The Course of True Love

Book Description: SHE DIDN'T KNOW THE RULES OF ENGAGEMENT Getting engaged to Marc van Borsele was the last thing Claribel wanted. Marc was the most annoying and exasperating man she had ever met! But, as engagement was only pretense and she did own Marc a favor, Claribel agreed. She soon discovered that make-believe can come true, even if you don't want it to! Before she knew it, Claribel found herself head over heels in love... ...And the course of true love never did run smooth. The nerve! The Arrogance! Dr. Marc van Borsale assisted Claribel Brown when she was injured while waiting for a bus after work. He insisted upon driving her home in his Rolls Royce, explaining that he was a doctor. Almost immediately upon arrival he cautioned her against accepting lifts from strangers. To her shock and horror she met him again at the London hospital where she worked as a Physiotherapists; he was a visiting Dutch Orthopedic Specialist/Surgeon, in her hospital - in her department! He continually barged into her life: showing up at her apartment unannounced, charming her parents, and coercing her into a "fake" engagement. He failed to mention that he was a Dutch Baron and that he owned a small castle. That didn't matter because the engagement was fake, the loving "act" that they put on in public was fake, and she had to remember that. His title was real, his castle was real, the engagement ring was real, just as the fact that she had fallen in love with him was real. This is a wonderful, somewhat humorous story sure to make any Neels fan smile.

Another sweet, satisfying romance from Betty Neels! Description from the book back cover: Claribel Brown had never met a man who annoyed and exasperated her quite as much as Dr. Marc van Borsele. She was very grateful to him for helping her when she met with a minor accident, but that was no reason for him to keep turning up on her doorstep in search of her company just when it suited him. It might be the way they behaved in his part of the world but it certainly wasn't what she was used to! After all, he didn't care for her as a woman, not with the glamorous Irma on hand to charm him ... Or did he?

      Pretty Claribel Brown was not having a good night. Waiting in line for a bus in a torrential London downpour is no one's idea of a good time, and it didn't help matters when the person in front of her stepped on poor Claribel's foot and injured it.  But a handsome Dutch doctor who witnessed the incident whisked the young lady away in his Rolls Royce to her apartment to clean her up, so fortune must have been smiling down upon her after all. Or was it? The good doctor turned out to be as brusque a fellow as any you would want to meet, and rubbed Claribel the wrong way every chance he got! And to improve upon the matter, he was apparently taking over rounds at Jerome's Hospital where she worked as a physiotherapist. How will Claribel manage working with this overbearing man every day? What worked for me: Normally I don't care for books where the couples are always cross and at odds with each other, but this one usually had me chuckling rather than feeling annoyed. (Though I will say that Claribel's independent streak sometimes appeared more like slight immaturity in the form of contrariness for the sake of itself. But then, Marc's personality reminded me very much of that of Professor Henry Higgins in "My Fair Lady". No wonder Claribel's knickers were always in a knot!) I've enjoyed medical stories ever since my mother handed down her Cherry Ames books to me when I was ten. It was nice to pick up another one, even though there was no mystery to solve. Size-wise Claribel was a tall, well-rounded girl whom the hero referred to at their first meeting as "hefty". I couldn't help but picture her as a Sophie Dahl type.What didn't work for me: I can't imagine hauling my own two cats with me every time I go home to my mother's as Claribel did! Overall: A solid read for fans of sweet category novels and medical romances. If you liked "The Course of True Love" you might also enjoy "The Bridesmaid's Reward", "More to Love", "Runaway Bay", "His Seductive Revenge", "Carried Away", "His E-mail Order Wife", "Spellbound", "A Worthy Heir", "The Legacy Tree", or "Sweet Memories".

I like the novel because the settings are so well written that you can imagine your self there with the characters. The characters are realistic with old fashion values that show love in its truest form. The best part of novel is the way Ms. Neels doesn't emphasis the necessity of outer beauty in any of her heroines. Every novel is a prize in itself.