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Till Next We Meet
WORDS OF LOVE
Catherine Dunnan is devastated when her beloved goes off to war — and only his promise to write often can sustain her in her loneliness. And what letters they are, filled with heartfelt emotions that move her to respond in kind. But then the unthinkable occurs. He is cruelly lost to her, and his beautiful words of passion and devotion cease forever.
When Moncrief agreed to write warm and loving missives in a fellow officer's name, he never expected he'd become so enamored of the incomparable lady who answered them, a woman he has never met. Returning to England to assume the unexpected title of duke, Moncrief is irresistibly drawn to the beauty who has unwittingly won his heart. More than anything, he yearns to ease Catherine's sadness with his tender kisses. But once she learns his secret, will his love be spurned?
Catherine Dunnan is devastated when her beloved goes off to war — and only his promise to write often can sustain her in her loneliness. And what letters they are, filled with heartfelt emotions that move her to respond in kind. But then the unthinkable occurs. He is cruelly lost to her, and his beautiful words of passion and devotion cease forever.
When Moncrief agreed to write warm and loving missives in a fellow officer's name, he never expected he'd become so enamored of the incomparable lady who answered them, a woman he has never met. Returning to England to assume the unexpected title of duke, Moncrief is irresistibly drawn to the beauty who has unwittingly won his heart. More than anything, he yearns to ease Catherine's sadness with his tender kisses. But once she learns his secret, will his love be spurned?
384 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published April 26, 2005
About the author
Karen Ranney
98 books940 followersI’m a writer who’s been privileged to have attained the New York Times and USA Today Bestseller Lists.
Although I've primarily written historical romance, I've also written contemporary romantic suspense, a murder mystery, and I'm having a wonderful time writing about a vampire who is being challenged by her new state of being. (The Montgomery Chronicles: The Fertile Vampire and The Reluctant Goddess coming March 12, 2015.)
I believe in the power of the individual, the magnificence of the human spirit, and always looking for the positive in any situation. I write about people who have been challenged by life itself but who win in the end.
Newsletter: http://karenranney.com/subscribe-warm...
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/WriterKarenRa...
Website: http://karenranney.com
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @Karen_Ranney
Although I've primarily written historical romance, I've also written contemporary romantic suspense, a murder mystery, and I'm having a wonderful time writing about a vampire who is being challenged by her new state of being. (The Montgomery Chronicles: The Fertile Vampire and The Reluctant Goddess coming March 12, 2015.)
I believe in the power of the individual, the magnificence of the human spirit, and always looking for the positive in any situation. I write about people who have been challenged by life itself but who win in the end.
Newsletter: http://karenranney.com/subscribe-warm...
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/WriterKarenRa...
Website: http://karenranney.com
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @Karen_Ranney
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 130 reviews
October 19, 2014
4.5 stars, rounded up
I read this book in response to one of the prompts for the AAR Days of the Week Reading Challenge, which was for Wednesday - Read an epistolary novel, or a book where letters, phone, text or email messages are relevant to the story.
I like epistolary novels in general – I’ve read several classics like Fanny Burney’s Evelina or Laclos’ Les Liaisons Dangereuses, but I haven’t read too many when it comes to more recently written titles, so this was a prompt I was keen to take up. I had a few options on hand to choose from: Laura Kinsale’s My Sweet Folly or Connie Brockway’s My Dearest Enemy are both books in which letters exchanged by the central characters play an important part, but in the end, I went for Karen Ranney’s Till Next We Meet, which has a flavour of Cyrano de Bergerac about it.
Moncrief (and I’m never sure whether that’s his first or last name, as he’s rarely referred to as anything else), a Colonel in the British army serving in Canada has, for some months, been writing to the wife of one of his officers – Captain Harry Dunnant – because the man can’t be bothered to do so himself. It’s not as though Moncrief makes a habit of doing such things, but the letter Harry laughingly tosses at him touches him deeply; Catherine Dunnant pours her heart and soul into her letters and Moncrief is able to discern the loneliness that often lies beneath her words. This speaks to something deep inside him: Moncrief is a respected officer and commander, but he has been in the army and away from home for fourteen years, doesn’t have any strong family ties and is a very lonely man at heart. He tells himself at the outset that he will simply respond to Mrs Dunnant’s letter in order to allay her fears about her husband, but when she writes in response, he is unable to resist the temptation to continue their correspondence, even though he knows it is ill-advised. Months pass, and Moncrief comes to realise that he has fallen in love with the witty, generous and loving woman who shines through in the letters. The correspondence has to come to an abrupt end with Harry Dunnant’s death, and Moncrief believes that the letter he writes to Catherine, advising her of her husband’s demise will be his last.
Some months later sees Moncrief travelling back to his home of Balidonough in Scotland as the newly minted Duke of Lymond. A third son, he had never expected to inherit lands and title, but his years in the army have most definitely prepared him for running a large estate and directing lots of servants as well as imbuing him with an air of authority and command. On his way home, he cannot resist paying a visit to Catherine Dunnant’s home – and is shocked to find an unkempt and somewhat addled young woman still in the throes of deep grieving who is clearly being seriously neglected.
Returning the following day, Moncrief finds Catherine near death from a laudanum overdose. It’s touch and go but he saves her life – only to be accused by the local vicar of compromising her. Without stopping to question his motives too much, Moncrief marries her and removes her to Balidonough as soon as she is well enough.
Catherine is still in an agony of grief over Harry’s death and doesn’t remember her re-marriage or, in fact, remember much of anything. She immediately senses that Moncrief is a good man, and finds his assertion that he married her because she needed rescuing to be somewhat disconcerting – but is not ready to surrender her heartache and make a new life for herself.
Till Next We Meet is a terrific story, beautifully told. Moncrief is a hero to die for – he’s already more than half in love with Catherine right from the start, and isn’t afraid to admit it to himself. Outwardly, he’s autocratic and severe, but we already know from his letters that inside, he’s tender-hearted and rather romantic. His self-confidence and competence are immediately attractive, as is the fact that he takes his new responsibilities seriously, cares deeply about his land and dependents, and wants to make their lives better. One of the things I really enjoyed about the way the author portrays him is that we don’t get a physical description of him until Catherine starts to see him clearly, and then after that, that each time we see him through her eyes, she notices more and more about his physical presence and how absolutely gorgeous he is. (He’s the hero of a romance – it’s a given he’s gorgeous!) But of course, he’s gorgeous on the inside, too, and that’s the man Catherine fell in love with, sight unseen.
While Catherine starts out as rather a pathetic figure, a woman whose (misplaced) grief is so strong that she is careless of her own life, as she recovers and gains strength, both the reader and Moncrief begin to see once again the young woman who wrote those beautiful letters, so full of love and longing. I appreciate that the author doesn’t have her railing against her marriage and accusing Moncrief of all sorts of iniquity – she accepts the situation, and realises that sooner or later, she is going to have to make something of it. She does, however, have her own, subtle ways of letting her new husband know that she’s not ecstatic about their hasty marriage, such as continuing to wear her widow’s weeds, and the fact that she sleeps with “Harry’s” letters beneath her pillow. But as the story progresses, she begins to regain her spirit, and I was almost cheering at the point in the story when she finally snaps and tells some obnoxious guests and relatives where to get off.
There are hints throughout the story that perhaps Catherine’s near-death from an overdose had not been an accident, and later, an incident at Balidonough seems to suggest that either Moncrief or Catherine is in danger, but the author has kept the mystery element of the story very low key, giving priority to the relationship developing between her central couple. So it comes as rather a surprise – and one which I enjoyed – to find the tension ramping up in the later chapters as the plot and culprit are revealed.
The relationship between Moncrief and Catherine is beautifully developed and presented, with Catherine gradually coming to appreciate Moncrief’s sterling qualities and to value his company and his affection. The sexual tension between the couple builds slowly, and because Catherine has asked for time to get to know Moncrief better before consummating the marriage, it’s fairly late in the story before things progress from heated looks and touches. But when it does, the passion between them is almost uncontrollable, and it’s well worth the wait ;) My one criticism is that it took too long for Moncrief to own up to the fact that he is the author of “Harry’s” letters; he is given several opportunities throughout the book to fess up, but each time, he shies away from it for no really compelling reason that I could fathom.
Fortunately however, this is a minor niggle, because the rest of the story really is excellent. The characterisation is strong all-round, with even the minor characters being fully-rounded, and the author has created an atmosphere that is sombre without being depressing or gloomy. The loneliness endured by both Moncrief and Catherine is vividly evoked, and their gradual coming together is a true delight to read; they are so deserving of happiness in their lives that the pleasure and contentment they eventually find with each other feels as though it has been fully earned.
I read this book in response to one of the prompts for the AAR Days of the Week Reading Challenge, which was for Wednesday - Read an epistolary novel, or a book where letters, phone, text or email messages are relevant to the story.
I like epistolary novels in general – I’ve read several classics like Fanny Burney’s Evelina or Laclos’ Les Liaisons Dangereuses, but I haven’t read too many when it comes to more recently written titles, so this was a prompt I was keen to take up. I had a few options on hand to choose from: Laura Kinsale’s My Sweet Folly or Connie Brockway’s My Dearest Enemy are both books in which letters exchanged by the central characters play an important part, but in the end, I went for Karen Ranney’s Till Next We Meet, which has a flavour of Cyrano de Bergerac about it.
Moncrief (and I’m never sure whether that’s his first or last name, as he’s rarely referred to as anything else), a Colonel in the British army serving in Canada has, for some months, been writing to the wife of one of his officers – Captain Harry Dunnant – because the man can’t be bothered to do so himself. It’s not as though Moncrief makes a habit of doing such things, but the letter Harry laughingly tosses at him touches him deeply; Catherine Dunnant pours her heart and soul into her letters and Moncrief is able to discern the loneliness that often lies beneath her words. This speaks to something deep inside him: Moncrief is a respected officer and commander, but he has been in the army and away from home for fourteen years, doesn’t have any strong family ties and is a very lonely man at heart. He tells himself at the outset that he will simply respond to Mrs Dunnant’s letter in order to allay her fears about her husband, but when she writes in response, he is unable to resist the temptation to continue their correspondence, even though he knows it is ill-advised. Months pass, and Moncrief comes to realise that he has fallen in love with the witty, generous and loving woman who shines through in the letters. The correspondence has to come to an abrupt end with Harry Dunnant’s death, and Moncrief believes that the letter he writes to Catherine, advising her of her husband’s demise will be his last.
