOR SPOILERS**
This book is the third in the Compass Club series but can be read as a standalone. The book takes place more or less in parallel with the other books. There are references to the story lines of the other books that help you realize where the action is in the overall timeline, but they offer only minor spoilers. I have read them in order and, so far, like this book the best. (I have not yet read the 4th). The references to the other stories help draw the series together.
The author provides rich detail in descriptions and dialogues. She does not do the same for the main characters emotions and motivations. Eventually, you do find out what the characters are thinking and feeling but I think some of that could be done earlier in the book without sacrificing some of the suspense. Some of the detail that she includes makes the story incredibly complete, she includes small motions that people do.
I liked Sophie’s strength in this story. She was clever and had a great turn of phrase at some points. East was a strong character and needed someone like Sophie to make a good match. In the first book of the series, I think Elizabeth is fairly unlikeable early in the story. Later this is overcome to some extent. In this book, that is not the case. Sophie is quite likeable throughout.
The friendship between the four Compass Club members was great and very realistic. They were supportive of each other, intelligent, and the author was able to convey the comfort of long standing relationships.
I debated a 4 star vs 5 star rating, but decided on 4 because I do think it would be helpful to have a little more detail about what the characters were thinking and feeling early on. I would consider it to be a 4+ rating.
I do plan to read the fourth book in the series. I wasn’t sure I would coming into this book, but I enjoyed it so I will continue onwards.
January 25, 2018
Complex and engaging characters
This is my first book by this author and I have to say I was not disappointed. Unlike most books of this era the writing was in keeping with the setting of the novel. I found myself working to keep my attention a bit in the beginning as the author portrayed both characters in a complex manner. They were slowly revealed to us as they were revealed to each other. Sophie was a true image enigma. I loved her character. She was essentially powerless,But her resilience and stubbornness tipped the scales more often than not with the male characters she needed to deal with.
East was equally as enjoyable- devoted to his friends and family, and willing to work hard to earn Sophie’s trust. I liked that while there was a mistress in the book, the relationship was long over and both Sophie and East treated her courteously, even in the face of her machinations. That showed class and restraint.
I would recommend this book- it requires some dedication to read, as the author is very subtle in her depictions but it was well written and worth the time
This is my first book by this author and I have to say I was not disappointed. Unlike most books of this era the writing was in keeping with the setting of the novel. I found myself working to keep my attention a bit in the beginning as the author portrayed both characters in a complex manner. They were slowly revealed to us as they were revealed to each other. Sophie was a true image enigma. I loved her character. She was essentially powerless,But her resilience and stubbornness tipped the scales more often than not with the male characters she needed to deal with.
East was equally as enjoyable- devoted to his friends and family, and willing to work hard to earn Sophie’s trust. I liked that while there was a mistress in the book, the relationship was long over and both Sophie and East treated her courteously, even in the face of her machinations. That showed class and restraint.
I would recommend this book- it requires some dedication to read, as the author is very subtle in her depictions but it was well written and worth the time
December 8, 2020
The Marquess of Eastlyn is tasked with helping the government bring about a trade alliance in the Far East. He’s distracted from this mission by trying to quell the social uproar of his false engagement to Lady Sophia Colley, a rumor started by East’s former mistress seeking revenge on him. When East meets with Lady Sophia to make a formal offer, he begins to suspect her family is in dire financial straits, trying to marry her off for money, and quite possibly at the heart of a plot to profit illegally from the trade alliance East is supposed to be negotiating.
While I love the beautiful prose and intelligent principals that Jo Goodman always delivers, the pacing of this story was really slow and took an effort to move through. Likely this has to do with the fact that story was originally written almost 20 years ago, when pacing in romance novels was quite different than today. Also, I felt that the reader was often outside of the clues/mystery and sometimes it can be hard to follow. However, there were some very romantic elements in the end, that made for a satisfying conclusion.
While I love the beautiful prose and intelligent principals that Jo Goodman always delivers, the pacing of this story was really slow and took an effort to move through. Likely this has to do with the fact that story was originally written almost 20 years ago, when pacing in romance novels was quite different than today. Also, I felt that the reader was often outside of the clues/mystery and sometimes it can be hard to follow. However, there were some very romantic elements in the end, that made for a satisfying conclusion.
