All Things Beautiful

by Cathy Maxwell

A classic romance from New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Cathy Maxwell.

I believe the most difficult challenge any of us encounter in life is overcoming other people’s expectations. However, once we do, life opens up. In ALL THINGS BEAUTIFUL, I wrote a heroine who, in spite of her fears, her doubts, was willing to risk all—and met a man who fell in love with her spirit.

Isn’t that what we all want?”—Cathy Maxwell

Lady Julia Markham was the toast of London Society—until an ill-advised attempted elopement ended in betrayal and left her good name in tatters. Now ruined, penniless, and desperate, she has agreed to wed the magnetic and possibly dangerous Brader Wolf. A dashing, phenomenally successful self-made businessman, Brader wants this union to help gain him entry into the drawing rooms of the aristocracy, nothing more. Julia, however, is a woman of rare passion and daring, irresistibly drawn to this enigmatic, infuriating man, and no mere marriage of mutual convenience will do. But how far will the spirited beauty have to go to satisfy a heart that will settle for no less than the love of a lifetime?

Genres: Historical Romance, Romance, Historical, Regency, Marriage Of Convenience, Historical Fiction, Fiction

375 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 1994

About the author

CATHY MAXWELL spends hours in front of her computer pondering the question, "Why do people fall in love?" It remains for her the mystery of life and the secret to happiness.

She lives in the Austin, TX area where she is having the time of her life.

Visit her on Instagram, Twitter, FB, and TikTok at maxwellcathy (Yes, some other Cathy Maxwell nabbed the handle. However, she does own www.cathymaxwell.com and she'd love for you to swing by.)

Reviews

[Cecilia · Rating 1 out of 5]

Disappointing. The premise seemed to have a lot of potential, but then the execution was full of over the top drama, with supporting characters being either saintly or psychotic (mostly the latter), and the romance being rather unconvincing. The voice of the writing itself also had an unpolished feel. If this turned out to be Maxwell's first book, I wouldn't be surprised.

[Nefise · Rating 3 out of 5]

It really captured my attention and I just started to flick through to taste the author's writing style. First, I couldn't quit reading, than I couldn't keep going because so much angst and problems that it made me very tense which is the last thing risght now :)

So I'm giving it an avarage point. It's not less because writing style was good and plot is very intriguing, not much because there were so much subject on their sleeves to solve and they couldn't communicate properbly.

[Kathleen J]

Thank heavens! A heroine who actually bears a slight resemblance to a period character! Why must so many current historic romances star the same heroine, in only slight variations: bold, passionate, outspoken--unfortunately, often to the point of shrewishness, impetuous---unfortunately, often to the point of stupidity, and unbelievably sexually forward for the times, especially given she is gently bred and inexperienced? I want to see a different protagonist, preferably one a little less anachronistic, star in more non-paranormal historic romances. I appreciate that Maxwell has given us that.

All Things Beautiful is fresh in many ways. I loved that, for a change, the heroine doesn't even know how babies are made! And is at first repulsed by the idea of "doing THAT." I loved the opening in which we find that the members of the h's noble family talk and act like trailer trash. I like that the h allows the big, strong, experienced men to go after the bad guys instead of insisting she chase after them too. Still, when forced to deal with the bad guys herself, she is brave and strong and ready to fight like the devil. Good stories. Good characters.

[Jultri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic first 1/3 of the book where powerful alpha male business man, Brader Wolf, sealed the deal to enter into a marriage of convenience with Lady Julia Markham and more importantly, allowed him to take possession of Kimberwood, the estate he has long desired. Once the toast of the ton for her stunning beauty, Julia fell fast and hard from grace some years ago after a foolish attempted elopement that ended in her very public humiliation and subsequent exile from society. Brader was the epitome of arrogant masculinity as he swiftly dealt with and dismissed her cash strapped and affection-challenged family. Julia was harder to dismiss, a heady combination of frailty and strength, a product of her family and society's cruelty and her own innate pride and grace. She soon made it impossible for him to ignore her existence as she encroached her way into his household and subsequently his heart. Unfortunately the book lost some of the initial wonderfully heart-wrenching angst in the second half as they united too quickly against the caricatural evil presented by her brothers.

[kate · Rating 2 out of 5]

Cathy Maxwell's first book and it shows. She was off to a slow start. Over the top villains. Unlikable H/h. Plot holes up the yazoo It did have a neat if unbelievable epilogue .

If you are trying this author for the first time you might want to try one of her later efforts. She improved with time and experience.

