The Golden Swan

A lovely adult version of the Ugly Duckling with human twists and turns. Enjoyed the story and found it appropriate (in my opinion) reading for young adults as well as mature adults.

This book was so good. I wished it to be a little bit longer but I enjoyed every bit of it. How many of us can relate to Jenny. It would be nice if all of us could turn out to be beautiful at the end ,but that is fantasy. I liked Jenny from the very beginning and actually could relate to most of her insecure feelings. Even after her physical changes her non belief of her beauty, I could fatham, Although throughout the book the author tried to portray Andrew as showing regret to leaving his son and wife for supposed career moves, it did not make me like him anymore. He was gone three years and not once , other than when he left her did he try to contact her and Pleasssse! Do not try to ever say that he was celibate for three years, that for him I would have found impossible. When Jenny found him back in London after his return from Russia , although it didn't go into detail,the divorcee that had instigated them to marry was clutching his arm at the opera, I wanted Jenny to stand her ground and spit in his face, but as in alot of these books the heroine comes across as a whimp so taken be her desire for her wandering husband that she caves in and runs away. Hanging her head in hurt. Sometimes I would like to see the man eat crap and crawl back with his tail between his legs. I felt she forgave him much to quickly for the hell he subjected her to. Of course it ended as it should with them being a family , but I have to wonder if she hadn't changed ,if it would have ended the same.

I heartily recommend this book, if for no other reason than I'm sick to death of gorgeous heroines. For once, here is a historical novel which has a realistic heroine that I could understand and sympathize with. The couple has issues and it is interesting to watch how they resolve them and to find that the hero, Andrew, can get past appearances to what lies beneath. This is similar in many ways to Georgette Heyer's books like 'The Convenient Marriage' and others where the focus is on developing a relationship rather than just empty sex with two doll-like characters. I just hope there are more books in the offing like this one, where you can read a story about real people in a historically accurate novel. Bravo!

A young woman, Jenny, who perceives herself as an ugly duckling is chosen to be the wife of a handsome and arrogant viscount by his father. Unwilling to accept that his wife is actually ideal for him, he eventually leaves her alone to further his own ambitions not knowing that he's left a pregnant wife behind. Jenny's struggle to deal with her loneliness and her responsibilities is compelling and become more so when an older woman takes her under her wing and transforms Jenny into the woman she was meant to be. When the viscount returns, he faces a double surprise and must work his way back into the family he's left behind. Golden Swan is a delightful, traditional regency!