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Wild Summer Rose
After inheriting his ancestral home but no money, Phillip St. Sebastien heads for London to find a wealthy wife, but instead he falls for a country woman who hopes to become a proper lady one day. Original.
390 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 1993
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
February 7, 2020
I'm giving this book 5 stars. I had debated whether it would rate 4, 4.5 or 5, but it never went below a 4 for me throughout its 390 pages and frequently hit that higher mark. So, what the heck, let's call it a 5-star book, since I enjoyed the heck out of reading it and easily lost myself in its pages. It's a fairly simple story overall, reminding me of a traditional Regency novel (although technically a Georgian novel, since it takes place in 1788 to 1790) although twice the normal length of a trad. The plot: Phillipe St. Sebastien leaves his decaying castle home in France to find a wealthy wife in England in the hope that he can use her money to restore his ancestral home, since his grandfather had squandered the family wealth. What he doesn't reckon on is falling in love with a penniless farm girl that is staying at the home of the rich young woman he is pursuing. Our heroine is that country lass, Victoria Larkin, raised on a farm with her father and brothers but sent to live with a well-to-do cousin in order to make her more refined. Phillipe must choose between love and money, but just as he chooses Victoria (unknown to her), he is called back to France during the turmoil of the French Revolution to rescue his sister Christianna. It's at this point that the novel takes a turn as the two lovers are separated and the pregnant Victoria is kidnapped by the villainous John Steel. It seemed inevitable that these two formidable men, John Steel and Phillipe, would come into conflict over Victoria and the ending gives us that expected showdown (although personally I would have liked to have seen Steel suffer more for what he did).
One of the things that I liked best about this novel is how enjoyable and vividly written many of the scenes were, as if I were watching a movie. For example, one scene where Phillipe and the cousin's daughter were inside the house and they see Victoria and two friends goofing around in the fountain outside. Sometimes the sex scenes in romance novels can be boring due to their sameness, but this one made me laugh out loud when after one passionate lovemaking session on the dressing table, Phillipe exclaimed, "Good God, Victoria. I could have at least taken you to the bed." She replied innocently, "The bed? Is that where this should be done?" Victoria is a refreshingly independent spirit who doesn't let others push her around if she can help it, and in fact rescues herself at one point when imprisoned by a foe.
According to information online, "Wild Summer Rose" was Amy Elizabeth Saunders' first novel, published in 1993. (The book is copyrighted to Amy Tucker, presumably her real name.) She actually wrote a sequel to this book, "Sweet Summer Storm" (1994), which concerns Phillipe's sister Christianne falling in love with Victoria's brother Gareth. (I look forward to reading that book, of course!) She only wrote two other novels, "Forever" (1994) and "Enchanted Time" (1995), both time travel romances. From 1995 to 2000, she also wrote five short stories that appeared in romance anthologies. And that's it apparently. Judging from how good her first novel was, it's a pity that she didn't write more.
One of the things that I liked best about this novel is how enjoyable and vividly written many of the scenes were, as if I were watching a movie. For example, one scene where Phillipe and the cousin's daughter were inside the house and they see Victoria and two friends goofing around in the fountain outside. Sometimes the sex scenes in romance novels can be boring due to their sameness, but this one made me laugh out loud when after one passionate lovemaking session on the dressing table, Phillipe exclaimed, "Good God, Victoria. I could have at least taken you to the bed." She replied innocently, "The bed? Is that where this should be done?" Victoria is a refreshingly independent spirit who doesn't let others push her around if she can help it, and in fact rescues herself at one point when imprisoned by a foe.
According to information online, "Wild Summer Rose" was Amy Elizabeth Saunders' first novel, published in 1993. (The book is copyrighted to Amy Tucker, presumably her real name.) She actually wrote a sequel to this book, "Sweet Summer Storm" (1994), which concerns Phillipe's sister Christianne falling in love with Victoria's brother Gareth. (I look forward to reading that book, of course!) She only wrote two other novels, "Forever" (1994) and "Enchanted Time" (1995), both time travel romances. From 1995 to 2000, she also wrote five short stories that appeared in romance anthologies. And that's it apparently. Judging from how good her first novel was, it's a pity that she didn't write more.
June 25, 2020
This was a cute story Vitoria Larkin needs to leave her home to go to her aunt to be more of a lady. Phillip Sebastian needs to leave his to find a rich wife so he can redo the castle of his childhood. Once Vic and Phillip meet sparks fly and they fall for one another.they marry
July 23, 2016
One that i reread a few times, was a gem in it's time.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews