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Title:
Love Saves the Day
Series: -----
Author:
Barbara Cartland
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre:
Romance
Pages: 110
Words: 39K
For
such a short book (only 110 pages), I have a feeling this is going to
be a long review. A lot went on behind the scenes before you ever saw
the updates each Friday in December. So I’ll start with those
updates and then blab on
While I touched upon, briefly, how I came to actually read this book in the Announcement post, I think a little more explanation would help set the backdrop for this review. When I wrote my first Book Recommendation post, Film-Authority left a comment recommending I read ALL of Barbara Cartland’s books. Eddie (Film-Authority) and I had a crazy friendship that started in ‘17 or ‘18 and we ended up commenting on each others blog, just crazy random bullshit that fed off of each other. We got threads going close to 100 comments long sometimes. It was great. So I knew Eddie was joking with his suggestion but also that he wasn’t. I dismissed it out of hand but as the season advanced, I began wondering. Could I leverage this into something amusing where I could get one up on Eddie AND amuse my followers AND get multiple blog posts out of it? Eddie is a movie and tv reviewer, professionally. I proposed to him that if I would read a Barbara Cartland book, that he in turn review 13 episodes of GI Joe, the 1980’s cartoon show. He agreed. Then the US elections came upon us and he took things hard. Once the elections were over, he took things even harder, to the point where he closed off the comments on his blog and stopped commenting elsewhere. I began wondering if our deal was off and should I NOT read a Barbara Cartland novel after all? Then common sense asserted itself and I realized that this was MY blog and it was MY choice and the decision about what I read was ultimately up to me. So I began the Barbara Cartland readalong. In deference to Film-Authority’s apparent wish for privacy, I didn’t link to him on any of the updates nor did I reference any of the above. But this is my goodbye to him, so I thought it fitting to write it out so I remember. It was a good run Eddie, and I wish you the best of luck in your future endeavors.
With that done, it’s time to head to the review “proper”, if you can call it that.
When I was looking for a Barbara Cartland book to read, I simply chose one at random. This is part of Cartland’s posthumuous “Pink Collection”, which are all the books she wrote but hadn’t published yet before she died. In all honesty, they are more like outlines of a novel than an actual novel. Most of Cartland’s novels are around the 200 page mark, so 110 for this means we all know we’re getting the rough draft. I went into this read fully prepared to hate it, to have a horrible time and to come out the other side despising Cartland as an author.
So imagine my utter amazement when I began the readalong and I was actually ENJOYING what I was reading? I was befuddled, I was astounded, I didn’t know if something was wrong with me! But maybe it was a fluke. It could happen, right? I mean, just because I enjoyed the first 3 chapters out of 10 didn’t mean I’d actually end up liking the whole thing. But as December rolled on and each Friday came and I read that week’s selection, I continued to enjoy myself, tremendously.
Yes,
this really was an outline. Yes, it was as cliched as could be
expected of a romance novel. Yes, yes, yes. And I still enjoyed it.
I LIKED the cliches. Cliches are cliches for a reason. It appealed to
that part of me that is gooey, deep inside where nobody can see. It
did help that it was so short. There wasn’t time to nitpick or be
all stuffy or get up on my high horse. I had a good time and while I
can’t give this more than a 3star, it fully earned those three
stars. I was also impressed with how Cartland the author could use a
phrase or just a couple of words to convey exactly what she wanted.
She was a master of the emotional impact of the words she chose and I
salute her skill.
In closing, I enjoyed this enough that I am seriously thinking of doing another Barbara Cartland readalong in December, same format. I am thinking I will try one of her novels from her “Eternal Collection”, which are her full sized novels. I’d like to see what the differences are. If you have a favorite Cartland novel, don’t hesitate to suggest it. If you’ve never read a Cartland Romance, give some serious thought to blocking out each Friday in December to do a readalong with me, we’ll have fun. Or else!
★★★☆☆
From the Publisher
The beautiful redheaded
Tiana Weston sets out to visit her inheritance
in Dorset with high hopes.
It had been her parents'
dream to restore Castle Rose to its former glory as it
is now a dilapidated ruin and only a small part is fit
to live in.
But Tiana soon discovers that enthusiasm
and determination alone do not pay the workmen or keep
property developers at bay and soon she is faced with
a dreadful dilemma.
Her handsome and aristocratic
next door neighbour Richard, the Earl of Austindale, also
faces considerable problems.
He has to be married
by midnight on his next birthday or he will lose
everything he holds most dear to his cousin Alan, Viscount
Paige.
A young girl anxious to protect her home –
a man desperate for a wife – it seems like a
sensible, business-like arrangement that they should marry each
other.
And Tiana finally accepts the Earl's proposal
and they are due to be married on his thirtieth
birthday.
But then an old flame of the Earl's
arrives to claim him for herself and Tiana is filled
with doubt especially as the Viscount is paying a great
deal of attention to her.
She also finds herself
in great danger because now so many are determined
that the marriage will not take place.
How Tiana
realises how much she loves the Earl.
And how
she finally finds happiness is all told in this
exciting romance
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