Some months later sees Moncrief travelling back to his home of Balidonough in Scotland as the newly minted Duke of Lymond. A third son, he had never expected to inherit lands and title, but his years in the army have most definitely prepared him for running a large estate and directing lots of servants as well as imbuing him with an air of authority and command. On his way home, he cannot resist paying a visit to Catherine Dunnant’s home – and is shocked to find an unkempt and somewhat addled young woman still in the throes of deep grieving who is clearly being seriously neglected.
Returning the following day, Moncrief finds Catherine near death from a laudanum overdose. It’s touch and go but he saves her life – only to be accused by the local vicar of compromising her. Without stopping to question his motives too much, Moncrief marries her and removes her to Balidonough as soon as she is well enough.
Catherine is still in an agony of grief over Harry’s death and doesn’t remember her re-marriage or, in fact, remember much of anything. She immediately senses that Moncrief is a good man, and finds his assertion that he married her because she needed rescuing to be somewhat disconcerting – but is not ready to surrender her heartache and make a new life for herself.
Till Next We Meet is a terrific story, beautifully told. Moncrief is a hero to die for – he’s already more than half in love with Catherine right from the start, and isn’t afraid to admit it to himself. Outwardly, he’s autocratic and severe, but we already know from his letters that inside, he’s tender-hearted and rather romantic. His self-confidence and competence are immediately attractive, as is the fact that he takes his new responsibilities seriously, cares deeply about his land and dependents, and wants to make their lives better. One of the things I really enjoyed about the way the author portrays him is that we don’t get a physical description of him until Catherine starts to see him clearly, and then after that, that each time we see him through her eyes, she notices more and more about his physical presence and how absolutely gorgeous he is. (He’s the hero of a romance – it’s a given he’s gorgeous!) But of course, he’s gorgeous on the inside, too, and that’s the man Catherine fell in love with, sight unseen.
While Catherine starts out as rather a pathetic figure, a woman whose (misplaced) grief is so strong that she is careless of her own life, as she recovers and gains strength, both the reader and Moncrief begin to see once again the young woman who wrote those beautiful letters, so full of love and longing. I appreciate that the author doesn’t have her railing against her marriage and accusing Moncrief of all sorts of iniquity – she accepts the situation, and realises that sooner or later, she is going to have to make something of it. She does, however, have her own, subtle ways of letting her new husband know that she’s not ecstatic about their hasty marriage, such as continuing to wear her widow’s weeds, and the fact that she sleeps with “Harry’s” letters beneath her pillow. But as the story progresses, she begins to regain her spirit, and I was almost cheering at the point in the story when she finally snaps and tells some obnoxious guests and relatives where to get off.
There are hints throughout the story that perhaps Catherine’s near-death from an overdose had not been an accident, and later, an incident at Balidonough seems to suggest that either Moncrief or Catherine is in danger, but the author has kept the mystery element of the story very low key, giving priority to the relationship developing between her central couple. So it comes as rather a surprise – and one which I enjoyed – to find the tension ramping up in the later chapters as the plot and culprit are revealed.
The relationship between Moncrief and Catherine is beautifully developed and presented, with Catherine gradually coming to appreciate Moncrief’s sterling qualities and to value his company and his affection. The sexual tension between the couple builds slowly, and because Catherine has asked for time to get to know Moncrief better before consummating the marriage, it’s fairly late in the story before things progress from heated looks and touches. But when it does, the passion between them is almost uncontrollable, and it’s well worth the wait ;) My one criticism is that it took too long for Moncrief to own up to the fact that he is the author of “Harry’s” letters; he is given several opportunities throughout the book to fess up, but each time, he shies away from it for no really compelling reason that I could fathom.
Fortunately however, this is a minor niggle, because the rest of the story really is excellent. The characterisation is strong all-round, with even the minor characters being fully-rounded, and the author has created an atmosphere that is sombre without being depressing or gloomy. The loneliness endured by both Moncrief and Catherine is vividly evoked, and their gradual coming together is a true delight to read; they are so deserving of happiness in their lives that the pleasure and contentment they eventually find with each other feels as though it has been fully earned.
May 2, 2017
When my friend Moss puts an HR book on her "clutched-to-my-bosom" shelf, attention must be paid. And so, I enthusiastically turned to this inspired-by-Cyrano book, even though I had not before heard of the author.
Catherine Dunnan pines away at her Scots estate for her husband of one month Harry, who is fighting the wars in North America (the French and Indian War as it's called in the U.S.). Harry is a bounder in every way, and he cruelly ignores the heartfelt letters she constantly sends. Harry's commander Moncrief takes up Harry's offhand suggestion that he should respond to them, and thus begins a correspondence between the lonely bride and the even lonelier colonel, posing as Harry.
Fortunately for everyone, Harry is killed. Moncrief unexpectedly inherits a dukedom from his elder brother, and upon his return to Scotland pays a visit to the widow. He finds her near death from laudanum and saves her life. When the obsequious vicar suggests that Moncrief has compromised the lady, Moncrief impulsively marries her on the spot and carries her away to his fabulous castle, Balidonough. Will Catherine, still overwhelmed with grief for Harry, ever accept Moncrief as her husband? What will happen when she discovers -- and we know she will -- that Moncrief wrote all of the beautiful letters that she clings to?
What I Liked
•Moncrief! Not a tortured hero, but certainly a sad one. As a third son, he never expected to inherit a dukedom, so he made the army his career. Although never close to his father or elder brother, he nevertheless regrets not having reconciled with them. He takes his new duties seriously and wants to improve the lives of his servants and tenants. He loves the Catherine he discovered in her letters, and he burns with desire for the Catherine he has married. (And, of course, like all the best HR heroes, he's tall, muscular, handsome, and blessed with a big beautiful wang. Prim, proper Catherine can't take her eyes off of him, and we begin to wish that this book came with full-color illustrations.)
•Catherine and Moncrief together. It takes a long time for the two of them to come together, but when they do -- wow! Have patience, because it's worth it. (And as Moss said, "I think if there's a nut to crack in HR, it's that you want to keep the squirrels apart and looking for it for as long as you can.")
•Surprise! About two-thirds into the book, we learn that there's a villain, and I was totally blindsided. Very well done, Ms. Ranney.
What I Didn't Like
•There's nothing not to like, with one possible exception. Balidonough sounds like a fantastic place, but there was way more description of the rooms, hallways, keeps and secret passages than we need.
•The shrewish Juliana and the retiring Hortensia practically disappear, which was really too bad, as they added a touch of variety to the story.
•The ending was a bit abrupt, and I would have enjoyed learning a bit more about the fates of the secondary characters.
What Bugged Me
The writing is excellent, but here's where I vent about those little things that good editors should catch:
•The author refers to Catherine's ever-present ache for Harry as a "succubus," which is a female demon believed to have sex with sleeping men. Huh? Perhaps she meant incubus?
•Moncrief is colonel of the Lowland Scots Fusiliers, yet Catherine recalls first seeing him in his Highlands Regimental uniform. Now I don't care about the difference, but those touchy Scots would run their claymores through anyone who confused the Highlands with the Lowlands.
Overall
A totally five-star read.
Catherine Dunnan pines away at her Scots estate for her husband of one month Harry, who is fighting the wars in North America (the French and Indian War as it's called in the U.S.). Harry is a bounder in every way, and he cruelly ignores the heartfelt letters she constantly sends. Harry's commander Moncrief takes up Harry's offhand suggestion that he should respond to them, and thus begins a correspondence between the lonely bride and the even lonelier colonel, posing as Harry.
Fortunately for everyone, Harry is killed. Moncrief unexpectedly inherits a dukedom from his elder brother, and upon his return to Scotland pays a visit to the widow. He finds her near death from laudanum and saves her life. When the obsequious vicar suggests that Moncrief has compromised the lady, Moncrief impulsively marries her on the spot and carries her away to his fabulous castle, Balidonough. Will Catherine, still overwhelmed with grief for Harry, ever accept Moncrief as her husband? What will happen when she discovers -- and we know she will -- that Moncrief wrote all of the beautiful letters that she clings to?
What I Liked
•Moncrief! Not a tortured hero, but certainly a sad one. As a third son, he never expected to inherit a dukedom, so he made the army his career. Although never close to his father or elder brother, he nevertheless regrets not having reconciled with them. He takes his new duties seriously and wants to improve the lives of his servants and tenants. He loves the Catherine he discovered in her letters, and he burns with desire for the Catherine he has married. (And, of course, like all the best HR heroes, he's tall, muscular, handsome, and blessed with a big beautiful wang. Prim, proper Catherine can't take her eyes off of him, and we begin to wish that this book came with full-color illustrations.)
•Catherine and Moncrief together. It takes a long time for the two of them to come together, but when they do -- wow! Have patience, because it's worth it. (And as Moss said, "I think if there's a nut to crack in HR, it's that you want to keep the squirrels apart and looking for it for as long as you can.")
•Surprise! About two-thirds into the book, we learn that there's a villain, and I was totally blindsided. Very well done, Ms. Ranney.
What I Didn't Like
•There's nothing not to like, with one possible exception. Balidonough sounds like a fantastic place, but there was way more description of the rooms, hallways, keeps and secret passages than we need.
•The shrewish Juliana and the retiring Hortensia practically disappear, which was really too bad, as they added a touch of variety to the story.
•The ending was a bit abrupt, and I would have enjoyed learning a bit more about the fates of the secondary characters.
What Bugged Me
The writing is excellent, but here's where I vent about those little things that good editors should catch:
•The author refers to Catherine's ever-present ache for Harry as a "succubus," which is a female demon believed to have sex with sleeping men. Huh? Perhaps she meant incubus?
•Moncrief is colonel of the Lowland Scots Fusiliers, yet Catherine recalls first seeing him in his Highlands Regimental uniform. Now I don't care about the difference, but those touchy Scots would run their claymores through anyone who confused the Highlands with the Lowlands.
Overall
A totally five-star read.
June 21, 2018
Moncrief, latest Duke of Lymond, visits the widowed Catherine Dunnan six months after her husband's death only to find her in the depths of sorrow and drugged out of her goddamned mind. So he does the logical thing: HE MARRIES HER. Except: he neglects to tell her that the man she's been corresponding with for the last however long is actually NOT her dead husband but MONCRIEF HIMSELF OH NOOOO.
