Summer Campaign

This was a very interesting book, but not really worth 5 stars. Jack is a sweet and adorable gentleman, full of playful humor. He also has a cute little stutter. I read the book in one sitting and I can't help but to feel like it was a little rushed. There were no huge flaws in the plot, no annoying characters, but to me a five star book requires just a bit more. Jack returns home from war, so ready to get home. Along the way he rescues Onyx from highway men. He gets shot in the arm. Onyx stays to help Jack heal. To me, getting shot in the arm is normally a cheap way to throw in some added drama. It let's the reader think that "oh my gosh, he was shot!" and it throws in some angst with the pain, but it doesn't create the sense of real urgency. The injury fit with the length of the book, though, and allowed Jack and Onyx to get closer. They were quite cute together! Jack then returns home to find his older brother, Adrian, dying of cancer. It was heartbreaking the condition Jack finds his beloved brother. He asks Onyx to help. It actually surprised me that she did. I liked that. I've been coming across selfish and horrible heroines left and right and I'm glad Onyx didn't find it so inconvenient to help a friend. She did it without second thought. They were friends, too. No predictable bickering, no "I hate you but let's kiss anyway" attitude. They were such likable characters. I was disappointed that Jack could think about his brother dying one moment and then crack a crude joke with Onyx the next. I also don't believe that just the presence of Onyx miraculously cured Jack of his stutter. I didn't really feel as if I got any real in-depth feeling of the characters, though I liked them. For a Regency book this probably deserves a better rating, but for my own personal taste, Summer Campaign is a very nice "It was okay/I liked it" rating.

I've recently had the good fortune to acquire a number of books from Kelly's backlist, and Summer Campaign is the first I read. And I loved it. It's heartwarming and tear-jerking, just like all the best Kellys.Onyx, our heroine, is - in the tradition of much of Kelly's writing - not of the best ton. In fact, she's illegitimate, though brought up in a good family. All her life, though, she's felt that she has to hide, and almost apologise for existing. Now, she has a proposal of marriage: a vicar, Andew Littlewood, has sought her hand. Grateful for the chance to escape her stepmother's tyranny, Onyx accepts.En route to her fiance's home, however, her carriage is held up by a rough band of robbers who also threaten her virtue. Onyx is rescued by a shabbily-dressed soldier, who is shot and almost killed as a result. The soldier is Major Jack Beresford, returning from the Napoleonic Wars - and, it turns out, he knew Onyx's twin brother.Onyx feels a definite bond with Jack, but what can she do? She's already engaged to another man, and anyway, once she discovers that Jack is the brother of a marquess, she knows that he's well out of her reach. She has to put him out of her mind, no matter how much he teases and flirts with her. And yet she knows that he needs her too, in several different ways - to help heal the wounds of war, both physical and mental.This is a wonderful book, ranging from humorous to wistful to angsty to downright tearjerking. I couldn't help but like and feel sorry for Onyx, and who could help falling in love with Jack? And then there's Emily and Adrian, Jack's brother and his wife - also characters I loved getting to know. A classic Carla Kelly, and well worth the collectors' price!

I read this book ages ago, years even. My apologies because I can't remember much of the plot, but I do recall that it was very good, very sweet and pure Carla Kelly.

Carla Kelly has a rare gift for storytelling. Her books are ripe with characters that are so real you can almost feel them breathe. This book is no exception. A touching and romantic tale that very well may bring tears to your eyes. I seldom make it through a Kelly novel dry eyed! The heroine, Onyx Hamilton is one you will remember. Jack, the hero, is a man any woman would want to know. Yet none of her characters are trite or typical. Good show Ms. Kelly!