Rough Diamonds, A Practical Guide

Olivia's years spent working as a governess might not have prepared Olivia for dealing with a harsh life in the bush, it did teach her value of independence. In an attempt to discourage Olivia from traveling into the bush, Quinn demands his own personal price: a kiss a day. He assumes a gently reared woman would flee such an arrangement; instead, the joke is on him as their mutual attraction rages out of control. But Quinn comes from a street rat background and cannot imagine himself as part of anyone's happily ever after.

Author Patricia Wadell pens a marvelous historical romance with A DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH. While Quinn is a typical alpha hero with his strength and control, he conceals a fascinating background and wonderful vulnerabilities. Olivia likewise exhibits remarkable strength and self-control in the face of incredible challenges. Rather than whining about the disrepair of her inheritance, for example, she rolls up her sleeves and gets to work. Her terrific fortitude earns the respect of those around her, particularly an intriguing secondary character by the name of Echo. Author Wadell's memorable characterizations and fantastic landscape result in her best novel yet! DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH earns the WordWeaving Award for Excellence.

The book comes highly recommended for anyone interested in baseball history or enjoyed baseball in general.

The hero and heroine are likeable, unique, and well-developed. The plot rarely hangs, keeping the reader interested throughout. There is a bare hint of passion, keeping this book from being too sweet (or, for that matter, too raunchy as some series romances are). The rather detailed picture of the early days of golf is intriguing as is the athletic hero's struggle to master the sport. He also battles the social stigma of having a trade, an interest he discovers that he shares with the heroine (who herself is frowned upon by society for her abilties and desire to use them).

Filled with the realistic developmentment of a romantic relationship, a couple with sufficiently unique characters, and a fresh approach to an old plot (rescuing the family fortunes).

The last thing she wants is to caddie for an apparently gambling English Lord, Adrian Linsley, Viscount Marquand (such a man ruined her mother many years before and resulted in her birth). But she owes her golf instructor Hugh Phelps, the Stradivarius of club design (and a real person), this favor and also despises Marquand's golf opponent, the dissolute Lord Hertford, even more than she does Marquand.

During the month before the competition (which Marquand must win to save his ancestral estate from his father's gambling), Derrien (as herself) enthusiastically discusses gardening with the annoyingly attractive Marquand, who is engage to marry an English beauty. And, disguised as the male caddy Derry, she teaches him the intricacies of golf. His intelligence, determination, surprisingly high character and fascinating garden designs win Derrien's regard against her will.

And what is the honorable Marquand to do when he falls head over heels for the pert Derrien when he's already pledged to another?

A Diamond in the Rough wins the reader with its amusing dialogue, exciting events and enjoyable characters. It's a top quality Regency that I heartily recommend.

Why then did I rate this book at only 3 stars? Well, because the first chapter goes nowhere, and is full of errors and dropped plot lines. For one, the hero's fiancee is called by three different titles or styles within the first two pages. She is Lady Honoria Dunster, but she is called Lady Dunster and Miss Dunster by the author almost immediately. For another, there is no development of Hertford's motivation - as to why he is out to ruin Chittenden (the hero's father), or why he wants to humiliate the hero.

This is a major problem, almost as much as why the heroine hates Hertford. The author has created a stock villain here - someone who is simply hateful and hated, without any history and motivation of his own. [Incidentally, the Marquess of Hertford was a real-life peer, although I am not sure if the 2nd or 3rd Marquess would have been the peer at the time this book is set - there is no precise dating here. I am not sure that either Marquess was out to cheat and ruin peers for the heck of it, although the 3rd Marquess was quite a character by all accounts].

The best part of this story is the skilful interweaving of how a sportsman-hero learns to play golf (which he has believed to be like cricket, but his friend more wisely compares to battlefield strategy) with the romance. The hero is helped in his quest by a young and impudent caddy, who is actually a young woman disguised as a caddy. [She loves golf, but women are not allowed in the sport]. Some of the craftsmen and golfers mentioned in the story are real, and St Andrews is indeed the mecca of golf. Those who play golf or have golf-loving relatives and friends will find this story particularly interesting.