1. YIKES. I'm going to get the grief-thing over with immediately because I do need to add my standard disclaimer that I have never experienced the loss of a spouse and so my language here is obviously mired in ignorance. That said: WHAT THE FUCK MONCRIEF YOU BASTARD??
There's this looming sensation that because Moncrief knew Harry (the dead husband) was an asshat, that his knowledge somehow invalidates the very real grief of those who lost him, most specifically Catherine. It's implied several times that she needs to just "move on" and get over him; that she shouldn't be wearing her widow's weeds anymore (NEVER MIND THAT HER HUSBAND HAS BEEN DEAD FOR ONLY SIX MONTHS), and that—most egregious of all, to my jaded eyes—she is a fool for clinging to the letters she believes are from Harry.
I find this goddamned despicable. Grief is not a one-sized fits all burlap sack, and while there's that ever present "historical accuracy" gnat buzzing around, I don't feel its healthy to idealize the actions of a man who treats a woman who—in her eyes—has just lost the man she spent months connecting with via very personal, very romantic letters. Nor is it romantic to belittle and insist that a person in the throes of grief should act or resolve or feel their grief in a certain way. ABSOLUTELY there are unhealthy avenues of grief, but for starters: MONCRIEF HAS A VESTED INTEREST BECAUSE HE WANTS TO GET IN CATHERINE'S SKIRTS. It has very little to do with what she needs to grieve in a healthy fashion: it has everything to do with seeing her 'better' so she can get on with her wifely duties to Moncrief.
What Moncrief is, and what he fails to acknowledge in any explicit way, is jealous.
And this is obvious once he finally has a conversation with Catherine about her former husband and she reveals that she fell in love with him via the letters. And he keeps taking that thought out to coddle it because he wants Catherine to love him. If not for the absolutely shitty way he treats her grief earlier in the novel, I would honestly be unbothered by any of this. Or if he at least apologized BUT HE DOES NOT.
So, ultimately, my reading of Moncrief was spoiled by this very real sensation of raging horror because a man who can't understand why Catherine might be sad is just...not my kind of hero.
2. IN ADDITION: the marriage between Moncrief and Catherine takes place the night she nearly dies from what appears to be a laudanum overdose. She is insensate for the ceremony.
So then, OF COURSE, within 48 hours once they're firmly ensconced in the Ducal Estates, Moncrief tells her she will have to resign herself to the marriage and OH YEAH he'll be needing heirs like ASAP and sure he'll give her a month but THAT'S IT then it's SEX TIME BABY.
I MEAN WHAT THE FUCK. He basically kidnapped this poor woman OUT OF HER HOUSE, married her without her explicit and sober consent, and then tells her SHE HAS TO JUST DEAL WITH IT? I DONT. I CAN'T.
THIS ISN'T ROMANCE.
3. There's also this plot that puts our heroes in ~danger which is semi-ridiculous.
3. All my raging against Moncrief aside, I do feel some frustration for Catherine as well? In a less toxic way, I feel, but in a way where I never fully felt like she was an understandable or relatable heroine. I was super down with her figuring out the letter thing because I need more heroines resolving the outstanding mysteries that surround them. GET IT, CURIOUS GIRLS.
4. The sex was: sex? IDK. It was, perhaps, not my favorite element to the novel (not that there were many favorite elements....): the act was mechanical and I read the word 'nipples' so many times that it lost all meaning.
1. YIKES. I'm going to get the grief-thing over with immediately because I do need to add my standard disclaimer that I have never experienced the loss of a spouse and so my language here is obviously mired in ignorance. That said: WHAT THE FUCK MONCRIEF YOU BASTARD??
There's this looming sensation that because Moncrief knew Harry (the dead husband) was an asshat, that his knowledge somehow invalidates the very real grief of those who lost him, most specifically Catherine. It's implied several times that she needs to just "move on" and get over him; that she shouldn't be wearing her widow's weeds anymore (NEVER MIND THAT HER HUSBAND HAS BEEN DEAD FOR ONLY SIX MONTHS), and that—most egregious of all, to my jaded eyes—she is a fool for clinging to the letters she believes are from Harry.
I find this goddamned despicable. Grief is not a one-sized fits all burlap sack, and while there's that ever present "historical accuracy" gnat buzzing around, I don't feel its healthy to idealize the actions of a man who treats a woman who—in her eyes—has just lost the man she spent months connecting with via very personal, very romantic letters. Nor is it romantic to belittle and insist that a person in the throes of grief should act or resolve or feel their grief in a certain way. ABSOLUTELY there are unhealthy avenues of grief, but for starters: MONCRIEF HAS A VESTED INTEREST BECAUSE HE WANTS TO GET IN CATHERINE'S SKIRTS. It has very little to do with what she needs to grieve in a healthy fashion: it has everything to do with seeing her 'better' so she can get on with her wifely duties to Moncrief.
What Moncrief is, and what he fails to acknowledge in any explicit way, is jealous.
And this is obvious once he finally has a conversation with Catherine about her former husband and she reveals that she fell in love with him via the letters. And he keeps taking that thought out to coddle it because he wants Catherine to love him. If not for the absolutely shitty way he treats her grief earlier in the novel, I would honestly be unbothered by any of this. Or if he at least apologized BUT HE DOES NOT.
So, ultimately, my reading of Moncrief was spoiled by this very real sensation of raging horror because a man who can't understand why Catherine might be sad is just...not my kind of hero.
2. IN ADDITION: the marriage between Moncrief and Catherine takes place the night she nearly dies from what appears to be a laudanum overdose. She is insensate for the ceremony.
So then, OF COURSE, within 48 hours once they're firmly ensconced in the Ducal Estates, Moncrief tells her she will have to resign herself to the marriage and OH YEAH he'll be needing heirs like ASAP and sure he'll give her a month but THAT'S IT then it's SEX TIME BABY.
I MEAN WHAT THE FUCK. He basically kidnapped this poor woman OUT OF HER HOUSE, married her without her explicit and sober consent, and then tells her SHE HAS TO JUST DEAL WITH IT? I DONT. I CAN'T.
THIS ISN'T ROMANCE.
3. There's also this plot that puts our heroes in ~danger which is semi-ridiculous.
3. All my raging against Moncrief aside, I do feel some frustration for Catherine as well? In a less toxic way, I feel, but in a way where I never fully felt like she was an understandable or relatable heroine. I was super down with her figuring out the letter thing because I need more heroines resolving the outstanding mysteries that surround them. GET IT, CURIOUS GIRLS.
4. The sex was: sex? IDK. It was, perhaps, not my favorite element to the novel (not that there were many favorite elements....): the act was mechanical and I read the word 'nipples' so many times that it lost all meaning.
July 7, 2023
What's a little historical catfishing?
This book is lovely. I enjoyed the letters, and though the hero did some objectively creepy things, it worked for him
This book is lovely. I enjoyed the letters, and though the hero did some objectively creepy things, it worked for him
December 16, 2014
No matter how many times I read this story, it's never enough.
Sigh
So poignant.
So so beautiful.
Sigh
So poignant.
So so beautiful.
November 11, 2017
4.5 Stars. This was an heartfelt and emotional read. This is a story where the heroine and hero fall in love through letters, and I am a fan of the theme. Maybe it's because so many romances' conflict comes in the form of a lack of communication, but the letters theme is one way for open communication. When well done, you get beautifully-worded sentences that are exchanged between the main characters. Ranney certainly delivers on that front.
Moncrief is a colonel in Canada during the 1760s, and when a soldier under his command ignores letters from his wife, he takes on the task to respond to her. Catherine thinks she is corresponding with her husband and pours her heart out, and Moncrief does the same. Catherine is informed of her scapegrace husband's death, and she falls into a deep depression. When Moncrief calls to check in on her, he saves her from a nearly deadly dose of laudanum and is caught in a completely innocent but compromising position, causing their hasty marriage.
This story has sadness and joy. It has characters and love that grows and don't feel artificial. It also has many twists and surprises, many of which are very unexpected. Perhaps too unexpected or unnecessary at times, which is my only complaint. Overall, a lovely, well-written book.
Moncrief is a colonel in Canada during the 1760s, and when a soldier under his command ignores letters from his wife, he takes on the task to respond to her. Catherine thinks she is corresponding with her husband and pours her heart out, and Moncrief does the same. Catherine is informed of her scapegrace husband's death, and she falls into a deep depression. When Moncrief calls to check in on her, he saves her from a nearly deadly dose of laudanum and is caught in a completely innocent but compromising position, causing their hasty marriage.
This story has sadness and joy. It has characters and love that grows and don't feel artificial. It also has many twists and surprises, many of which are very unexpected. Perhaps too unexpected or unnecessary at times, which is my only complaint. Overall, a lovely, well-written book.
June 20, 2016
After The Lass Wore Black (5 stars easy peasy for me) I wrote: Have read review summaries of this and I will hold off until I've forgotten the first KR novel I just read and loved. The premises seem to have too many similarities, even though I'm sure the H/h are different. Still, the hero here saves/falls in love with a weak/sick/addicted/wounded woman who is the target of a murderer's plot. Authors doing the same thing BUG me. That said, or ranted, KR is a wonderful storyteller and once TLWB has dimmed in my sieve-like memory, I will return to this and read it with pleasure.
------
Sept. 30, thank God for my shitty memory, I picked this up off my stack, remembered vaguely that I'd enjoyed another book of hers, title lost to the mists of my mind, and dove in.
GREAT gadzooks! I'm loving this and for very different reasons than the other book. I LOVE knowing up front what a mush the battle-hardened colonel is from his perspective, writing in the stead of a lout captain under his command, falling in love by letters with the Captain's heiress wife who is smart, caring and sensitive...we don't see what he looks like or have much sense of his physical presence, just what's in his heart. (Warmed, runny, manly marshmallow, yum.)
When the shit captain buys a well-deserved bullet (I assume), the colonel has to write one last letter, lying to this woman so dear to him, extolling her miserable husband as a soldier who died honorably.
Next we are shown the widow, now fallen deep into despair, and see how her rotten staff allows her descent and may be enabling her own slow suicide -- all over a man who wasn't what he seemed on paper.
