How to Treat a Lady

Rating:
Summary: 3 1/2 Stars - Another amusing Hawkins tale
Review: I always wonder what her titles are supposed to mean - so often they seem to have little to do with the actual story (or maybe I just don't get it!). Anyway, this is a nice story with a touch of mistaken identity farce and a nice relationship between Chase and Harriet. But I found it slow and lacking in sustained passionate attraction. Though I liked the development of their relationship from wary opponents to comrades to lovers, it happens quite slowly and no real hot stuff occurs until about 200 pages in.

Chase St John has decided to leave London before he can shame his family with his recent dissolute behaviour under the influence of his so-called friend Harry Annesley. One incident in particular haunts Chase and is a source of tremendous shame and guilt of which he cannot absolve himself (causing another's death is unforgivable, afterall). On the road to Dover and a ship waiting to take him to Italy, he is set upon by footpads and left for dead. He is discovered by Miss Harriet Ward and her sisters and awakes in their home with a wound to his head. Not wanting his identity known, Chase pretends amnesia, which Harriet doubts. He seems awfully content for a man who remembers nothing!

Harriet and family have one last payment to make on the mortgage and Garrett Park will truly be theirs. But to keep the bank at bay until the sheep are sheared and the wool sold, Harriet's mother invented a fiancé for Harriet - a dark haired, blue eyed sea captain who is due to return any day with a hold full of booty and lots of money. So far this stall tactic has worked, but there is one banker who is not buying the story and wants to force payment. When Mr. Gower shows up, Mrs. Ward strikes again, telling the dark haired, blue eyed Chase that he is the fictitious Capt. Frakenham come to save the day! Chase decides to play along much to Harriet's discomfort!

From there we watch with amusement as Harriet tries to trip up Chase into revealing who he really is and Chase tries to get Harriet to admit that Capt. Frakenham doesn't exist. When they expect Chase to assist in the sheep shearing this masquerade has gone way too far - he's a St John for heaven's sake! But in order to stay in character he pulls his own weight, works harder than he has in all his life and comes to admire the Ward family. Harriet helps him to see that maybe running away is not the right thing to do, but has he the strength to face his family with his misdeeds? And he and Harriet are becoming very attracted to each other. He longs to take her burdens off her shoulders and give her all the things she needs and deserves. But what can London rogue Chase St John offer a country girl like Harriet Ward except trouble and heartache?

Then there are the blackmail and murder attempts, villains to expose and, of course, the set-up for Devon's story THE BRIDE WORE PLAID coming May '04. All in all an okay story just lacking some of the sizzle of some of her other stories.

Rating:
Summary: 3 1/2 Stars - Another amusing Hawkins tale
Review: I always wonder what her titles are supposed to mean - so often they seem to have little to do with the actual story (or maybe I just don't get it!). Anyway, this is a nice story with a touch of mistaken identity farce and a nice relationship between Chase and Harriet. But I found it slow and lacking in sustained passionate attraction. Though I liked the development of their relationship from wary opponents to comrades to lovers, it happens quite slowly and no real hot stuff occurs until about 200 pages in.

Chase St John has decided to leave London before he can shame his family with his recent dissolute behaviour under the influence of his so-called friend Harry Annesley. One incident in particular haunts Chase and is a source of tremendous shame and guilt of which he cannot absolve himself (causing another's death is unforgivable, afterall). On the road to Dover and a ship waiting to take him to Italy, he is set upon by footpads and left for dead. He is discovered by Miss Harriet Ward and her sisters and awakes in their home with a wound to his head. Not wanting his identity known, Chase pretends amnesia, which Harriet doubts. He seems awfully content for a man who remembers nothing!

Harriet and family have one last payment to make on the mortgage and Garrett Park will truly be theirs. But to keep the bank at bay until the sheep are sheared and the wool sold, Harriet's mother invented a fiancé for Harriet - a dark haired, blue eyed sea captain who is due to return any day with a hold full of booty and lots of money. So far this stall tactic has worked, but there is one banker who is not buying the story and wants to force payment. When Mr. Gower shows up, Mrs. Ward strikes again, telling the dark haired, blue eyed Chase that he is the fictitious Capt. Frakenham come to save the day! Chase decides to play along much to Harriet's discomfort!

From there we watch with amusement as Harriet tries to trip up Chase into revealing who he really is and Chase tries to get Harriet to admit that Capt. Frakenham doesn't exist. When they expect Chase to assist in the sheep shearing this masquerade has gone way too far - he's a St John for heaven's sake! But in order to stay in character he pulls his own weight, works harder than he has in all his life and comes to admire the Ward family. Harriet helps him to see that maybe running away is not the right thing to do, but has he the strength to face his family with his misdeeds? And he and Harriet are becoming very attracted to each other. He longs to take her burdens off her shoulders and give her all the things she needs and deserves. But what can London rogue Chase St John offer a country girl like Harriet Ward except trouble and heartache?

Then there are the blackmail and murder attempts, villains to expose and, of course, the set-up for Devon's story THE BRIDE WORE PLAID coming May '04. All in all an okay story just lacking some of the sizzle of some of her other stories.

Rating:
Summary: Enjoyable
Review: I enjoyed this book very much, and thought it a good companion to the other Talisman Ring books. I disagree with the reviewer "Disappointed"...Chase is being blackmailed by someone, and has been trying to cope with it for a year by drinking and avoiding those closest to him. The reader finds out that although he tried to make amends for his actions, he is ashamed of his behavior that caused an accident and that led to the blackmail. I thought his actions (drinking heavily, running away) in light of his history were highly plausible, and the author built up his story from previous books into this one well. His failure is in trusting the wrong person and not those truly closest to him. I enjoyed the author's depiction of the Ward family and Chase's interaction with them, and would recommend this book if you enjoyed Hawkins other books.

