[.ca] Almost Heaven (ISBN 0671742558)

it's ALMOST heaven:
I hope nobody will condemn me for what I have to say. I already gave it a four-star-review for I know giving it less than that will gain me dozens of "unhelpful-votes". Maybe, I'll start with the good stuff. This novel have excellent humorous dialogues. McNaught has delivered every witty remarks with style. I CONGRATULATE her on that part! I thought I had read all the books that can make me laugh out loud. I was wrong! Here is another book that can make a person laugh without him/her doubting the author's abilities. I also like how she created Elizabeth's and Ian's characters. There are no denials of their love for each other. I applaud Ian's honest confession of his feelings for Elizabeth. It always pleases me to witness a man admits his feelings FIRST before the woman does. In romance novels, that's surely a rare possibility, and that's one of the parts I like about this novel. The bad parts are not really that bad. You see, the humor and anticipation filled the beginning. The emotions and the excitement were at the end. I enjoyed both segments extremely well. BUT...uh-oh...I hate to do this to a 5-star-book especially to a McNaught one, but I have to be honest...The middle is a little bit dry and slow. I had multiple urges to put down the book and do something else. Still, I was touched by the sweetness and sincerity of the affection blossoming between Ian and Elizabeth. I was also impressed that McNaught had succeeded to blend the title, Almost Heaven, at the remaining lines of the novel quite properly(unlike "Until You" which ALMOST turned the whole thing sour for me) which gave the novel a whole new definition. After these musings, and may I mention that I didn't really say a lot of dreadful things concerning the story line, I have to say that it was almost good or heaven as my title implies. That's just because I can name another McNaught novel that'll beat this one, but still, it's worth ur time and Im sure ull enjoy the book like most people did.

Really well done:
I really enjoyed this book. So many romance novels are badly written, badly researched and badly plotted. This one did a pretty good job with the details; it's largely accurate in terms of the history and research (though not perfect). My only complaint was the final 'crisis' of the book and of the couple's relationship. It was just too over the top, and I think it was impossible to believably resurrect their relationship after that. But the first 400 pages were excellent. Very enjoyable and well done.

I WAS SMITTEN:
This book was my introduction to Judith McNaught. After reading it, I had my little sister (who works for a major bookstore) track down all the books Judith had written before it. I started reading Almost Heaven late one evening and finished it the following afternoon. I pretty much read it in one sitting. I couldn't put it down. I was even reading while stopped at traffic lights! I had rarely bothered with romance novels before this book because the ones I had read seemed too unbelievable to me. I loved all the characters (not just the hero and heroine), and the attention to detail - it felt as if I was really there. Parts of the book were hilarious and others were unbelievably sad. This book broke my heart and then healed it again. The only down side was that it wasn't long enough. I could have read about Ian and Elizabeth forever. Judith McNaught just can't write her books fast enough for me.

AMAZING...:
i've got dozens of romance novels at home and nothing has ever come close to ALMOST HEAVEN. i've read it twice already and im planning to read it again soon for the 3rd time. the characters' situations were so complicated and very original which, i think, made the book so good. it is such a page-turner that i found myself reading til 2 or 3 in the morning. no contest, ALMOST HEAVEN is still the most romantic novel i've ever read...ever!

A Wonderful Story:
I enjoyed this story immensely. The strong passion between the characters and the words of love spoken between them is enough to make the heart flutter. This book would have received 5 stars from me, however there are a few things I had a beef about... The first one being it was too wordy. I felt the same story could have been told without having to go into description over every little thing. I actually skipped some of the descriptions because they weren't needed in my opinion. Second, the main characters didn't make love until very late in the book. There were *many* passionate scenes (stress the many), but it felt unfulfilling in a way that they never made it to the bed in all those times of passion. Third, the heroine is just dense to believe her brother that he was tortured under Ian's care. She'd been around Ian long enough and made love to him many many times to know that he wasn't the kind of man to do such a thing. Sure, her brother convinced her of this, but she should have been suspicious of his story, since she knew he cheated at the duel with Ian and even had proof of his many attempts at Ian's life. I felt that the brother plot was contrived and the book could have ended before the whole courtroom drama unfolded. I believe that the brother/courtroom plot might have played out better *before* she married Ian, before she came to know the man that he truly was. I wanted to slap her silly when she ran away and broke his heart. However, (and that's a BIG however), the author makes up for the heroine's lack of wisdom at the end of the book with a splendid homecoming and epilogue. Even with it's faults, this book is worth reading.