Cut back to his POV: Unable to let her be, the colonel makes a condolence visit on his way to his ducal estate when he's returned to Scotland. (The dukedom was something as third son he never expected.) What and who he finds are nothing like he expected. She is not a small, fair beauty but a tall, wasted, gaunt woman dying by inches with a complicit and disloyal staff of servants allowing it to happen before their eyes.
So the new duke takes charge. He saves her from overdose, marries her and sweeps her off to his imposing castle with some of her staff in tow.
THEN, bless the author for this, we finally SEE him from HER perspective. He's nothing like her tender-hearted, now-sainted husband whom she mourns. But yowza, hero jackpot, IMO.
I LOVED THIS! I LOVED BEING LET INTO A MAN'S HEART BEFORE SEEING HIM -- and seeing him through her eyes. He's a bossy, big man with a cold manner and stare. I LOVE knowing he's the tender romantic she fell in love with, looks notwithstanding. I'm all awwwww and Siiigghhhhhhh!
And i CANNOT wait to see how she realizes this brusque, hard-eyed man who forced her into marriage is the one she came to know and love by post.
AT the end:
Well...I did enjoy this pairing though one of the overarching themes apparently is 'don't ask, don't tell.' I did like the heroine, Catherine for getting a few things off her chest and clearing the ducal castle of the familial irritants the way she did. And I did like his playfulness and patience.
HOWEVER,
I did not understand why he never told her he wrote the all-important letters. Time after perfectly appropriate time in the plot and in their developing relationship, he bites his tongue instead. No good reason is given until he's refrained way too many times for my patience and frankly his 'concerns' weren't very compelling, given his desire to win her heart. Instead, they begin to communicate via mind-blowing sex. He's not the only one holding back. She doesn't mention it when she finally pieces together that he wrote the letters until the end and it's an after thought. Why? Just to be annoying to the reader perhaps. (Worked like a charm.)
In other words, after that cracker jack opening, I was primed for a revelation that would up the ante between these strangers in love without knowing it, but instead they avoided the most obvious basis for their feelings for 200 more pages! That's not to say they don't fall in love or deserve to, that they don't face dangers and grow closer. They do. I guess by the time the author of the letters is revealed, the idea is, they love each other for more tangible reasons (mind-blowing sex) than just mind-blowing correspondence.
So, it began as a 5-star read and devolved to less than 4 because of the I-won't-tell-you-the-most-important-thing-to-us-ness of the story.
The pacing and the characters of The Lass Wore Black were much crisper, their motives more understandable and their choices more affecting to me. They just made more sense and their badinage was much wittier.
------
Sept. 30, thank God for my shitty memory, I picked this up off my stack, remembered vaguely that I'd enjoyed another book of hers, title lost to the mists of my mind, and dove in.
GREAT gadzooks! I'm loving this and for very different reasons than the other book. I LOVE knowing up front what a mush the battle-hardened colonel is from his perspective, writing in the stead of a lout captain under his command, falling in love by letters with the Captain's heiress wife who is smart, caring and sensitive...we don't see what he looks like or have much sense of his physical presence, just what's in his heart. (Warmed, runny, manly marshmallow, yum.)
When the shit captain buys a well-deserved bullet (I assume), the colonel has to write one last letter, lying to this woman so dear to him, extolling her miserable husband as a soldier who died honorably.
Next we are shown the widow, now fallen deep into despair, and see how her rotten staff allows her descent and may be enabling her own slow suicide -- all over a man who wasn't what he seemed on paper.
Cut back to his POV: Unable to let her be, the colonel makes a condolence visit on his way to his ducal estate when he's returned to Scotland. (The dukedom was something as third son he never expected.) What and who he finds are nothing like he expected. She is not a small, fair beauty but a tall, wasted, gaunt woman dying by inches with a complicit and disloyal staff of servants allowing it to happen before their eyes.
So the new duke takes charge. He saves her from overdose, marries her and sweeps her off to his imposing castle with some of her staff in tow.
THEN, bless the author for this, we finally SEE him from HER perspective. He's nothing like her tender-hearted, now-sainted husband whom she mourns. But yowza, hero jackpot, IMO.
I LOVED THIS! I LOVED BEING LET INTO A MAN'S HEART BEFORE SEEING HIM -- and seeing him through her eyes. He's a bossy, big man with a cold manner and stare. I LOVE knowing he's the tender romantic she fell in love with, looks notwithstanding. I'm all awwwww and Siiigghhhhhhh!
And i CANNOT wait to see how she realizes this brusque, hard-eyed man who forced her into marriage is the one she came to know and love by post.
AT the end:
Well...I did enjoy this pairing though one of the overarching themes apparently is 'don't ask, don't tell.' I did like the heroine, Catherine for getting a few things off her chest and clearing the ducal castle of the familial irritants the way she did. And I did like his playfulness and patience.
HOWEVER,
I did not understand why he never told her he wrote the all-important letters. Time after perfectly appropriate time in the plot and in their developing relationship, he bites his tongue instead. No good reason is given until he's refrained way too many times for my patience and frankly his 'concerns' weren't very compelling, given his desire to win her heart. Instead, they begin to communicate via mind-blowing sex. He's not the only one holding back. She doesn't mention it when she finally pieces together that he wrote the letters until the end and it's an after thought. Why? Just to be annoying to the reader perhaps. (Worked like a charm.)
In other words, after that cracker jack opening, I was primed for a revelation that would up the ante between these strangers in love without knowing it, but instead they avoided the most obvious basis for their feelings for 200 more pages! That's not to say they don't fall in love or deserve to, that they don't face dangers and grow closer. They do. I guess by the time the author of the letters is revealed, the idea is, they love each other for more tangible reasons (mind-blowing sex) than just mind-blowing correspondence.
So, it began as a 5-star read and devolved to less than 4 because of the I-won't-tell-you-the-most-important-thing-to-us-ness of the story.
The pacing and the characters of The Lass Wore Black were much crisper, their motives more understandable and their choices more affecting to me. They just made more sense and their badinage was much wittier.
November 11, 2015
I am sincerely doing my best at trying to avoid spoilers so I will tell you the best part of TILL NEXT WE MEET: the letters. I found some wonderfully-written correspondence with deep emotional thoughts that travelled between a recently married lady and the man she thought was her husband. Catherine Dunnan was barely married a month when her husband left her to serve in a war on another continent. The historical romance started off with this misunderstanding but because the reader knew it from the beginning it was easy to accept; the letters and this issue drove the plot.
Moncrief was Harry Dunnan's superior. When he gave Dunnan his wife's first letter, Harry let him know that he was not going to respond. Instead, he inferred that Moncrief could write Catherine if he chose to. Lonely but with the best of intentions, Moncrief did but he signed each letter as Harry, her devoted husband. And so the ball started to roll with those little white lies. Then Harry died, Moncrief returned home and when he visited Catherine, he found her in deep despair.
All of this occurred in the first few chapters.
Now to those finicky details. The ending of the story did not come soon enough for me. And that was a shame because TILL NEXT WE MEET could have been an awesome romance.
Moncrief was Harry Dunnan's superior. When he gave Dunnan his wife's first letter, Harry let him know that he was not going to respond. Instead, he inferred that Moncrief could write Catherine if he chose to. Lonely but with the best of intentions, Moncrief did but he signed each letter as Harry, her devoted husband. And so the ball started to roll with those little white lies. Then Harry died, Moncrief returned home and when he visited Catherine, he found her in deep despair.
All of this occurred in the first few chapters.
Now to those finicky details. The ending of the story did not come soon enough for me. And that was a shame because TILL NEXT WE MEET could have been an awesome romance.
March 12, 2023
Reread in 2018: updated rating from 5 stars to 4 stars; still a great read!
____________________________________
Till Next We Meet is a beautiful Scottish historical romance with a Cyrano twist. The two main characters are excellent - by themselves and for each other - and interestingly complex; their romance is really one that slowly builds, making it completely believable and that much more precious - and the chemistry between the two is fantastic ;-). There were also a few well-executed plot twists and I only really guessed - or rather suspected - one of them before it was revealed, which was a nice change from the books where the villain is so painstakingly obvious.
Summary (from back cover).
Other Characters. I did not like the character of Glynneth (Catherine's companion) and definitely think she should have been changed. Oddly enough, for most of the book when we're supposed to be unsure of her I actually was fond of her, but how she was in the end towards Catherine, which I think is actually supposed to make the reader feel better - or at least like things are resolved - only made me feel worse.
The evil Dowager Duchess Juliana is an odd add-in because she makes all sorts of trouble at the beginning and then kind of just disappears from the story. (And P.S. out of all the historical romances I have read, the name "Juliana" has rarely been used, however in the instances that it has, the character is always mean/evil/bad ... wouldn't mind reading a HR where my name is used for the heroine or at least a likable secondary character!!!)
Criticism. The final scene wasn't as satisfying as I would have liked, though it's hard to pinpoint why - maybe too much sentimentality, not enough drama, no epilogue to follow-up ... I really don't know.
Bottom Line. This book is absolutely wonderful and it will definitely be a reread and recommend for me!!
June 2009
____________________________________
Till Next We Meet is a beautiful Scottish historical romance with a Cyrano twist. The two main characters are excellent - by themselves and for each other - and interestingly complex; their romance is really one that slowly builds, making it completely believable and that much more precious - and the chemistry between the two is fantastic ;-). There were also a few well-executed plot twists and I only really guessed - or rather suspected - one of them before it was revealed, which was a nice change from the books where the villain is so painstakingly obvious.
Summary (from back cover).
Catherine Dunnan is devastated when her beloved goes off to war - and only his promise to write often can sustain her in her loneliness. And what letters they are, filled with heartfelt emotions that move her to respond in kind. But then the unthinkable occurs. He is cruelly lost to her, and his beautiful words of passion and devotion cease forever.Main Characters. The main characters of Catherine and Moncrief are wonderfully written and extremely vivid and the excerpts of their letters to each other throughout the book really add to the novel. This is only my second Ranney book, but in both this one and An Unlikely Governess , there is a real loneliness to the H&H and to the story itself - secondary characters exist and are always interesting and three-dimensional, however the main characters and their relationship always seems very isolated, as if her stories take place in a somewhat cold and harsh world. I'm not saying this as a criticism, but rather just an observation. I will say that either way, it serves to truly highlight the main relationship and to really focus on its development.
