Where Roses Grow Wild

Before Meg Cabot and the Princess Diaries, Cabot was a romance author, and her debut obviously sowed the seeds of the marvelous writer she continues to be this day. For the best rendering of the Victorian era(1860s), this book is perfect. Cabot gets the nuances correct without losing the importance of the romance between the witty and wonderfully drawn Edward and Pegeen. While the plot falls occasionally into standard romance fare, Cabot's delightful prose more than makes up for any defenciency or inconsistency. In this current market of tepid and bland, and most importantly, inaccurate, historical romances, reading Where Roses Grow Wild is refreshing and causes me to wonder what happened to books like these?

My first book by Patricia Cabot and after finishing this one I immediately bought all her other books. Her style is a delightful blend of wit, sex and insights into human nature, sometimes a little far-fetched but always engaging and rewarding. It is one of those books with few wasted passages covering details that are not essential to the storyline and I found I couldn't put the book down for long.

I have read all of Patricia Cabot's books and this one is by far her best one. The characters are lively, the conversation is witty, and the heroine is not some wimpy miss. The hero shows vulnerability in his actions as he falls in love with her despite her connections to his brother's death. They make a great couple and kept me up till 3:00 in the morning since I could not put the book down. I also recommend her other book--An Improper Proposal--although the hero is somewhat lacking in terms of emotion in this book.

What a pleasure to read such a marvelously fresh romance novel. Filled with adventure, wit, good strong, likeable characters. Bravo for a fine debut of a very promising author.

This is a wonderful book! A very funny, touching, romantic, original and well written story! Looking forward to more from Patricia Cabot!!