[Monique Takens · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ik heb al veel boeken van deze auteur gelezen maar dit boek - haar eerste nog wel ! - is veruit het best. Ik was eigenlijk van plan om dit boek samen met andere titels van C. M. die ik nog heb liggen te verkopen maar dat doe ik toch maar niet , dit boek gaat in de kast van boeken om nog een keer ( en misschien nog een keer enz. ) te lezen .

[Britt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awww

Well I wasn't sure what to expect from this story but I did enjoy it. Julia and Braden had a rocky start, but they made it. Adult content throughout the story. Liked the epilogue.

[pmatch1104 · Rating 1 out of 5]

Do yourself a favor and don’t waste your time on this book. Life is too short and there are better books out there to read. The only thing beautiful about this story is the title.

The summary of this book drew me in. It sounded interesting with the potential to be a great story. It started off well and quickly went downhill. About the 58% completed mark, I couldn’t believe I was still reading it. Thankfully, I borrowed the ebook via OverDrive so I wasn’t out any money. I did finish the book, but it was a struggle.

The angst in this book is completely over the top to the point of being beyond believable. The entire book flowed from one over-the-top problem of their own making to another. I found the characters to be very self-centered and not very likeable. The only character of any interest in the entire book is Nan, the dying mother of Brader Wolf.

Lady Julia Markham – heroine who was once a diamond of the first water. Disgraced after eloping and then betrayed to win a wager. Later at her oldest brother’s urging, she tried to commit suicide ... this is happened prior to the start of this story. To further suspend logic, the young man she fell in love with and eloped with turned out to be gay so she was still a virgin. Her debt-ridden family forces her to marry a rude, wealthy cit who treats her even worse than her family at the start of their marriage.

Julia goes to study to seduce Brader into having sex so she can get pregnant, but when he penetrates her, she gets upset. In a direct quote from the book: “The tear of her maidenhead was nothing compared to her shock at the violation of the deepest, most private part of her body! … Julia’s mind reeled. What was he doing? What were they doing? How dare he do this to her?” WHAT?! The author makes it sound like he raped her when that was not the case. I almost DNF’ed right then and there. The writing in this book was frequently contradictory. Julia was the one who sought out her husband for the express purpose of having sex to create a baby and then she flips out. After their abortive first attempt at sex on his desk in the study and upon discovering that Julia was a virgin, he roars, “God! Save me from the stupidity of English womanhood!” There is absolutely no chemistry between the hero and heroine. She’s an annoying Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde type of character who is TSTL, and he’s a disrespectful bully who thinks very little of her and only married her to gain ownership of Kimberwood, a house she inherited from her grandmother.

The height of Julia’s flip-flopping personality occurs when her brothers, Geoff and Harry, show up to remind her of her highborn heritage. It’s sad that she starts to fall into “this game they have played before.” At that point, I lost what little respect I had for her character. Poor Brader is reduced to bargaining for her to stay with him, but only if she will treat him as her equal. What a messed up couple!

I pretty much skimmed the rest of this book just to make it to the end. I’m not sure I would read another book by this author. There was just too much over-the-top angst and trouble in one story to be anywhere nearable the realm of believability.


Deducted stars for:
- Inanimate objects: Danescourt’s mullioned windows, shawl’s fringe. Should be ‘the mullioned windows of Danescourt’ and ‘the fringe on the shawl’
- Missing commas following Introductory Prepositional Phrases
- Errors/omissions: After the wedding ceremony between Lady Julia and Brader Wolf, they left the church immediately without signing the parish register or anything like that.
- Totally unbelievable storyline that just kept going from bad to worse
- Lack of chemistry between the hero and the heroine.
- Characters who lacked depth and were unlikeable

[lia · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's been a while since I read historical romance and i'm glad i chose this to initiate me back to the genre. I feel that today's romance books relied heavily on sex and neglects everything else namely a good story and likeable hero and heroine. All things beautiful is having none of that.

Julia Markham was England's incomparable for three years. She had the ton at her feet and have so many suitors for her hand. But an elopement and betrayal ruins all that and now three years later she hides herself from the world with a suicide scars on her wrist.

One day her child hood friend and her parents come to Danescourt her family's house to deliver the news that Brader Wolf, a self made business man ask for her hand to get Kimberwood. Julia's inheritance from her grandmother that will pass to her future husband.

Julia, knows she has limited option, accept the proposal.

I really like Julia. Three years ago she looked vain and selfish when she had all London's ton in love with her. But deep down she just want to be rescued from being sold to cover the gambling debt her family amassed. She chose her rescuer unwisely and paid the price ever since. But when you were at the pit bottom, the only way to go is up. So that what she did. She decided she can't change the past so she look forward to the future and determine to make the best of it.