When Moncrief agreed to write warm and loving missives in a fellow officer's name, he never expected he'd become so enamored of the incomparable lady who answered them, a woman he has never met. Returning to England to assume the unexpected title of duke, Moncrief is irresistibly drawn to the beauty who has unwittingly won his heart. More than anything, he yearns to ease Catherine's sadness with his tender kisses. But once she learns his secret, will his love be spurned?
Other Characters. I did not like the character of Glynneth (Catherine's companion) and definitely think she should have been changed. Oddly enough, for most of the book when we're supposed to be unsure of her I actually was fond of her, but how she was in the end towards Catherine, which I think is actually supposed to make the reader feel better - or at least like things are resolved - only made me feel worse.
The evil Dowager Duchess Juliana is an odd add-in because she makes all sorts of trouble at the beginning and then kind of just disappears from the story. (And P.S. out of all the historical romances I have read, the name "Juliana" has rarely been used, however in the instances that it has, the character is always mean/evil/bad ... wouldn't mind reading a HR where my name is used for the heroine or at least a likable secondary character!!!)
Criticism. The final scene wasn't as satisfying as I would have liked, though it's hard to pinpoint why - maybe too much sentimentality, not enough drama, no epilogue to follow-up ... I really don't know.
Bottom Line. This book is absolutely wonderful and it will definitely be a reread and recommend for me!!
June 2009
May 4, 2022
Re read- starchy but sweet and romantic hero with a delightfully naughty streak. This is an epistolary romance with a dash of fake identity and a marriage of convenience. Moncrief begins corresponding with the wife of one of his officers. A man he loathes and has zero respect for. He falls in love with Catherine through her letters and when her douche husband dies, he feels his duty as his commanding officer is to pay a visit to his widow. He finds Catherine a hot mess. She's lost to grief for the husband she loved and reads his letters obsessively. She has no idea the man who wrote the letter wasn't her husband but Moncrief.
This book is just a delight. The angst and the pining added to the masterful relationship development makes for a fast incredibly emotionally satisfying read. My only complaint is that it ends abruptly and I needed an epilogue. I still can't rate this less than five stars because the romance is so well done.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5
🔥🔥/5
Tropes:
Epistolary
Class Difference
Marriage of Convenience
Pining
This book is just a delight. The angst and the pining added to the masterful relationship development makes for a fast incredibly emotionally satisfying read. My only complaint is that it ends abruptly and I needed an epilogue. I still can't rate this less than five stars because the romance is so well done.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5
🔥🔥/5
Tropes:
Epistolary
Class Difference
Marriage of Convenience
Pining
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 15, 2015
4.5/5. Another beautifully written book by this author. A wonderful tale of how a woman's darkest days of heartbreak, melancholy and isolation can be slowly banished by one man's single-minded application of patience, devotion and passion.
March 26, 2016
You know the song Dust to Dust by The Civil Wars? This book kind of captures that song, for both the hero and heroine.
This was kind of a reverse Love in the Afternoon (by Lisa Kleypas) situation. Catherine Dunnan is in Scotland and she writes to her husband who is off fighting a war in Quebec... except she's not. Because her husband is kind of an asshole and doesn't care for her letters. Moncrief, our hero, is the one who takes it upon herself to write in his name to assure her that Harry Dunnan is alive and well. But then the letters keep coming and going, and both Catherine and Moncrief have developed feelings for each other, except that of course Catherine thinks she's in love with her husband. Then Harry dies, and the war is over and Moncrief comes back to Scotland, and takes it upon himself to visit the grieving widow and also really, he's curious to see the woman he fell for. And she is a WRECK. There's more to this than just grief, but that's plot stuff.
Anyway add in a marriage of convenience and you have a bunch of tropes that I ADORE. Catherine is uprooted from her family town to Moncrief's ducal estate that he's inherited after his dad and brothers died. Self-sufficient, stoic and inherently good hearted and caring but probably emotionally more reserved because of a very austere upbringing. Catherine I think has had a rather loving upbringing, but she naturally has a reserved temperament, but that doesn't mean she isn't assertive, which she is when she comes out of her grief. So this was a very interesting dynamic because i felt that both Catherine and Moncrief were well suited because they had very similar temperaments.
Of course there's the whole secret about the letters hanging over Moncrief, and he actually doesn't angst as much about it, but enough for me--- I liked that he wasn't over the top brooding and angry and lashed out of Catherine. I really liked how mature Moncrief was in that sense... But his beautiful angst gave me internal monologues like this:
The world Ranney created was rather vivid to me, I could see the halls of Balidonough and imagine the landscape well enough, and that somewhat harsh Scottish landscape really added to the melancholic beauty of the love story in this book.
You're like a mirror, reflecting me
Takes one to know one, so take it from me
You've been lonely
You've been lonely too long
We've been lonely
We've been lonely too long
This was kind of a reverse Love in the Afternoon (by Lisa Kleypas) situation. Catherine Dunnan is in Scotland and she writes to her husband who is off fighting a war in Quebec... except she's not. Because her husband is kind of an asshole and doesn't care for her letters. Moncrief, our hero, is the one who takes it upon herself to write in his name to assure her that Harry Dunnan is alive and well. But then the letters keep coming and going, and both Catherine and Moncrief have developed feelings for each other, except that of course Catherine thinks she's in love with her husband. Then Harry dies, and the war is over and Moncrief comes back to Scotland, and takes it upon himself to visit the grieving widow and also really, he's curious to see the woman he fell for. And she is a WRECK. There's more to this than just grief, but that's plot stuff.
Anyway add in a marriage of convenience and you have a bunch of tropes that I ADORE. Catherine is uprooted from her family town to Moncrief's ducal estate that he's inherited after his dad and brothers died. Self-sufficient, stoic and inherently good hearted and caring but probably emotionally more reserved because of a very austere upbringing. Catherine I think has had a rather loving upbringing, but she naturally has a reserved temperament, but that doesn't mean she isn't assertive, which she is when she comes out of her grief. So this was a very interesting dynamic because i felt that both Catherine and Moncrief were well suited because they had very similar temperaments.
Of course there's the whole secret about the letters hanging over Moncrief, and he actually doesn't angst as much about it, but enough for me--- I liked that he wasn't over the top brooding and angry and lashed out of Catherine. I really liked how mature Moncrief was in that sense... But his beautiful angst gave me internal monologues like this:
"Dearest Catherine, I am home again in a place I dreamed of for so many years. And I've brought you here, a woman who confuses, irritates, and charms me. You love with such fervor that I wonder if you will ever surrender Harry, life is for the living, Catherine, and I wonder if time will teach you that essential lesson.
How do I battle a ghost, especially when that ghost is me?
The world Ranney created was rather vivid to me, I could see the halls of Balidonough and imagine the landscape well enough, and that somewhat harsh Scottish landscape really added to the melancholic beauty of the love story in this book.
October 28, 2014
A truly touching love story.
I loved the hero, Moncrief! He was such a fantastic man! He's not totally alpha, he has no caveman tendencies, but he's still deliciously commanding! But he's also very tender and very honorable! Loved, loved him!!!
Also the heroine, Kate, was great! She started like a grief stricken woman: she was suffering the death of her love. That he was not her love was beside the point. That I'll discover only later on. I didn't liked how much self-destructive her grief was, but still I found it very touching.
The letters were very poetic and very old-fashion romantic!
A different, but very, very good historical romance!
I loved the hero, Moncrief! He was such a fantastic man! He's not totally alpha, he has no caveman tendencies, but he's still deliciously commanding! But he's also very tender and very honorable! Loved, loved him!!!
Also the heroine, Kate, was great! She started like a grief stricken woman: she was suffering the death of her love. That he was not her love was beside the point. That I'll discover only later on. I didn't liked how much self-destructive her grief was, but still I found it very touching.
The letters were very poetic and very old-fashion romantic!
A different, but very, very good historical romance!
July 30, 2014
Hay temas que quedan en mi opinión, demasiado rápidamente resueltos (vamos, que en dos hojas soluciona toda la intriga), pero en general, la historia entre ellos es muy bonita.
De esos libros en los que lo importante es la evolución de los sentimientos y de la relación entre ambos
Una grata sorpresa
De esos libros en los que lo importante es la evolución de los sentimientos y de la relación entre ambos
Una grata sorpresa
October 6, 2017
In love with each word of this book! Beautifully written, full of emotion , gripping plot & deep characters.
Catherine fall deeply in love with her husband through their letters exchange...news of his death shattered her world. Moncrief-the Duke who did the sin on writing behalf of Henry(her husband-a very bad man) went to have just one look of her. Her pathetic condition & his honor (well his heart too) made him marry her. And the delicious war of confusing emotions began.
How do I battle a ghost, especially when that ghost is me.
I can paste the whole book here. This is my 1 attempt by this author. Realy she has such away with words. Enjoy hereitung so much. Going to check other books by her.
Catherine fall deeply in love with her husband through their letters exchange...news of his death shattered her world. Moncrief-the Duke who did the sin on writing behalf of Henry(her husband-a very bad man) went to have just one look of her. Her pathetic condition & his honor (well his heart too) made him marry her. And the delicious war of confusing emotions began.
How do I battle a ghost, especially when that ghost is me.
I can paste the whole book here. This is my 1 attempt by this author. Realy she has such away with words. Enjoy hereitung so much. Going to check other books by her.
June 10, 2018
I really enjoyed this one. Both the hero and heroine act maturely (which can be rare in this genre). The heroine is overcome with grief for her husband when she ends up married to the hero. The hero had written her acting as her husband and fallen in love with her. This couple has a lot to overcome - the hero’s deceit, the heroine’s grief, annoying family members, and a plot to kill the heroine.
I did find the hero’s initial descriptions of the housekeeper as an angel and so attractive etc to be off putting. I even reread the description to make sure he the heroine wasn’t the housekeeper. Regardless, after that initial weirdness with the housekeeper, the hero behaves as one dreams a hero will, and it’s easy to fall for such a strong, loving man.
I really enjoyed the slow burn romance and the mystery. Everything worked well together and this was a very solid story. I did suspect we’d learn more of the Jacobites, but we didn’t, and I liked that it wasn’t predictable.
4.5.
I did find the hero’s initial descriptions of the housekeeper as an angel and so attractive etc to be off putting. I even reread the description to make sure he the heroine wasn’t the housekeeper. Regardless, after that initial weirdness with the housekeeper, the hero behaves as one dreams a hero will, and it’s easy to fall for such a strong, loving man.