Rating:
Summary: Enjoyable
Review: I enjoyed this book very much, and thought it a good companion to the other Talisman Ring books. I disagree with the reviewer "Disappointed"...Chase is being blackmailed by someone, and has been trying to cope with it for a year by drinking and avoiding those closest to him. The reader finds out that although he tried to make amends for his actions, he is ashamed of his behavior that caused an accident and that led to the blackmail. I thought his actions (drinking heavily, running away) in light of his history were highly plausible, and the author built up his story from previous books into this one well. His failure is in trusting the wrong person and not those truly closest to him. I enjoyed the author's depiction of the Ward family and Chase's interaction with them, and would recommend this book if you enjoyed Hawkins other books.

Rating:
Summary: 3 1/2 stars good book but not karen's best work
Review: I love Karen Hawkins and have to say that I have her on my top author list and she is an automatic buy. I was mildly disappointed in this book though. It was good but not nearly as well written as her last books. I also found it a bit boring. RT Magazine gave 3 1/2 stars and I have to agree. I am looking forward to the last two books in the series - hoping that they are better too.

Rating:
Summary: FUN, IRRESISTABLE, CONTINUATION OF ST. JOHNS!
Review: I love the entire Ring series and was thrilled to find this one at my local used bookstore. Chase and Harriet are wonderful endearing characters. I admit to being a sucker for the amnesia plotline, but the fact that he was faking his made this story a little more unique and much more entertaining. When Chase knows they are lying about who he is but can't admit it without admitting he knows who he really is, is so funny. Any male in that position would be irritable and annoyed, and he is. But he plays along and finds himself wishing he was this captain. I was so glad to find Chase's story and that he ends up with someone as perfect as Harriet. Will keep this book alongside the other Ring books. It's not necessary to read the others in the series, I believe this book can hold its own.

Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: I was really looking forward to Chase's story. In all the previous St. John novels, Hawkins hinted that something was wrong with this beloved brother and I was mightily intrigued. But the story just didn't deliver. Chase is being blackmailed by a man he once considered a friend and is forced to flee England so as not to tarnish the St. John name. Along the way he has an accident and is taken in by the Ward family where he pretends to have amnesia so word will not get round that he is there. He supposedly carries an incredible guilt with him over something that happened awhile ago when he was drunk, but you would not know it by his demeanor. He professes that it plagues him, but his actions do not show it. The whole thing seems rather contrived. Still, the Ward family is likeable and Hary Annesly is a dastardly villain indeed. An enjoyable read if a bit of a letdown.

Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: I was really looking forward to Chase's story. In all the previous St. John novels, Hawkins hinted that something was wrong with this beloved brother and I was mightily intrigued. But the story just didn't deliver. Chase is being blackmailed by a man he once considered a friend and is forced to flee England so as not to tarnish the St. John name. Along the way he has an accident and is taken in by the Ward family where he pretends to have amnesia so word will not get round that he is there. He supposedly carries an incredible guilt with him over something that happened awhile ago when he was drunk, but you would not know it by his demeanor. He professes that it plagues him, but his actions do not show it. The whole thing seems rather contrived. Still, the Ward family is likeable and Hary Annesly is a dastardly villain indeed. An enjoyable read if a bit of a letdown.

Rating:
Summary: Hawkins really delivers with this one!
Review: I've become a HUGE fan of Hawkins's Talisman Ring books and HOW TO TREAT A LADY did not let me down! I have been wondering about Chase St. John since I read about him in Confessions of a Scoundrel, and now I know why. Chase believes he's killed someone by accident and the guilt is killing him. On his way out of the country to spare his family from embarrassment because his story is about to become public, he is shot by highwaymen and left for dead. Enter Harriet Ward.

Desperate to keep the bank from foreclosing while she and her family collect the wool from their sheep, Harriet's mother makes up a fiancee -- handsome, wealthy sea captain, Captain John Frakenham. This convinces the bank officials to wait on collecting the loan -- they think the Captain will arrive and pay off the last of the debt. But after a while, they begin to wish to meet this elusive man ... and then they wonder if he really exists ...

When Chase pretends to have amnesia in an effort to keep anyone from knowing his identity and telling his family of his location, Harriet's family decide that Chase will make a wonderful Captain Frakenham. And so, they tell the man they think has no memory that he is their lost Captain and that he is in love with the willful Harriet.

Harriet, for her part, suspects that Chase does indeed know who he is and she has no wish for the sham fiancee, though she has little choice. And so the sparring begins.

One of the things I love best about Karen Hawkins is that she always writes smart, capable, intelligent heroines and Harriet Ward is one of the best. Frankly, this book has some of the wittiest, most enjoyable interplay between the two key characters that I've ever read. Ms. Hawkins just gets better and better - she's a delightful mix of Loretta Chase and Georgette Heyer.

I won't tell you more about the story except to say that I laughed outloud at some points and even had to wipe away a tear at the ending. It was just marvelous and I can't wait to read Devon's story next!

Rating:
Summary: I loved this book
Review: Its a keeper, and one that I will read again later. I loved the story, about the rich (Chase) having to come down to earth, and EEK actally work on a farm, with the wonderful, Ward Family..you will fall in love with this Walton like family. Its so funny and heaped with entertainment...

Talisman Ring books are the very best romance. I just grabbed this one..not knowing it was a Talisman ring book. Ive read all the series so far, and NOT One has let me down. Im ready for the next story..Devon's, I believe...I salute you Karen Hawkins for a great book romp once again.