What do You think about Petals On The River (1998)?
When Shemaine O Hearn finds herself engaged, and falling in love with a wonderful man she thinks nothing could go wrong, everything is going right, but she has one person that doesn't approve of the match, his grandmother. So before Shemaine knows it, she has been falsely accused of thievery and is sent to America and sold into servitude for seven years. The ride on the ship was hard enough and she doesn't know what is in her future. Then she is surprised when she is sold to a Gage Thornton, who is a shipbuilder and in need of someone to care for his son and to cool and clean....Shemaine figures it couldn't get any worse now. Shemaine is surprised by how well Gage treats her, with courtesy and respect and kindness something no one has treated her since she was taken. So even though Shemaine misses her old life, she is prepared to start a new life with Gage and his son, and in Gage's arms finds "Home".Petals On The River would have to be one of my all time favorite books from this author...one that I have probably read over and over....but its been a while since I have read it, and when I saw it in the library I just wanted to read this old favorite of mine. Petals On The River is such a sweet and charming story, and both Gage and Shemaine are such endearing characters you can't help but love them. Also one thing that I love about this story is how there is much more to this story than a mere love story, it has some difficult conflicts that both Shemaine and Gage have to go through, and there some suspenseful scenes that kept the story going...and I just loved the blossoming romance that developed between these two. And I just thought Gage's little boy Andrew was just charming and adorable.....Overall a loveable story filled with a charming characters, a exciting plot, and a love story that will make you cry, written by a Legend......A Sensational Romance!!!!
—Lover of Romance
I’m starting to see that with Miss Woodiwiss, it’s either a bullseye or a complete miss, as it is the case with this book.Petals On The River disappointed me at several levels and that’s why I rated this onewith mere 2 stars.First of all, the length of the book was one of the major flaws.I don’t feel like the book had to be so long to tell the story of our heroine, Shemaine O’Hearn and how she constantly found herself in serious trouble.In fact, I would have thought the same thing if the book had only half the pages. I think we could have learned the same throughout 300 pages or so.As it is, I think most of what I read was unnecessary and could have been easily cut out.Nothing relevant or interesting ever seemed to happen and I had to go through endless descriptions of Shemaine’s household chores and how much Gage unsettled her ‘freshly awakened woman senses’ and all that jazz, which, as you know, was extremely boring.The only time something somewhat important happened was when our heroine found her life threatened.Now, come on, how many enemies is it humanly possible for someone to have?Shemaine had a bunch of them, all eagerly waiting for an opportunity to put her in a wooden pajama.Let’s count them: Mrs Fitch, the London Pride’s captain’s wife, Jacob Potts, one of the sailors, Morrisa Hatcher, the whore, Roxanne Corbin, who spent years lusting after Gage before Shemaine arrived on the scene and Lady Edith du Mercer, who preferred her dead rather than face the possibility she could marry her grandson and sully the family’s precious aristocratic blood with her Irish blood.And I’m just talking about the ones who actually tried to kill her, direct or indirectly. She had way more, like Mrs Pettycomb, the gossipmonger.Really, it came to a point that this entire situation became ridiculous and the only thing I could do was sigh with dread and skip pages.Besides that, I had other issues with the book, like the fact that Shemaine, who although not a lady came from a family with money and possessions, slipped too easily into the role of a slave and servant.I don’t think that’s believable. First of all, someone used to that level of comfort would surely notice the difference in circumstances and there’s the fact Shemaine was supposed to be a fiery woman.I would surely expect her to actively fight against her new circumstances and everyone involved, like Gage, the hero and the man who bought and ended up marrying her.But no. She had a privileged life in England, was surreptitiously taken away from all that comfort and thrown into prison and a life of slavery, but she’s okay with that. She’s only grateful she was bought by an honorable man who didn’t try to rape her at his first opportunity.That’s not right at all in my point of view.Plus, the fact Gage bought her as an indentured servant took a lot away from what the romance could have been. Things just felt strained and forced and I didn’t like that at all.I need things to develop at a normal pace and to feel natural. Also, I need to feel that the people that are supposed to fall in love with each other are someone on the same level and that certainly didn’t happen.Shemaine was already reduced to a mere servant and she kept humiliating herself to Gage, not even showing a single drop of her combative Irish temperament.I hope that what I just referred doesn’t make you think the author is worthless, because that isn’t true. She is very talented, but sometimes she just doesn’t create the right situations for a read to enjoy.
—Lucy *Mrs Kaidan Rowe*
A Sweet Story, But Not The Best of WoodiwissKathleen Woodiwiss wrote some of the finest historical romances in the genre, beginning in 1972 with her first, THE FLAME AND THE FLOWER, that sold over 2.5 million copies, but there was a period from 1984-2002 when what she wrote fell short of her own standard of excellence. Oh the writing is still good but sometimes the stories dragged a bit and the plot was not as exciting or as intriguing as the rest. I've listed her novels below with an "*" behind those I think are her best (and you can see my separate reviews of them).Petals on the River falls into the "dark" period. It is an American Colonial romance that takes place in mid 18th century Virginia. It's the story of beautiful Irish lass, Shemaine O'Hearn, who was born to loving wealthy parents in England and who was betrothed to the Marquess Maurice du Mercer. Though Maurice loved Shemaine and was committed to being her husband, Maurice's grandmother did not want the Irish twit in their family genepool so she plotted to have the girl falsely arrested and thrown into Newgate prison without her family's knowledge. Faced with a choice of being a bond servant in the colonies or possible rape in prison, Shemaine sets sail for Virginia with other prisoners. Once there she is "bought" by a widower, Gage Thornton, a prosperous cabinetmaker and hopeful shipbuilder who has need of a nursemaid for his young son, one who can teach the lad to read and write. He instantly sees that Shemaine is no ordinary prisoner. Soon Gage and Shemaine find they are attracted to each other and Shemaine, believing her betrothed has likely moved on and knowing she faces 7 years of servant hood, agrees to wed Gage when he asks her. And they soon fall in love. But there are those who would see her dead, either out of jealousy or because they are in league with Maurice's grandmother who still seeks the girl's end. Several attempts are made on her life. Then one day her past catches up with her and folks start arriving from England. That's basically the set up for the story.It's a sweet romance and there are no dramatic twists and turns though there are a few altercations and narrow escapes. I thought Gage was a man of character and a droolworthy hero. Shemaine was a bit too sweet and without apparent faults. Unlike some reviewers, I did not think the characters two dimensional. As usual, Woodiwiss paints a vivid picture of the world she has created. It is a very realistic portrait of life in the colonies at the time and I found it believable. I just did not find the story compelling enough for more than 3 stars.Here's the list of her novels so you can see where this one fits in. I've divided them into the Birmingham saga trilogy (omitting related short stories) and then in the single novels, I've drawn a line when I think the work went from 5 to 3 stars. Though I know some would disagree with me, I gave 4 and 1/2 stars to "Everlasting" as I really enjoyed it. Again, those with an "*" are her best.Birmingham Family Saga Series1. The Flame and the Flower, 1972*2. A Season Beyond a Kiss, 20003. The Elusive Flame, 1998Single Novels' The Wolf and The Dove, 1974*' Shanna, 1977*' Ashes in The Wind, 1979*' A Rose in Winter, 1981*___________________________________________' Come Love a Stranger, 1984' So Worthy My Love, 1989' Forever in Your Embrace, 1992' Petals on the River, 1997' The Reluctant Suitor, 2002_________________________________________' Everlasting, 2007*
—Regan Walker