I really enjoyed the slow burn romance and the mystery. Everything worked well together and this was a very solid story. I did suspect we’d learn more of the Jacobites, but we didn’t, and I liked that it wasn’t predictable.
4.5.
Shelved as 'abandonados'
July 20, 2016En realidad, no le he podido continuar, así que le he dejado por imposible por ahora.Y mira que me da rabia, porque nunca he dejado ninguno sin terminar!
No sé si es que no he logrado conectar con la historia o que la verdadera aventura empieza más adelante y la primera parte es más "lineal" por así decirlo, pero lo cierto es que ha habido momentos en el libro que me han chocado muchísimo y que han hecho que no vea el libro con muchas ganas. Es posible que la culpa sea mía, porque hay muchos libros que he leído con situaciones en histórica más inverosímiles, pero en esta ocasión, antes de rechazar el libro por completo, he decidido relegarlo para más adelante. Tal vez le coja con más ganas.
No sé si es que no he logrado conectar con la historia o que la verdadera aventura empieza más adelante y la primera parte es más "lineal" por así decirlo, pero lo cierto es que ha habido momentos en el libro que me han chocado muchísimo y que han hecho que no vea el libro con muchas ganas. Es posible que la culpa sea mía, porque hay muchos libros que he leído con situaciones en histórica más inverosímiles, pero en esta ocasión, antes de rechazar el libro por completo, he decidido relegarlo para más adelante. Tal vez le coja con más ganas.
September 28, 2013
This was such a boring book. This is 350+ page book and nothing actually happens until at least the last 30 pages. The remainder of the book is just pages and pages droning on and on and on about descriptions of rooms and the heroine's endless whining and woes about mourning her deceased husband. I skipped more pages than I actually read. What a complete bore.
July 13, 2024
The plot was very interesting...the MMC needs to be locked into an asylum.
The mystery was amazing, as it initially gave the readers a false sense of knowledge. The framework of the romance was also good, more or less. BUT the execution... mid.... also Moncrief... that dude needs intense therapy. My dude, you married a widow who was partly unconscious and half dead and when she gets better, you are wondering why she doesn't want to sleep with you? Nope...
Tags:
Historical Romance⚔️🏰🐲
Widow MFC❤️🩹 💔
Epistolary narrative 💌📝📬
Suspence 🔪 🗡 ⚔️
PA🪓 ����🏴
parental death(mentioned)❤️🩹 💔
Murders 🧨🧫 🧪
War themes 🔫 💣 🪒
Learning intimacy💁👌😍
Pinning ❤️🩹💔
Miscommunication😵💫⚠️
Angst😐😑😬
Grieff❤️🔥💔
HEA🔔🤵🏼👰🏼
The mystery was amazing, as it initially gave the readers a false sense of knowledge. The framework of the romance was also good, more or less. BUT the execution... mid.... also Moncrief... that dude needs intense therapy. My dude, you married a widow who was partly unconscious and half dead and when she gets better, you are wondering why she doesn't want to sleep with you? Nope...
Tags:
Historical Romance⚔️🏰🐲
Widow MFC❤️🩹 💔
Epistolary narrative 💌📝📬
Suspence 🔪 🗡 ⚔️
PA🪓 ����🏴
parental death(mentioned)❤️🩹 💔
Murders 🧨🧫 🧪
War themes 🔫 💣 🪒
Learning intimacy💁👌😍
Pinning ❤️🩹💔
Miscommunication😵💫⚠️
Angst😐😑😬
Grieff❤️🔥💔
HEA🔔🤵🏼👰🏼
May 24, 2012
Okay, so...this book, seriously, I'm so befuddled as to my overall reaction. Yea? Nah? Maybe? Perchance a little of it all?
Looking back over my book updates while reading this novel, it strikes me that I had more negative to say about this story, than positive. This is odd to be, because realistically, this book didn't bring a wrathful hatred to my reading mind. There were definitely some serious issues within, but not all was for not.
The writing style, in general, was very well done. From both an historical and technical standpoint, the dialogue was very well executed. Rather, my first criticism, and perhaps all my criticism, might be rooted in the book's emotionalism aspects. Frankly, I'm of the opinion Karen Ranney put such an effort of getting the emotional realities of her hero and heroine on paper in the first fifty pages of the book, that, sadly, there was nothing left for the remaining chapters.
The first three chapters of this novel were surrealistically good. I felt the relatability and emotional depth to not just Catherine for her suffering and heartache, but for Moncrief, as well, for his early depth of feeling and emotional passion. There was such a visceral quality to the feelings of the leading characters early on, that I was almost positive I would be wowed by this story.
Sadly, such was not the case. As the novel progressed, I felt the characters gradually became fragmented in their personalities. As Catherine's grief gave way, I thought the romantic plot would explode with tension and drama between her and Moncrief. Ironically, such was just the opposite, for instead, all fizzled. All throughout the book, I found myself thinking Catherine and Moncrief were like friends than a romantic pair. Such feeling was cemented as the final page or two of the story arrived. At the ending, I was literally left thinking "That's it?!" Specifically, the lack of believable emotion on the scene was almost painful, and the book just abruptly ended.
Such emotional lacking could have resulted, I think, from the almost bipolar actions of both protagonists. From the start of the novel, Moncrief was painted as a very feeling and heartfelt character, while Catherine was seen as a giving, soft woman. Neither lady or gentleman held true to this character portrait, or if they did, such character aspects never showed themselves on page. The classic "Show, don't tell" rule of writing was almost painfully ignored.
The plot, likewise, felt off-kilter. Since well over half of the book focused on the developing (so called) emotional element between the hero and heroine, when this seemed to fizzle or come to a stonewall, it almost seemed as though the author pulled her plot from thin air. So quickly was the element of suspense and "bad-guy/who-dunnit" put upon the scene that, when we see it arrive, within less than two chapters, it's resolved!
Such lack of emotionalism, paired with a lack of quality driving plot put with characters who devolved from three dimensional to one dimensional as the story continued, and one might wonder why I bothered to finish. Put simply, such reality was because of a guess. At the onset of the story, a degree of mystery was established surrounding a secondary cast member, Glynneth, one to which I developed an hypothesis. Merely the desire to see if I was correct in my estimation was probably the primary reason as to this book's conclusion.
Ironically, however, this book does finalize with a two star ranking. This result probably stems from the fact that Till Next We Meet proves that, even when a book scores as mediocre in some respects, and disappointing in others, if two characters are written as being likable, or rather not dislikeable, to the reader, immediate book-hatred isn't always the end result. Catherine was not irritatingly obtuse, had a pleasant on-page demeanor, and, despite seeming almost devoid of personality, was capable of maintaining my interest. Such exact reality can be said of Moncrief, for he too was not abrasive to read.
Even though having high hopes and expectations for this novel, considering its obviously likable tropes, it's sad to say that Till Next We Meet was simply, and only, tolerable.
Looking back over my book updates while reading this novel, it strikes me that I had more negative to say about this story, than positive. This is odd to be, because realistically, this book didn't bring a wrathful hatred to my reading mind. There were definitely some serious issues within, but not all was for not.
The writing style, in general, was very well done. From both an historical and technical standpoint, the dialogue was very well executed. Rather, my first criticism, and perhaps all my criticism, might be rooted in the book's emotionalism aspects. Frankly, I'm of the opinion Karen Ranney put such an effort of getting the emotional realities of her hero and heroine on paper in the first fifty pages of the book, that, sadly, there was nothing left for the remaining chapters.
The first three chapters of this novel were surrealistically good. I felt the relatability and emotional depth to not just Catherine for her suffering and heartache, but for Moncrief, as well, for his early depth of feeling and emotional passion. There was such a visceral quality to the feelings of the leading characters early on, that I was almost positive I would be wowed by this story.
Sadly, such was not the case. As the novel progressed, I felt the characters gradually became fragmented in their personalities. As Catherine's grief gave way, I thought the romantic plot would explode with tension and drama between her and Moncrief. Ironically, such was just the opposite, for instead, all fizzled. All throughout the book, I found myself thinking Catherine and Moncrief were like friends than a romantic pair. Such feeling was cemented as the final page or two of the story arrived. At the ending, I was literally left thinking "That's it?!" Specifically, the lack of believable emotion on the scene was almost painful, and the book just abruptly ended.
Such emotional lacking could have resulted, I think, from the almost bipolar actions of both protagonists. From the start of the novel, Moncrief was painted as a very feeling and heartfelt character, while Catherine was seen as a giving, soft woman. Neither lady or gentleman held true to this character portrait, or if they did, such character aspects never showed themselves on page. The classic "Show, don't tell" rule of writing was almost painfully ignored.
The plot, likewise, felt off-kilter. Since well over half of the book focused on the developing (so called) emotional element between the hero and heroine, when this seemed to fizzle or come to a stonewall, it almost seemed as though the author pulled her plot from thin air. So quickly was the element of suspense and "bad-guy/who-dunnit" put upon the scene that, when we see it arrive, within less than two chapters, it's resolved!
Such lack of emotionalism, paired with a lack of quality driving plot put with characters who devolved from three dimensional to one dimensional as the story continued, and one might wonder why I bothered to finish. Put simply, such reality was because of a guess. At the onset of the story, a degree of mystery was established surrounding a secondary cast member, Glynneth, one to which I developed an hypothesis. Merely the desire to see if I was correct in my estimation was probably the primary reason as to this book's conclusion.
Ironically, however, this book does finalize with a two star ranking. This result probably stems from the fact that Till Next We Meet proves that, even when a book scores as mediocre in some respects, and disappointing in others, if two characters are written as being likable, or rather not dislikeable, to the reader, immediate book-hatred isn't always the end result. Catherine was not irritatingly obtuse, had a pleasant on-page demeanor, and, despite seeming almost devoid of personality, was capable of maintaining my interest. Such exact reality can be said of Moncrief, for he too was not abrasive to read.
Even though having high hopes and expectations for this novel, considering its obviously likable tropes, it's sad to say that Till Next We Meet was simply, and only, tolerable.
January 18, 2018
Sweet story. Moncrief is such a wonderful hero. All power outside and all love and tenderness within.
Catherine lost her husband to the war and her grief was so intense her life was hanging by a thread and she was getting addicted to laudanum.