January 2, 2017
4 stars
I have known Jo's work in Western historical but this was my first of her regency stories.
Her style is a little different here, a little more light hearted and fun, but no less powerful with the way she imparts characters' emotions from subtle things like their glances and small movements.
I love the witty dialogue between our hero East and heroine Sophie. The story features a very strong first half. The second half however frizzles a little, especially when we find out the reason she has been saying no to his proposals.
The intrigue part of the story was well done. I'm not a fan of introgue romances because they are often not well done or take over the romance. This one manages the balance well enough.
At A Glance
HEA
Love triangle
Cheating
Descriptive sex with OM/OW
I have known Jo's work in Western historical but this was my first of her regency stories.
Her style is a little different here, a little more light hearted and fun, but no less powerful with the way she imparts characters' emotions from subtle things like their glances and small movements.
I love the witty dialogue between our hero East and heroine Sophie. The story features a very strong first half. The second half however frizzles a little, especially when we find out the reason she has been saying no to his proposals.
The intrigue part of the story was well done. I'm not a fan of introgue romances because they are often not well done or take over the romance. This one manages the balance well enough.
At A Glance
HEA
Love triangle
Cheating
Descriptive sex with OM/OW
April 16, 2019
Copyright 2003, this is the 3rd in the series. All 4 books are completely stand alone & can be read in any order. They revolve around 4 men who formed a club at school based on their names. This is Eastlyns' (East's) story. All 4 of the books also are "going on" at the same time. So, if you read all the stories, you'll see familiar scenes from the prospective of whichever hero you're reading.
So, East's story is probably the more low key of the 4. That's not to say it's less interesting. The Compass Club has their hands full with their nemesis the Bishops. East's life has been made very complicated due to the machinations of his mistress. After meeting with Sophie he makes the decision to offer for her. She declines & has good reason for doing so.
I'm not going to get into spoilers here & others have done a better job with the synopsis. I liked this story & recommend it!
So, East's story is probably the more low key of the 4. That's not to say it's less interesting. The Compass Club has their hands full with their nemesis the Bishops. East's life has been made very complicated due to the machinations of his mistress. After meeting with Sophie he makes the decision to offer for her. She declines & has good reason for doing so.
I'm not going to get into spoilers here & others have done a better job with the synopsis. I liked this story & recommend it!
October 3, 2021
Accidentally I decided to read this book first - before the two previous books of this series and I noticed that bits of the plot were missing - because they were part of the books before, which was rather an annoying thing for my reading experience.
Also, the plot was to much drawn out - I don’t like to be left out as a reader as to the motives of the heroes I am reading about. Here, the heroine’s reasons for her behavior were given much later in the book, which was irritating. This kind of thing I only expect in mystery novels not in a romance.
I did not like the hero - he forgot about his first encounter with the heroine (a waltz danced together at Almack‘s!!!) and the only thing he remembered about her from their second encounter was that he did not like her. A real jerk, in my opinion!
Also, the plot was to much drawn out - I don’t like to be left out as a reader as to the motives of the heroes I am reading about. Here, the heroine’s reasons for her behavior were given much later in the book, which was irritating. This kind of thing I only expect in mystery novels not in a romance.
I did not like the hero - he forgot about his first encounter with the heroine (a waltz danced together at Almack‘s!!!) and the only thing he remembered about her from their second encounter was that he did not like her. A real jerk, in my opinion!
March 27, 2020
The hero is the "tinker" or fixer of the Compass Club, a group of four boys who become friends at boarding school in the late 1700s. He comes to her because a rumor has been circulating that they are engaged, though they've only met once or twice. Her relatives have encouraged the rumors because he's rich and they're short of money, but she's determined not to marry him, or anyone. The secrets and revelations come slowly, but in good time as the relationship develops. The hero is on a mission from his sort of boss to get agreement from her cousin (who acts more as an uncle, and head of the family) and his faction for a government policy, but he's more interested in the heroine. It's a good read. I liked it a lot.
November 29, 2016
"I received this book for free from eBook Discovery. I voluntarily review this book. This is my honest review."
Unfortunately it took me longer than expected to read this book. It was much longer than I thought it would be but in spite of that I found it an interesting story line and was eager to find the outcome of the drama and relationships.
