TEST
Cinderella and Beauty and the Beast are fairy-tale stories that have been used in countless romance novels. While I love those tales and never tire of them, it was a most pleasant surprise to find Teresa Medeiros dusting off Sleeping Beauty for her delightfully funny and sometimes poignant new book, A Kiss to Remember. I predict even those who are not fond of fairy-tales will find themselves enjoying this one. 
The opening chapter finds young Sterling Harlow and his faithful pet cat Nellie wondering about the big coach that has pulled up. Sterling knows it is his great-uncle, the Duke of Devonbrooke and he has fantasies of a brave noble man like King Arthur. What he sees is a crabbed nasty-tempered old man who hates cats. To his horror, Sterling is going to live with the old duke, and even the fact that the duke is going to adopt him and make him his heir is no compensation for the loss of his beloved mother and his dear pet Nellie. As Sterling goes off, his father counts the money the duke has given him.
Sterling is now the duke. He has survived his upbringing with only one good friend, his cousin Diana, the duke’s daughter by his dead wife. Sterling has spent time in the wars, and now is cutting a rakish swath through Society. Diana has done most of the paperwork for Sterling, and when he deigns to examine some of it, he reads a letter from a Miss Laura Fairleigh informing him his mother, Lady Eleanor is dead. Laura is one of the three orphaned children of the Vicar whom his mother took under her wing. They are living in Sterling’s old home Arden Manor, so he takes off to investigate (and probably throw them out).
Laura is not looking forward to the visit of the duke. His reputation has proceeded him and she can only look to the workhouse. Lady Eleanor’s will has one of those only-in-a-romance-novel clauses that state that Arden Manor will go to Laura if she marries by her 21st birthday, but the men in the village are a poor lot. What to do? But as she is out for a walk, Laura comes across a man of stunning beauty lying unconscious in the field. She can’t help herself and she kisses him. The beautiful man wakes up and says, “Who am I?”
Of course it is Sterling, and he has amnesia, caused by hitting his head when he fell off his horse. Laura sees in him the answer to her prayers and concocts a tale that he is her betrothed Nicholas Radcliff come back from the wars to marry her at last.
Laura’s plan does not sit well with her younger brother George or her little sister Lottie. The two servants, Dower and his wife Cookie aren’t too happy about it either, but they know about the terms of the will and they also know the Duke’s reputation, so if Laura wants to marry this beautiful man (even though she is telling him a lot of lies) in order to same their home from the Duke, they will go along with it.
A lot of the humor in the story stems from Laura’s brother and sister. They are basically nice children, but they are spoiled and their antics unnerve Sterling, especially when Lottie, who is a big fan of gothic novels, tries her hand at poisoning. Lottie is always followed about by a cluster of kittens, and one of them attaches itself to Sterling. He vaguely remembers having seen a kitten like that somewhere before but he just can’t remember. Cookie too is a very funny character. She is constantly baking the worst crumpets in the world, because she is under the impression that Sterling loves them.
The relationship between Laura and Sterling when he can’t remember his identity, is quite sweet. He is kind, loving and nice – the kind of man who will kiss a kitten. We readers realize that this is the real Sterling, before he developed the patina of worldly rakishness to keep the world (and his great-uncle) away. Sterling harbors a deep feeling of anger toward his mother, whom he blames for giving him to the old Duke. When his memory comes back, and he finds himself married to a woman who lied to him, he is torn between anger at her deception, love for her sweetness and beauty, and fear at facing the truth about his estrangement from his mother. Laura knows the reason why Sterling’s mother did what she did, she loves Sterling, and she forces him to face the facts.
A Kiss to Remember is not flawless – I know that some readers cringe away from any kind of amnesia plot. But this is believable amnesia, and for the first time I can remember the amnesia victim is a man! The clause in the will is another problem some readers have, but in this book, it worked for me (and remember, these will stipulations always seem easier to swallow in historical romances anyway). I did think, however that Sterling’s cousin Diana got short shrift. She had been in love with Sterling’s friend, Thane, then estranged from him for years due to a misunderstanding. They are reunited in a few sentences. They deserved a bit more.
I found myself touched and smiling as I read this book. Teresa Medeiros has a smooth and polished writing style that was a sheer pleasure for me to read especially since I had just finished some very awkwardly written books. The love scenes have the right amount of telling and withholding to make them quite luscious and sweet too. In a year that has been marked for me by some big disappointments in historical romances, A Kiss to Remember stands out as one of the good ones.
Grade: B+
Book Type: European Historical Romance
Sensuality: Warm
Review Date: 18/05/01
Publication Date: 2002
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Recent Comments …
Yep
This sounds delightful! I’m grabbing it, thanks
excellent book: interesting, funny dialogs, deep understanding of each character, interesting secondary characters, and also sexy.
I don’t think anyone expects you to post UK prices – it’s just a shame that such a great sale…
I’m sorry about that. We don’t have any way to post British prices as an American based site.
I have several of her books on my TBR and after reading this am moving them up the pile.