Moncrief was her husband’s captain during the war and had written her some letters on his behalf and got intrigued by the intelligent and sensible woman who wrote to a womanizer, scoundrel and dishonorable husband who could not even bother to write her back.
After returning from the war, Moncrief decides to visit the widow because he was fascinated by her letters. When he arrives, instead of finding the alluring intelligent woman he had imagined from her letters, he finds her literally dying of a laudanum overdose.
From there their lives get entangled and a beautiful love story is shaped.
Catherine lost her husband to the war and her grief was so intense her life was hanging by a thread and she was getting addicted to laudanum.
Moncrief was her husband’s captain during the war and had written her some letters on his behalf and got intrigued by the intelligent and sensible woman who wrote to a womanizer, scoundrel and dishonorable husband who could not even bother to write her back.
After returning from the war, Moncrief decides to visit the widow because he was fascinated by her letters. When he arrives, instead of finding the alluring intelligent woman he had imagined from her letters, he finds her literally dying of a laudanum overdose.
From there their lives get entangled and a beautiful love story is shaped.
May 20, 2016
4.5 stars.
Love love love this book!
Love the story and the characters. Love the letters, written or the ones that Moncrief wrote in his head. The longing was heartbreaking but the love scenes were scorching!
A great read for me!
Love love love this book!
Love the story and the characters. Love the letters, written or the ones that Moncrief wrote in his head. The longing was heartbreaking but the love scenes were scorching!
A great read for me!
July 11, 2018
It wasn't as angsty as I would have liked, but the steamy love scenes was a nice surprise. If Karen Ranney writes love scenes like these, then you can expect me to read more of her books!
May 7, 2021
Grade=C+
April 22, 2024
Reviewed for THC Reviews
Till Next We Meet is a stand-alone, Georgian historical romance that takes place in the Scottish lowlands following the Seven Years War between Great Britain and France. Our hero, Adam Moncrief, served as a colonel in Canada during the war, where he was in command of Harry Dunnan. Harry received letters from his young wife, Catherine, which he refused to answer. Feeling that she was owned something, Moncrief took it upon himself to answer the letters for Harry, and thus began a lengthy correspondence between the two with him writing under the guise of her husband and them falling in love through their missives. Then Harry died, leaving Moncrief with the duty of writing a condolence letter as himself, the last one he sends to her. When Moncrief unexpectedly inherits a Dukedom after the untimely death of his brother, he resigns his commission to return home, but on his way there, he decides to look in on Catherine to see how she’s doing, only to find her deeply grieving and under the influence of laudanum. On his second visit to see her, Moncrief finds Catherine nearly dead of a laudanum overdose and sets about reviving her, which leads to a shotgun marriage after the vicar finds out that in doing so Moncrief compromised her. When she awakens, she’s not entirely happy about the situation, but capitulates, traveling with her new husband to his castle. There, they must get to know one another in person with her grief and the guilt of his deception hanging over their relationship. But it seems that there is also someone who is out to get Catherine and perhaps the laudanum overdose was neither an accident nor a suicide attempt.
Catherine became enamored of Harry almost immediately upon meeting him, not knowing that he was only looking for a wealthy heiress to marry to fund his gambling habit. She was happy with him for a month, but then Harry developed wanderlust so her father bought him a commission in the army. Really missing him after he went away, she wrote to him and received beautiful letters in return that she hadn’t known Harry was capable of writing (of course, not realizing that it wasn’t him at all), and fell even more in love with him through their correspondence. But then she received word that he’d died and she went into a deep grief. She started taking what she thought were measured doses of laudanum to help her sleep, but she’s very much under the influence of the drug when she first meets Moncrief with him later finding her nearly dead of an overdose. When she finally awakens to find herself married to him, she doesn’t remember any of it, but swears that she wasn’t trying to kill herself, an assertion that he doesn’t entirely believe at first. Although Catherine finds it uncomfortable to be wed to a stranger, she doesn’t fight it, instead willingly going with him to his castle, but asking for a month to make peace with it all before consummating their union. During that time, she finds herself more and more attracted to Moncrief and feeling like she’s betraying the memory of her dead husband. However, when the truth of Harry’s nature comes out, she’s the one who instead feels betrayed, but if she learns that her new husband is the one who really wrote the letters, it could spell doom for her burgeoning feelings for him.
I found Catherine to be a very likable heroine. Although her father was a wealthy landowner, which made her an equally wealthy heiress when he died, she didn’t grow up with all the lush trappings of the aristocracy. She’s a very approachable woman who treats her servants with kindness and respect. Even though she’s confused by her feelings for Moncrief when they start to surface, she doesn’t really fight them. And once she experiences the pleasures of love-making (something she didn’t have with Harry), she embraces it and finds herself falling for him more and more. She also trusts him when he tells her the truth about Harry and was smart enough to figure out the rest by herself.
As the second son of a duke, Moncrief (I don’t recall anyone, not even Catherine, ever calling him by Adam, his Christian name) bought a commission in the army and ended up as Colonel of the Highland Scots Fusiliers. It was during their service together that he met Harry, a man he never liked much because of all his vices. When Catherine first writes to Harry, Moncrief encourages Harry to write back, but he refuses and tells Moncrief to do it. So he does, thinking only to give her the courtesy of one letter from her errant husband, but then more letters from her arrive. He finds himself drawn to her missives, and since no one is writing to him, he’s lonely and can’t resist writing back over and over, falling more in love with her with each one. When Harry dies, Moncrief writes what he believes will be his last letter to Catherine informing her of her husband’s demise. But when he’s called home after the death of his brother to take up the dukedom, he simply must stop in to check on her. On his first visit, she’s very unkempt and clearly drugged, as well as deeply grieving. Then he returns to find she’s overdosed. Since her servants don’t seem to be doing anything about it, he jumps into action, trying to revive her by putting her in a cold bath, after which the vicar takes issue, forcing him to marry her. Already in love with her, Moncrief doesn’t find it to be a hardship to do so, but when Catherine fully awakens, still seeming depressed and unable to stop talking about her dead husband, he worries she may never be the woman he fell for through her lovely letters. He knows he should tell her the truth about being the one who answered her missives, but at first, thinking she’d just attempted suicide, he fears what she might do. The longer he keeps the truth from her though, the more he worries what she’ll think, and then after another “accident” that he realizes was anything but, he must focus on keeping her safe.
I completely understood why Moncrief was so tempted to write back to Catherine and then keep writing her. Since he was a far better man than Harry ever was, it didn’t bother me at all that he was corresponding with and falling for another man’s wife. He also had good reasons for keeping the truth from Catherine when they first met as well, but it left him feeling guilty and also like he was fighting the ghost of a man who was really himself. Moncrief was every bit the imperious commanding officer, and now duke, taking charge of situations as needed, which is how he ended up in Catherine’s bedroom after she overdosed, leading to their hasty wedding. However, he was a patient man who understood that not only was she still grieving Harry, even though he didn’t deserve her devotion, but she was also thrust into a new marriage with someone who she thought was a complete stranger and needed time to adjust. Once they consummate their union, Moncrief is a very attentive lover who gives her all the pleasure Harry denied her, and it’s in those moments that he becomes more vulnerable, expressing his feelings with his body and becoming even more enamored with her. I also like that he was smart enough to figure out someone was trying to harm Catherine and did his best to protect her.
Till Next We Meet is very much a low-key, slow-burn kind of romance. At first I wasn’t feeling a strong connection between Moncrief and Catherine because she’s still grieving for someone who didn’t really exist, when in reality the man she really fell for is right in front of her but she doesn’t know it. This put a little distance between them, but happily the author did create some moments for touches of romance and lust that helped to start building the connection I craved. However, it’s not until the full truth of Harry’s character comes out that things really start to take off between them. The love scenes are sensual and full of promise, showing their feelings before they can articulate them, and I love how they both embrace those times together. The mystery perhaps could have been woven in a little more. Given Catherine’s assertions that she didn’t intend to overdose nor wanted to die, I wondered right from the beginning if someone was trying to harm her. Once she goes with Moncrief to his castle it’s pretty much forgotten until another “accident” occurs. Even still, I wasn’t entirely sure who it might be or why until the reveal, and the denouement of that part of the story had some pretty decent suspense. Till Next We Meet wasn’t quite perfect but I did find it to be an enjoyable read. It was my first book by Karen Ranney, who I was saddened to find out passed away in 2020, but it looks like she has a pretty extensive back list that I look forward to checking out.
Till Next We Meet is a stand-alone, Georgian historical romance that takes place in the Scottish lowlands following the Seven Years War between Great Britain and France. Our hero, Adam Moncrief, served as a colonel in Canada during the war, where he was in command of Harry Dunnan. Harry received letters from his young wife, Catherine, which he refused to answer. Feeling that she was owned something, Moncrief took it upon himself to answer the letters for Harry, and thus began a lengthy correspondence between the two with him writing under the guise of her husband and them falling in love through their missives. Then Harry died, leaving Moncrief with the duty of writing a condolence letter as himself, the last one he sends to her. When Moncrief unexpectedly inherits a Dukedom after the untimely death of his brother, he resigns his commission to return home, but on his way there, he decides to look in on Catherine to see how she’s doing, only to find her deeply grieving and under the influence of laudanum. On his second visit to see her, Moncrief finds Catherine nearly dead of a laudanum overdose and sets about reviving her, which leads to a shotgun marriage after the vicar finds out that in doing so Moncrief compromised her. When she awakens, she’s not entirely happy about the situation, but capitulates, traveling with her new husband to his castle. There, they must get to know one another in person with her grief and the guilt of his deception hanging over their relationship. But it seems that there is also someone who is out to get Catherine and perhaps the laudanum overdose was neither an accident nor a suicide attempt.
Catherine became enamored of Harry almost immediately upon meeting him, not knowing that he was only looking for a wealthy heiress to marry to fund his gambling habit. She was happy with him for a month, but then Harry developed wanderlust so her father bought him a commission in the army. Really missing him after he went away, she wrote to him and received beautiful letters in return that she hadn’t known Harry was capable of writing (of course, not realizing that it wasn’t him at all), and fell even more in love with him through their correspondence. But then she received word that he’d died and she went into a deep grief. She started taking what she thought were measured doses of laudanum to help her sleep, but she’s very much under the influence of the drug when she first meets Moncrief with him later finding her nearly dead of an overdose. When she finally awakens to find herself married to him, she doesn’t remember any of it, but swears that she wasn’t trying to kill herself, an assertion that he doesn’t entirely believe at first. Although Catherine finds it uncomfortable to be wed to a stranger, she doesn’t fight it, instead willingly going with him to his castle, but asking for a month to make peace with it all before consummating their union. During that time, she finds herself more and more attracted to Moncrief and feeling like she’s betraying the memory of her dead husband. However, when the truth of Harry’s nature comes out, she’s the one who instead feels betrayed, but if she learns that her new husband is the one who really wrote the letters, it could spell doom for her burgeoning feelings for him.