East and Sofia made a good team and Sofia was a good strong character. I would recommend this author to people who enjoy a good historical escape.
Unfortunately it took me longer than expected to read this book. It was much longer than I thought it would be but in spite of that I found it an interesting story line and was eager to find the outcome of the drama and relationships.
East and Sofia made a good team and Sofia was a good strong character. I would recommend this author to people who enjoy a good historical escape.
May 22, 2018
Intriguing
Jo Goodman is always great! This is East's story. All 4 are included. Sofia and East are brought together by gossip of their impending marriage. She is enamored of him and fears for his life by actions of her family is one reason she refuses his suit. East and his cronies all work for the crown. Sofia is a poor relation to a couple of not so nice family members. I enjoyed the budding relationship between the couple. Comical even. The comradarie of the men is funny too. A lot of great characters. I hope you enjoy!
Jo Goodman is always great! This is East's story. All 4 are included. Sofia and East are brought together by gossip of their impending marriage. She is enamored of him and fears for his life by actions of her family is one reason she refuses his suit. East and his cronies all work for the crown. Sofia is a poor relation to a couple of not so nice family members. I enjoyed the budding relationship between the couple. Comical even. The comradarie of the men is funny too. A lot of great characters. I hope you enjoy!
September 25, 2017
I love this series. It has a little bit of everything: intrigue, suspense, romance, some humor. It is not a fast read. There is a lot of dialog between the characters. Normally, this would be filler that I would skip. However, all of the conversations contain information that moves the story forward. It is really interesting how Ms. Goodman overlays the time period from book to book. It gave me a reminder of how the previous story fit into the next one. Recommend!
January 23, 2018
3.5. stars, with great H, sort of spy and an annoying h. She is being abused by her family, the H's mistress puts out a nasty story about her, so the couple meet again. It is very wordy, nicely written, but the h was an odd mix of smart, and TSTL. I didn't think her actions were sensible, and she treated the H like he was an idiot. He could have done better, but he was smitten with her, they get their HEA. Just OK.
February 24, 2018
All I Ever Needed review
This story captured my attention from beginning to end. The romance was wonderful, the story intriguing. East was a genuinely likeable hero and Sophie was his perfect match. I enjoyed their conversations and wondered the reasons for Sophie's denial of East's proposal which was more then acceptable when finally revealed. Totally enjoyable and memorable romance.
This story captured my attention from beginning to end. The romance was wonderful, the story intriguing. East was a genuinely likeable hero and Sophie was his perfect match. I enjoyed their conversations and wondered the reasons for Sophie's denial of East's proposal which was more then acceptable when finally revealed. Totally enjoyable and memorable romance.
January 22, 2019
I haven't read the other books in this series, but now I would like to. This is an entertaining book, more humor and witty dialogue than the usual romance. The story line is a bit repetitive, that is the reason I gave it a 3 star rating. The heroine is unwilling to show much common sense, that bothered me too. It is interesting how they reveal the current opioid addiction problem is not new and where some of the roots are.
March 31, 2021
Another lovely story in this series! I read them out of order but the way the stories are intertwined makes it easy for you to start anywhere and not spoil and/or miss much. I'll definitely be looking for more Jo Goodman books after really enjoying these. It's always a pleasant surprise to find a new author you immediately want to immerse yourself in!
January 23, 2018
Excellent and complex characters
Liked the twists and turns of the plot and the contrast between the two families. East is familiar from previous books and Sofie turned out to be a strong march.
Liked the twists and turns of the plot and the contrast between the two families. East is familiar from previous books and Sofie turned out to be a strong march.
November 9, 2018
Lady Sophia Colley is my favorite of the Compass Club heroines, but East is my least favorite of the heroes, he just seemed so benign. And of all the suspense plots this one was the most plausible.
August 17, 2025
A small group of boys work together to best bullies and then they stay friends and work for England to best bullies. Sophia thought she was protecting East by refusing to marry him, he had other plans.
January 20, 2018
Good story to sink into. A bit of pending danger lurking in the background keeps the reader guessing. Some steamy scenes wherein the reader can feel the passion between h and H.
February 16, 2018
Great read about four friends East West North West
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 12, 2018
ENCHANTING!
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