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Nothing To Commend Her (2000)

by Jo Barrett(Favorite Author)

4.06 of 5 Votes: 4

ISBN

1601547919 (ISBN13: 9781601547910)

languge

English

genre

Romance

publisher

Wild Rose Press

review 1: The Hero was burned in a fire as he unsuccessfully attempted to rescue his first wife. For three years he has removed himself from Society, first and foremost to heal from his wounds. He had to relearn everything: moving his arms and legs, walking, living. He was emotionally injured by the stares, the whispers, and the innuendo surrounding the fire and his resulting scars. He is weary and wary.The heroine is considered plain, spinsterish, and a bluestocking scientist. She has firm opinions and expresses them when she feels she must. She wears spectacles and is raven-haired and dark-eyed, perhaps the biggest drawbacks in a time where fair skin and hair were the standard of beauty. She is weary and wary.Both the H and h are the walking wounded, for different reasons, and b... moreelieve that they have too many negatives to interest another. He hates his scars and the looks and talk they generate. He was betrayed by his first wife and his trust was destroyed. She has been the looked-over girl her entire life, only appreciated (somewhat superficially) by her family. She has never dared to dream of a future of a husband and children; she thinks her intellect and her plainness too much to overcome. Together, slowly, the H and h learn to get back what they have lost and begin to grab what they had yet to have.I loved their love story, their friendship, their respect of each other. I especially loved how the h became more beautiful, to the H and to others, as her true nature was allowed to blossom. It is a truth that beauty does come from within, and even the plainest of creatures will shine and sparkle when they are appreciated, acknowledged, loved. The author illustrates this fact beautifully in both the H and h. This is a story about what it means to love - how you are afraid of putting yourself out there to be rejected, how you wonder what the other person truly thinks when they look at you, how you worry about saying the right or wrong thing all the time. It's a story of learning to trust another person with your whole self, to take the leap of faith and try to read the signs that your interest in returned, your companionship is welcomed, that you are interesting to someone else.This is no retread of Jane Eyre or Beauty and the Beast; those comparisons are really surface-only. There is a man scarred by a fire, his visage considered monstrous. There is no Beauty or victimized orphan, although the heroine grows more beautiful as she grows more self-assured and appreciated. The comparisons end there, honestly.There are secondary characters that do exactly what they should - serve as foils for the main characters, the H and h, and set their storyline up. They move in the background and lend interest in their interaction. We learn more about the H/h from their friends and families. There is also a subplot that throws in a little danger and again, this only adds to the relationship budding between the H and h. They grow closer and learn more about each other as they face this threat. I guessed who the threat was from the outset, but that in no way detracted from my wanting to see how the plot resolved.For the sticklers: there are some typos and typesetting errors scattered throughout the book, and frankly I cannot understand why independents or traditionally published authors can't get these cleaned up when they are pointed out, but errors like this do not keep me from reading nor recommending a book wholeheartedly. There is also explicit sex in this book. It is written of in a loving and tender way and in no way gratuitous.
review 2: **POSSIBLE SPOILERS**I really enjoyed this book, it was my first by the author, but it probably will not be my last. I loved the story between Agatha and Magnus, and how they found each other and turned out to be just what the other needed most. I loved Agatha's personality, how she wasnt just another pretty face with nothing more to offer than nice window dressing and not empty thoughts. I also loved how despite the fact that she believed herself unattractive and firmly shelved at 25, that she still, deep down, had dreams of a man finding her who looked at her and saw her and loved her for herself!!!! Now I loved Magnus too, he sounded totally handsome and manly to me even though one side of his face was disfigured. He actually was a very nice and caring man, who others took for granted that he had feelings that could be hurt. I loved how fate brought him and Agatha together when they both least expected it. Once they were togehter it made me think of Beauty and the Beast, the way they were both so unsure of themselves around the other, and reading every comment and action too deep into context, thinking it meant someting else when it actually meant something they were too scared to hope it could be. Magnus didnt want to scare Agatha off by asking for more than he figured he deserved, and Agatha didnt want to offend Magnus by asking for what she wished from him. Overall the story between the two was very sweet and more about seeing and accepting the people that you love for themselves, and that just when you've given up on love is when you'll find it in the least expected place. I strongly suggest you read this book if you are into romance, especially regency type time pieces. less

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