Almost Heaven by Judith McNaught
In honor of the forthcoming Bridgerton series on Netflix, I hereby submit the McNaught historical romance novels for a delicious and provocative Shondaland interpretative creative touch—especially this book; most especially this book. If anyone could do Elizabeth Cameron justice, it would be Queen Shonda—all hail!
This book is fun and witty and is begging for a series. The third act alone would be a scream and surprisingly enough, Ian Thornton isn’t an asshole—well, most of the time; he is a man after all, but he’s fascinating and real and my favorite male character amongst the McNaught men—besides Nicki du Ville.
One thing I love about McNaught are her fabulous women protagonists and Elizabeth Cameron is one of her best. She embodies each of the roles she’s meant to play with wit, vulnerability, authenticity and resilience that you just have to adore her. From her class and societal struggles to the unchecked emotions and passions, Elizabeth follows them freely with a sort-of thoughtless abandon and without the usual self-recriminations—and that is so refreshing considering. There are some self-castigations but not nearly as many as we women are conscripted to do because of generational patriarchal trauma and abuse. It is exhilarating and a welcome change. That this all happens amongst the ton makes it even more exciting and dramatic. Elizabeth adapts and forges forward with a frankness that is real and I love that about her.
I actually forgot how much I loved this book until this reread and would place it among my favorites alongside Something Wonderful, possibly even more so.
*This site is an Amazon Associate and any Amazon links shared on this site or via social media are Amazon Associate links.
meanderings.me 