Brader Wolf is like every other hero in romance novel which is wealthy, brooding and has dark good look. But unlike every other hero he wasn't cruel and emotionally abuse the heroine. He just believes all the slander and gossips about Julia and decided he only marry her for Kimberwood without really want to make her his wife.
Once he gets to know Julia better, and knows her secret and what really went on that night three years ago, he let himself fall in love with her and doesn't hesitate to let Julia knows.

I like the fact that Julia, is a woman of the time. Which means she doesn't know how babies are made. The scene when she believes that she succeeded in making baby with Brader made me smile.

I will read from this author again.

[Caroline · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not the most original of themes: a marriage of convenience between Brader, an overbearing wealthy merchant, and Julia, a naive young woman who has somehow survived the psychological abuse of her family of down-and-out amoral aristocrats.

Plot holes abound and every time Julia puts a foot wrong her giant of a husband appears out of nowhere to catch her before she trips -- again, and again, and again.

Although the broad sweep of the narrative is contrived and predictable, the story abounds with glittering gems of vivid and unexpected detail. The most memorable character in the book is Nan, Brader's blind and fragile mother. Her main role in the narrative would appear to be the revelation of tantalising snippets of information about her relationship with Brader's father, but her gentle wisdom and sympathy provide a solid pivot around which some of the more frenetic action revolves, grounding what might otherwise have been an improbable story.

Ms Maxwell's debut novel testifies to a lively imagination and a fine writing style, but it could have been improved by a more disciplined control over the narrative.

[DemetraP · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great love story. I loved how the heroine stood up for what she wanted. Slow build to the hero liking and respecting her.

Most of the action takes place at the hero's new house (which he gets for marrying her) I liked how the book focused on the couple.

I took off 1 star for the heroine's awful, mean, evil family. I could hardly believe how uncaring and selfish they were.

I liked the humor in the story. The epilogue was a lot of fun too.

[Darbella · Rating 4 out of 5]

Julia and Brader. Unusual story line about a heroine from a messed up parents and brothers. Julia is beautiful. Brader is Alpha. The first part of the story is stronger than the last chapters. I enjoyed Julia and Brader falling in love with each other. Very nice epilogue.

[Melanie♥ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this back when it was released and find it just as good the second time around.

[BRNTerri · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was pretty dark in nature in several ways with a slight gothic feel. It spans not quite a year. This is the author's first novel, which came out in 1994, the year I began reading historical romance. I learned of this novel many years ago, probably on the defunct Amazon romance forum. Something in the heroine's past made me want to read this, so I finally did, as it's very atypical for a historical romance book character.

Julia is twenty-four. Her parents and three brothers are garbage and heartless. All but one brother who's an alcoholic seems to be addicted to gambling. Her much older brother, Geoffrey, I think he's thirty-five, is truly a bad seed and villain. A few years prior something awful happened in Julia's life (after the attempted elopement) and her brother was involved. He helped Julia do something and it just makes no sense for him to be involved in that. He had nothing at all to gain by it other than to get pleasure from watching someone suffer.

Brader's in his early thirties, comes from nothing and has become wealthy. His parents weren't married to each other and his father died when he was a baby (I think). He marries Julia for her property, Kimberwood, because his mother and her first husband lived on it over thirty years ago and her first husband is buried there. He's a decent guy who treats Julia well...most of the time.

I'm not sure how I feel about Julia. I guess I don't really have an opinion of her. She's judgmental toward Brader since he's from a different 'class' than her. She literally doesn't know how babies are made, which is very annoying to read. She's got a strong personality yet she's easily led by her brother Geoffrey and we aren't made to understand why and it's frustrating. He's after money and wants her to do away with Brader.

As with many novels, a lot of action takes place right at the end and that's what happened here. It was no surprise it all involved Geoffrey and was violent. It was a little over the top but I liked it anyway.

The eight page epilogue took place twenty-five years later and consisted of nothing but them hanging out with most of their six living children.

[Amber · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lady Julia, once the seasons incomparable has been living in exile for the last 3 years so when her parents and a former friend all show up to present her with a proposal from someone she's never met she's surprised to say the least.
Brader just wants Kimberwood which is part of her dowry, he cares nothing at about Julia, so after their wedding he refuses to consummate the marriage and ditches her in the middle of the night taking all but 1 servant with him. Julia refuses to be left behind and 4 days later shows up at Kimberwood.
The animosity between these 2 is intense and her entire family are horrible people and treat her incredibly badly. She's a snob and he's a jerk but they work it out. His mom was such a sweetheart.

TW: attempted suicide, miscarriage, child death

[Dana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. The characters are complex and likeable. Both have been through a lot in the past and have trust issues for good reasons. Brought together by fate these two were meant to be together and the author made discovering that fact intriguing and worth while. Sometimes there lack of trust gets in their way but for the most part they fall in love pretty smoothly. Chapter 20 and the epilogue were rushed and completely from left field and unnecessary. Other than that, I couldn’t put the book down and was enthralled throughout.