I should add that I wish the author had been as careful in her historical research and in her development of her villain as in her golf research. For one, her villain is such a cardboard character that he is hard to believe in. For another, her villain is given the name of a real peer (or two real peers). Even more embarrassingly, an octogenarian Duke and his infant (or unborn) son and heir are made keen golfers in the story. A little bit of research on these points and on proper styles for the daughter of a peer would have created a better impression on this reviewer.

Adrian Lindley, the Viscount Marquand, determined early in his life that he would not follow in the footsteps of either of his parents, known to society for their unconventional ways. For the Earl of Chittenden not only had a fondness for drinking but was also a gambler, unable to help himself in spite of numerous promises to his son that he would give it up. It took one final disastrous wager with the Marquess of Hertford to bring matters to a head. The Earl had done the one thing he'd promised his son he'd never do--wager Woolsey Hall, the last unencumbered property and the one closest to the heart of the Viscount.

Having experienced the residual effects of an overiding passion only too well, the Viscount had determined never to succumb to such lures for himself. He would be stable, and steady and dull, if that's what it took. That was why he'd proposed marriage to (and been accepted by) the beautiful Honoria Dunster. The blonde and beautiful young woman was considered a chunk of ice by many of the young men in London because of her lack of emotion. Adrian thought her exactly what he wanted and needed.

Of course, he was also a young man of his time, well up on shooting and riding and all the other manly activities. But the men of London seldom engaged in golf. So it was off to Scotland for Adrian to take a crash course in the game, as the only way to prevent the loss of his favorite estate, even if it meant nearly jeopardizing his true first love-- landscape design. A commission he desperately wants is about to be awarded, and time is short. But yet--there is Woolsey Hall to be considered.

To his great surprise, the game turned out to be far more complicated than he'd originally thought, and while Hugh Philp, the acknowledged master of St. Andrews promised to help Adrian in his quest, it was the young caddie Dirty Derry, who became his teacher.

Along with learning about the game, Adrian learns about himself, about Derry and about Honoria. For Derry isn't a lad, but an impetuous young woman, Derrien Edwards, who not only shares Adrian's great passion--landscape design--but has a prodigious knowledge of the game of golf--forbidden, of course, to females. Secrets unfold, while others are maintained, and tensions rise while waiting for the climactic game.

Interesting Times: An Encounter With the 20th Century 1924-

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Interesting Times: An Encounter With the 20th Century 1924-
George Mandler
Manufacturer: Lawrence Erlbaum
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0805840761

This book is an autobiographical account of George Mandler--born in 1924--who grew up in a middle class Jewish family in Vienna. It details the fears and attempts to find a safe haven when Austria was invaded and absorbed into Nazi Germany in 1938, followed by Mandler's escape to England and residence in a small boarding school. The threat of the holocaust and reaction to anti-semitism are explored and the author describes the life of an emigre youth group run by a branch of the Austrian communist party. Drafted in 1943, Mandler is trained in military intelligence and ends up as a front line interrogator with the 7th army in Germany. The training and function of military intelligence and the role of German and Austrian refugees in it are described for the first time in detail. Military intelligence and counter-intelligence work in post-war Germany follows, including the evacuation of a scientific establishment before the arrival of the Soviets.

Returning to New York in 1946, Mandler begins his college training at New York University and the University of Basel, Switzerland. This is followed by graduate training in psychology at Yale and a first position at Harvard for seven years. Highlights of the period include a short episode of peripheral involvement in a Soviet spy scandal. After five years at the University of Toronto, Mandler is given the opportunity of a lifetime--to start a department at the prestigious new San Diego branch of the University of California. He describes the process of building a department and a university in the context of the 1960s, as well as academic life and actions during the turbulent 60s and 70s. Mandler's successful career as a writer and researcher in psychology is described in lay language, as is the professional/scientific bifurcation of the field. The final chapter comments on and describes current academic life and problems.