Once and Always

Read this in a day. If romance is your thing, then add this one to you collection.

put in one part young, innocent, and beautiful heroine, one part emotionally tortured hero, and one part sensual love scenes and it's the making of one of the more moving romantic novels you'll ever read. judith mcnaught is quickly becoming my favorite romantic novelist and here's why: she is one of the best authors when it comes to character development, her heroes are alpha male (which is my favorite kind of hero, frankly), and there is always deep emotional depiction within her books. NONE of her heroes fall lightly. they might start off as cold and emotionally distant but that guarantees that when the hero falls, he's gonna fall so hard that he can't ever get up. and so it goes with "once and always". victoria seaton is the innocent beauty sent to england from america after her parents are killed. she is to stay with her "uncle" charles. turns out, charles has a plan. he has announced her betrothal to his nephew, Jason Fielding before she has even gotten there. Jason Fielding, Marquess of Wakefield, is about as emotionally distant as a hero can get. By this time he has already lost a wife and son when the ship she stole the son away to as she was running away with her lover, crashes at sea. can you see why he isn't willing to love anyone? need more reason? he had the kind of emotionally tormented childhood that will make you cry when you read about it. he's not just mean because he's a man and is supposed to be mean. he's mean because he thinks himself unworthy of love and incapable of giving it. it is for this reason why the story of this romance was so compelling and moving. jason is one of the most emotionally vulnerable alpha hero i've read about. while much of what he did initially to victoria wasn't all that nice, mcnaught writes of him in such a way that the reader can see his vulnerability right through his actions. victoria is a wonderful heroine. she is kind and spirited and is definitely not a door mat. she doesn't just let jason take advantage of her, which is always important when the hero is so dominating. of course she's beautiful, but that's just one of her many attributes. he goes on with his emotional distance through most of the book, but there are cracks in his emotional facade, albeit small ones. however, one of the highlights of the book is actually the SECOND time victoria and jason are sexually intimate. BIG CRACK. then, for those who have read "kingdom of dreams" there is a de ja vu moment during another intimate moment between victoria and jason. i won't give it away, but i'll say that it's probably even MORE moving in this story, and that's saying ALOT. his emotional barrier shatters after that, a really satisfying moment for me. by the time we get near the end where jason finally shows he has a heart, i was in tears. what a moving moment. the only downside is that there was no epilogue. i would have loved to see if victoria had a son so that jason could again know the fatherly love he had stripped from him

I've read every Judith McNaught book there is and Once and Always is my all-time favorite. I don't know what it is about this story, but it really touches me everytime I read it. I like the fact that Jason was not as controlling as some of the other leading men in her novels (I couldn't stand Clayton in Whitney, My Love, for example), although he was a very strong and commanding character. I thought Victoria was a strong heroine and had a lot of self-respect. Their story was so moving, but it was extremely funny at times too. Although I enjoyed her books Something Wonderful and Perfect, I felt that they lacked something that this book had. All in all, this book has everything you could possible want in a JM novel. I also recommend Almost Heaven and Paradise.

Judith Mcnaught's novel Once & Always has sent me on a quest to find all of her novels!!!! I fell in love and am still in love with Jason Fielding!!! If you have not read the book, then you have certainly missed out on sheer pleasure!!!I only wish I had read her books earlier in my life!!! I am on a quest to find all of her books especially since she reintroduces many of her characters throughout her novels.Mcnaught is an exceptional writer;she shares her talent in a way that enables you to dream again!!!