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Gabriella (1992)

by Brenda Hiatt(Favorite Author)

3.57 of 5 Votes: 5

ISBN

0373311702 (ISBN13: 9780373311705)

languge

English

genre

Romance

publisher

Harlequin Books

series

Harlequin Regency Romance Series 2

review 1: Gabriella Gordon wants nothing more than to stay in the country and continue to operate her father's veterinary surgery practice along with her younger brother. When Mrs. Gordon sells the practice, Gabriella is forced to give in to her older sister's invitation to come to Town for the Season. Gabriella arrives at a posting inn to discover a horribly mistreated horse. She decides to take on the miscreant who dared abuse an animal. She rudely interrupts the Duke of Ravenham in the middle of wooing a new mistress. He's furious at the interruption by this little serving wench with the turquoise blue eyes. He refuses to set her straight on the matter. Once in London, Gabriella sees her sister has not changed. She's still superficial and social climbing. Angela has burned a few ... morebridges and is determined to use Gabriella to enhance her own social status. Angela introduces Gabriella to her friend and would-be lover Sir Frederick who is intrigued by the naive, outspoken Gabriella. While Brie is being brought out, The Duke of Ravenham must pay a debt and do a favor for the first man he sees. That man happens to be Angela's husband, the foppish and stupid Sir Seymour Platt, who decides Ravenham's favor will be to take up Gabriella. That way she is sure to be a success with the ton. Brie worries the arrogant man she remembers will humiliate her, but instead he introduces her to his sister Lady Elizabeth. The plan is a grand success and Brie attracts a number of suitors. Ravenham isn't what he appeared on first acquaintance and Brie comes to regard him as a friend, but how will he react when he finds out she's not an heiress as the gossips would have it? What will Ravenham think of Brie if he finds her out father was a veterinary surgeon? Brie knows one thing, she refuses to lie about who she is. Why does it hurt to think she may lose the friendship of the Duke of Ravenham? Little does she know, a new rumor circulating through the ton could do far more to ruin her reputation.I wanted to like this book because of the animal rights theme. Like Brie, I am passionate about animal welfare, so I was intrigued by the story at first. Unfortunately the book bored me so much that I ended up skimming most of it. The plot reads as if written from a template. There's nothing really substantial in it. Brie doesn't meet Wilberforce or join the RSPCA (founded in 1824 but I have no idea what year the book is set). The animal rights thing is dropped and picked up again when the plot requires advancing. The story features the usual superficial activities of the Season but nothing to really pinpoint the exact year the story takes place. It's all very pleasant. A lot of the action is basically summarized and shortened in favor of endlessly boring cliched scenes and pointless dialogue. A key moment in the plot towards the end is told after it happens. The romance doesn't quite make it to being a full blown romance. The characters are not on page together a lot and when they are, we're told what they did. They start to become friends but they don't really connect though we're told they give each other speaking looks. It wasn't quite enough for me to root for them to get together. I didn't care whether they did or didn't end up together in the end. The author had a little bit of knowledge of the Regency era and either didn't know or didn't care about all the nuances of etiquette. Etiquette plays a large role in the story yet the hero and heroine end up on a first name basis! There's also a scene where the heroine, another young lady and some gentlemen are present for a momentous event. I don't think an unmarried girl would have been in the room, let alone in the room with gentlemen. I'll let it slide that the heroine was there but not Elizabeth. There's another scene with Elizabeth that I didn't feel was quite right. The language sounds very modern too. The characters are just as boring as the plot. I liked Brie because of her love for animals and her desire to stay true to herself. I didn't like how she gave in to Angela so easily though and I found her very modern for a Regency heroine. Sometimes I didn't like the way she acted because it just wasn't even close to accurate. The other characters are largely superficial. I don't know much about Ravenham. His behavior in his initial scene is at odds with his behavior later on. He's supposed to be a Corinthian, but the only evidence of that is his teaching Brie how to drive. Apparently he's an excellent shot as well. He's the perfect paragon of a hero on the surface but we never get to dig beneath the surface to find out who he is and what he's feeling. I hated the misunderstanding because if she really was that close to Brie, he wouldn't have even considered it for a moment or wouldn't have cared. He took too long to get over himself. Elizabeth seems like an interesting character and a good friend for Brie. She's in the story more than her brother. I liked her because she was a good balance of ladylike and mischievous. There's a secondary hero who is another perfect paragon despite his tendency to gamble on anything. Another suitor is silly and too over the top. Angela is a beastly sister. If she were my sister we would have had some serious cat fights. I find it hard to believe she and Brie have the same parents. My sister and I are very different yet we have the same values more or less. The other villain is too stereotypical. This is Brenda Hiatt's first Regency book so I'll forgive her for the boring plot and glaring historical errors. I may try another one of her older Regencies and see if it's any better. This one was just too cliched for me.
review 2: So, I'm not giving this 4 stars because it was knock you socks off amazing. I'm giving it a 4 star rating because it was a clean, regency era, predictable romance. I read this today while I was sitting in the hospital with my dad and it was totally enjoyable. I knew what would happen by page 3 and enjoyed the journey. Sometimes it's calming to read something like this. Thanks for a fun, clean read Brenda Hiatt! less

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