[Diana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not good enough...was expecting much more and at all times I felt something was missing from the story..after the first half the book became even more boring and cheesy...the conflict was forced and at the end solved very quickly like a bad comedy ...that’s why only 3 stars and I’m taking a break from this author...this book didn’t deserve any award.

[Deborah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cathy Maxwell has written a emotional story of love

All Things Beautiful is emotional story of finding love despite the odds. Julia’s story was devastating in that her family was so cruel and manipulative to her. Enter a marriage offer from Brader Wolf a wealthy businessman and you’ll be invested in this story of redemption.

[Cs · Rating 4 out of 5]

With a family like Julia's, who needs enemies?

[Patti Irwin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Each of the couple has incredible strength and pride, but also their own insecurities all of which must be worked out for them to find happiness. Isn’t that true of all relationships?

[★.¸¸.•´¯`•.¸¸.★ Mellie K · Rating 1 out of 5]

One of the stupidest books I have ever read

[Trudy Kimbrough · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this.

A very different kind of Regency romance story, from one of my favorite authors. Read all in one sitting, as usual.

[Cherie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story had quite a bit of angst as Julia is married off to a cit by her father. The cit, Brader, is wealthy beyond belief and her family wants to benefit financially from his largesse. Brader starts off not wanting Julia or a wife but wanting a property that she is tied to. She has a very blue blood attitude from her upbringing but is "ruined" due to bad decisions in her past. This is her chance to make amends to her family and to start over. The two have a rocky start, very rocky. I wondered how it would turn positive. I'm sad to say it turned because the author changed Brader's mind about how he felt about his wife. It just happened. I wish it hadn't been so sudden and unexplainable. Toward the end the drama became a bit much with her brothers wanting her husband dead, and her too, so that they could inherit the fortune but Brader didn't get to where he was by being stupid and he saves everyone in the end. Be ready to fall in love with his blind mother.

Very good but not great. Hence four stars.

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love that Cathy Maxwell didn't shy away from the reality of pain that rumors and scandal can cause. I also enjoyed Juliet's fortitude despite all she suffered at the hands of her family and the vitriol unleashed upon her by the ton. I could have used something from Brader's perspective, though. For some reason I could not resign myself to the fact that it was only from Juliet's point of view; I kept expecting it to shift. There were quite a few things that were over the top and many times when I hoped for honesty and for Juliet and Brader to be upfront about feelings, impressions, accusations, etc. instead of just telling one another to stop playing games and allowing pride to rule all their actions. I get why they would hold pride in such high esteem, but it doesn't mean I have to like it. Overall, I enjoyed the writing most of the time, the character's depth and I enjoyed the ending very, very much. 3.5 stars.

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book a lot up until the ending, and by "ending" I mean the part that came after what would have been a perfectly good ending, except the author seemed to think the hero and heroine needed to have one last conflict just so they could convince each other one more time that they really loved each other. It was the romance novel version of Jason rising up out of the lake or Carrie reaching out of the grave, except instead of making you scream with terror it just makes you scream, "Oh, come ON already!" Plus there is a totally pointless epilogue that may have been less annoying had I not already had my patience tried by the totally pointless ending.

[Maqluba · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think I would have enjoyed this much more had I had the hero's POV included. That said, I enjoyed our heroine most of the time and the rest of the time she confused me. She was strong, emotional, but somehow still came off as a doormat. I feel like she was confused too so I just went along with it. I do have to say the murders at the end were a creepy twist I didn't really see coming because usually bad guys in HRs either kill themselves or get tucked away.

I can't help it- I really like being in my hero's head:)

[Ana · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was painful to read especially in the beginning. I thought Julia was misunderstood and unfairly vilified. Her family deserved to be thrown down into the lowest ring of hell. But Julia is a warrior and I loved the way she fought back against the injustices done to her. She was Boadicea in the time of adversity. An English queen in her own right.

[Danielle The Book Huntress · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love marriage books so that's why I bought it. This book really surprised me at how good it was. I adored Julia and although Brader was cold at first, she really won him over. I really admire a heroine who is a survivor and has strength and integrity despite tough circumstances.”

[Ewa · Rating 2 out of 5]

I abandoned this book few days ago and by now lost all will to pick it up again and finish.

Hero was unnecessarily cruel and heroine was 100% TSTL. She desperately wanted to have a baby, but she didn't attend Sex Ed 101, so she had no idea how to obtain it. *eyeroll*

[Manju · Rating 3 out of 5]

cheers julia markham