Review: Stunning read until the last 1/4 of the book.
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 01 13, 2012
The first 3/4's of this book is some of the best story-telling I have ever read.  In fact, it was so good, I was sure this book was going on my coveted shelf of "very favorite romances of all time,"  right alongside Woodiwiss's Ashes in the Wind, McNaught's Whitney My Love, and the like.  This book was truly epic; it was flawless - the writing, the characters, the plot, the pace, the rich and meaningful history...and then 3/4's of the way through, it was as if the author's wellspring of brilliance suddenly ran dry.  This happens shortly after the heroine is sent to her final destination.Here, the story becomes a slightly better than run-of-the-mill, period romance.  Yes, it is important that the heroine finds out the truth behind the hero, but there were about 80 pages of shallow plot twists thrown in at the end that did not flow naturally from (or as originally as) the book's earlier material.  As if the characters hadn't been through enough, I was disappointed to see the author seemingly throw in these few extra "misunderstandings"...for what?  A longer book?  These final twists felt manufactured enough that it actually changed the tone of the characters for me.  Admirable characters whose integrity, maturity and temperance had blossomed from the terrible heartache and horrors of war, became suddenly silly and self-centered.  What was a brilliant book, became suddenly dumbed down.I still give this book five stars because of the extreme and rare quality of the first 3/4's of the book, and even though the last quarter of the book was disappointing for me, the overall writing was still better than 95% of the books available in this genre.  So, this one still gets an A and the Tarleton's Wife has been queued into my list of books to soon read.