W A

Best wishes to you for a long and healthy life so you can continue to publish ad infinitum and the readers can enjoy the pleasure endlessly.

Every book can be a candidate to be the best or favorite novel because there is so much to love about each one.

I had opined earlier about my favorite dry old stick hero in Secret Mistress and the wonderful moving story of Simply Love, where love transcends and triumphs against the cruelties of life that are sometimes beyond one’s control.

With the recent heartbreak upon seeing the receipts from Loblaws, Sainsbury or Kroger and worrying how to heat the home this coming winter, what a luxurious elixir it is to escape into the wonderful world of, this time, the
ultimate union of the Bedwyn Series and the Survivor’s Club in the Proposal.

Gwen, Lady Muir, foreshadowed in so many novels, especially as the best friend to Lauren Edgeworth in A Summer to Remember, the perfect friend, sister, daughter, aunt, widow who is….. lame. Such a decent, nice person, of course, deserves the greatest Forlorn Hope hero in Hugo, Lord Trentham. The introduction of the character of Frank Carstairs is just brilliant. He spat at Lord Trentham earlier when their paths crossed but he spoke up at the Brittling’s garden party, illustrating the deadly horror of the Forlorn Hope mission at Badajoz and what a courageous, honourable hero Lord Trentham is. Of course he deserves the treasure in Lady Muir.

And who does not have a very dear friend like Mrs Vera Parkinson in their life, the wife of the younger brother of a baronet, Sir Roger Parkinson, which she will not let anyone forget. Hugo’s description of Vera is spot on, “That woman is a horror”. Then there is Lady Wilma Fawcitt, as Lauren was resigned to the fact that “Every family has some cross to bear,” how true…..especially with the upcoming Thanksgiving holidays family dinners.

What a gem in philosophy of life when Gwen remarked, “Tempering the truth with tact and kindness is called good manners.” Something, especially politicians, can take a big lesson in.

Life is that much sweeter and more tolerable with a light touch and a sense of humour. The stables scene is impeccable when Hugo told Gwen she can catch him when he jumps but she replied” You will squash me!”

Please don’t stop writing. A long and healthy life to you