Holly Peterson: The Manny

One Word Summary: perjure

Synopsis: Jaime hires a man to babysit her son and provide a good male role model for him. She's already out of love with her spoiled-rich-husband but she's not ready to jump ship until her entire life falls apart and the Manny comes to rescue her

Review: There are so many things morally wrong with this story, and one thing I don't really understand. At the end of the book Jaime makes a deal with her husband to lie in court about his underhanded deals if he agrees to maintain her in the style to which she's accustomed and divorce her on her own terms with no fuss. How can she avoid going to jail with him if he reneges and she has to reveal the documents she has under lock and key? How can she carry the moral high ground in this situation?

Rate: 2 white ermine muffs

Helen Halstead: Mr. Darcy Presents His Bride

One Word Summary: Blase

Review: Mr. Darcy stomps around in his big boots scowling at anyone who looks at his wife wrong. And if he's not doing that he's delivering smouldering looks to Elizabeth. He never says anything truly intelligent through the whole book. In fact the reader is made to suffer while he repeats himself. He has two lines- "Don't look at my wife that way" & "Elizabeth I love you to distraction". He does of course laugh and smile now that he's married to dear Lizzie, but that's to her credit. The whole book is a tribute to her wit and charm. Only book itself is not witty or charming. On the upside Wickham dies in an asylum. Syphilis, who'd have guessed.

Synopsis: Elizabeth navigates the shoals London Society after her marriage. She takes the Ton by storm. Her younger sister, Kitty, becomes interesting.

Rate: 2 fairytale matches

Sophie Gee: The Scandal of the Season

One Words Summary: Swan 1711
Review: I haven't finished reading this book yet. So far I like. But it'll probably be an age before I pick it up again. When I read it I actually feel like I'm suffering through an English Winter with a too small fire.
Synopsis: The story that inspired Alexander Pope's famous poem: The Rape of the Lock.
Action List: Go back to university and take a degree in English.

Scribner 2007