I found Catherine to be a very likable heroine. Although her father was a wealthy landowner, which made her an equally wealthy heiress when he died, she didn’t grow up with all the lush trappings of the aristocracy. She’s a very approachable woman who treats her servants with kindness and respect. Even though she’s confused by her feelings for Moncrief when they start to surface, she doesn’t really fight them. And once she experiences the pleasures of love-making (something she didn’t have with Harry), she embraces it and finds herself falling for him more and more. She also trusts him when he tells her the truth about Harry and was smart enough to figure out the rest by herself.
As the second son of a duke, Moncrief (I don’t recall anyone, not even Catherine, ever calling him by Adam, his Christian name) bought a commission in the army and ended up as Colonel of the Highland Scots Fusiliers. It was during their service together that he met Harry, a man he never liked much because of all his vices. When Catherine first writes to Harry, Moncrief encourages Harry to write back, but he refuses and tells Moncrief to do it. So he does, thinking only to give her the courtesy of one letter from her errant husband, but then more letters from her arrive. He finds himself drawn to her missives, and since no one is writing to him, he’s lonely and can’t resist writing back over and over, falling more in love with her with each one. When Harry dies, Moncrief writes what he believes will be his last letter to Catherine informing her of her husband’s demise. But when he’s called home after the death of his brother to take up the dukedom, he simply must stop in to check on her. On his first visit, she’s very unkempt and clearly drugged, as well as deeply grieving. Then he returns to find she’s overdosed. Since her servants don’t seem to be doing anything about it, he jumps into action, trying to revive her by putting her in a cold bath, after which the vicar takes issue, forcing him to marry her. Already in love with her, Moncrief doesn’t find it to be a hardship to do so, but when Catherine fully awakens, still seeming depressed and unable to stop talking about her dead husband, he worries she may never be the woman he fell for through her lovely letters. He knows he should tell her the truth about being the one who answered her missives, but at first, thinking she’d just attempted suicide, he fears what she might do. The longer he keeps the truth from her though, the more he worries what she’ll think, and then after another “accident” that he realizes was anything but, he must focus on keeping her safe.
I completely understood why Moncrief was so tempted to write back to Catherine and then keep writing her. Since he was a far better man than Harry ever was, it didn’t bother me at all that he was corresponding with and falling for another man’s wife. He also had good reasons for keeping the truth from Catherine when they first met as well, but it left him feeling guilty and also like he was fighting the ghost of a man who was really himself. Moncrief was every bit the imperious commanding officer, and now duke, taking charge of situations as needed, which is how he ended up in Catherine’s bedroom after she overdosed, leading to their hasty wedding. However, he was a patient man who understood that not only was she still grieving Harry, even though he didn’t deserve her devotion, but she was also thrust into a new marriage with someone who she thought was a complete stranger and needed time to adjust. Once they consummate their union, Moncrief is a very attentive lover who gives her all the pleasure Harry denied her, and it’s in those moments that he becomes more vulnerable, expressing his feelings with his body and becoming even more enamored with her. I also like that he was smart enough to figure out someone was trying to harm Catherine and did his best to protect her.
Till Next We Meet is very much a low-key, slow-burn kind of romance. At first I wasn’t feeling a strong connection between Moncrief and Catherine because she’s still grieving for someone who didn’t really exist, when in reality the man she really fell for is right in front of her but she doesn’t know it. This put a little distance between them, but happily the author did create some moments for touches of romance and lust that helped to start building the connection I craved. However, it’s not until the full truth of Harry’s character comes out that things really start to take off between them. The love scenes are sensual and full of promise, showing their feelings before they can articulate them, and I love how they both embrace those times together. The mystery perhaps could have been woven in a little more. Given Catherine’s assertions that she didn’t intend to overdose nor wanted to die, I wondered right from the beginning if someone was trying to harm her. Once she goes with Moncrief to his castle it’s pretty much forgotten until another “accident” occurs. Even still, I wasn’t entirely sure who it might be or why until the reveal, and the denouement of that part of the story had some pretty decent suspense. Till Next We Meet wasn’t quite perfect but I did find it to be an enjoyable read. It was my first book by Karen Ranney, who I was saddened to find out passed away in 2020, but it looks like she has a pretty extensive back list that I look forward to checking out.
March 18, 2014
I'm often intrigued by stories with love letters as a key plot point--most likely because I think most of modern society has forgotten what love letters really are. This book was full of great love letters. Our hero starts writing letters to our heroine because her scumbag husband wouldn't write them (hero is the scumbag husbands commanding officer in the army). Then scumbag husband dies. Our hero visits our heroine to offer his condolences, but we all know it's because he really wanted to know what she was like.
Well, from there we learn she is not so well so he impulsively decides to rescue her. And that is where the story really begins. The tension between the characters was great and I loved seeing their altering points of view. However, I have to say that the "secret" of who wrote the letters was kept secret for much too long. Also, parts of the book were unspeakably sad. I think the sadness was due to the loneliness of the main characters and while it was lovely that they found each other, Ranney truly painted a picture of just how apart people of the upperclass really are. Many authors glamorize being of the upper class, but rarely does an author so clearly depict just how lonely it can be up there above everyone.
Anyway, I still really enjoyed this story and I thought the hero was all things marvelous. I will continue to gobble up more by this author. 4 stars.
Well, from there we learn she is not so well so he impulsively decides to rescue her. And that is where the story really begins. The tension between the characters was great and I loved seeing their altering points of view. However, I have to say that the "secret" of who wrote the letters was kept secret for much too long. Also, parts of the book were unspeakably sad. I think the sadness was due to the loneliness of the main characters and while it was lovely that they found each other, Ranney truly painted a picture of just how apart people of the upperclass really are. Many authors glamorize being of the upper class, but rarely does an author so clearly depict just how lonely it can be up there above everyone.
Anyway, I still really enjoyed this story and I thought the hero was all things marvelous. I will continue to gobble up more by this author. 4 stars.
July 23, 2010
I have to say when this book first started I was not really sure how I was going to feel about it. However, I stuck with it and I am glad that I did. Yes there were part where I wanted to shoot Adam Moncrief, and his spur of the moment wife Catherine Dunnan who Adam feel in love with thru letter (sound like another story, HAHA), However, Catherine is already married and Adam is the husband's commander. Catherine's husband is a jerk no way around and then when he dies and Adam come to meet Catherine he sees that she is in trouble and comes to the rescue. Catherine and Adam have to learn about each other and in the process learn that love is important, not just the imagine of what love should be but the real life type of love
May 26, 2016
I wanted to like this, but was disappointed.
The execution was a little dry and drab for me.
More of a 2.5.
The execution was a little dry and drab for me.
More of a 2.5.
July 19, 2020
Could'a, would'a, should'a. I feel like this book could have been so much better had....
The secret to the real identity of the author of the husband's love letters had been revealed sooner. I stopped at exactly midway and it still had not been revealed. It was carrying on for far too long, the hero was forever cruelly chastising the heroine for missing her dead husband, that she loved only because of the love letters that she had received from him .
There was some mystery of a 'bad man'. Either the lady's maid or the sister-in-law to the hero. I'm not entirely sure who it was, but I didn't care either because I wanted to focus on the love story aspect. Either way, the sister-in-law was an absolute bitch and not fun to read about at all.
When the heroine was pushed down the stairs, it was the most confusing scene for me. How could the heroine NOT have seen who it was? They were coming directly towards her to pass her on the stairs, there was obviously enough light to see with if she herself could navigate the stairs... (eyeroll)
Overall, because of the secret being withheld for so long, the characters both came off as shrewish, so not my favorite setting at all.
The secret to the real identity of the author of the husband's love letters had been revealed sooner. I stopped at exactly midway and it still had not been revealed. It was carrying on for far too long, the hero was forever cruelly chastising the heroine for missing her dead husband, that she loved only because of the love letters that she had received from him .
There was some mystery of a 'bad man'. Either the lady's maid or the sister-in-law to the hero. I'm not entirely sure who it was, but I didn't care either because I wanted to focus on the love story aspect. Either way, the sister-in-law was an absolute bitch and not fun to read about at all.
When the heroine was pushed down the stairs, it was the most confusing scene for me. How could the heroine NOT have seen who it was? They were coming directly towards her to pass her on the stairs, there was obviously enough light to see with if she herself could navigate the stairs... (eyeroll)
Overall, because of the secret being withheld for so long, the characters both came off as shrewish, so not my favorite setting at all.
December 8, 2020
What a delightful refreshing story
My favorite kind of romance books, epistolary genre.
This author writes so fine, her style is just beautiful.
Those letters, yummy, just delightful letters.
I fell in love with both main characters: with hero because he was so strong in his feelings to our heroine, he fought and he was a pursuer, and with heroine because she went from depressed weaked woman to strong woman, who finally had opened her eyes.
There are some lines from this book:
“If I were your husband, Catherine, I would kiss you right here, and fell you shiver.”
“You appear even in my dreams. Damn fevered things of late. Your skin is the color of cream, and your body is made for loving. Mourning should be a sin”.
“Why should I ever choose another woman when there is you, Catherine?”
My favorite kind of romance books, epistolary genre.
This author writes so fine, her style is just beautiful.
Those letters, yummy, just delightful letters.
I fell in love with both main characters: with hero because he was so strong in his feelings to our heroine, he fought and he was a pursuer, and with heroine because she went from depressed weaked woman to strong woman, who finally had opened her eyes.
There are some lines from this book:
“If I were your husband, Catherine, I would kiss you right here, and fell you shiver.”
“You appear even in my dreams. Damn fevered things of late. Your skin is the color of cream, and your body is made for loving. Mourning should be a sin”.
“Why should I ever choose another woman when there is you, Catherine?”
Displaying 1 - 30 of 130 reviews