Red, Red Rose

by Marjorie Farrell

In Regency England, the conventional daughter of an army major finds herself rescued from roving bandits by a dashing officer from General Wellington's staff. But even as the officer courts the young... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0451408179
• ISBN13: 9780451408174
• Release Date: February 1999
• Publisher: Topaz
• Length: 318 Pages
• Weight: 0.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 4.2" x 6.7"

Customer Reviews

To Certain One-Star Givers And All Who Love A Great Read

I was quite shocked to discover that this amazing book was given one star by not one, but two readers. While I value your opinions, I simply cannot understand how you could dislike a novel as tender and moving as this. I am a seasoned reader of romances myself, and am quite picky when it comes to choosing my reading material. (You can't get more classy than paperback romances, can you? lol :^) I was wary when I first saw the title, thinking the writing would not do justice to Robert Burn's poem. I was sorely mistaken. This was the first book that moved me to tears. Yes, corny, I know, but true nonetheless. And no, I did not cry of boredom because I couldn't bear to turn another page. I cried because I was so deeply attached to the characters. (If you really want a book that will put you to sleep, try Les Miserables. Just kidding. But it's soo long! And to think I got through it. lol.) I would also recommend The Odyssey, Our Town, and The Once and Future King as great bedtime reading. :^) But seriously, this book is most definitely worth your while. I've read it about a million times (yes, I know I have no life. That's why I'm sitting here writing this review...)and each time felt like the first time I was reading it. (Again, not because it was so forgettable, but because it was so amazing and piqued my interest time and time again.) I really hope you read and enjoy this book, if only to prove that my review was correct. :^) best wishes

One of my favorite keepers!

A delightful book with believable characters (versus beautiful Hollywood movie characters), who have flaws and all-too-human reactions to challenging circumstances. At times humorous, and often poignant, the heart of this book is in relationships--Val's & Elspeth's journey to love, Elspeth's closeness with her parents, and Val's struggle to get past his childhood hardships and learn to love his legitimate brother Charlie and his friend James, and to respect his father. I have reread this book several times over the years, and it is never disappointing.

One of the best books I have read this year - a real keeper!

I see that this book has had mixed comments but, for me, this was one of the best books I have read this year or, indeed, any year. It fulfilled all of my personal criteria: well researched, beautifully written, strong, adult characters and a solid story line. In addition, the author addressed some really difficult issues and handled them superbly well. The story is of Valentine Aston, the bastard son of an earl who, following the death of his beloved mother, is taken to live with relations and then brought up in rough circumstances. However, he is taken out of this environment when his half brother Charlie (the earl's legitimate heir) seeks him out and he is sent to a rather typical English public (eg private) school. It is here that the future circumstances of his life are set in motion and also where he meets, as a teenager, the boys who will have a large role in his adult life. It is at this point that Marjorie Farrell is to be highly congratulated. For, she has portrayed the naive and not so naive homosexuality that has for centuries been part of the English single sex public school system. She has done this sympathetically and very realistically. She has far exceeded the efforts of Emma Holly here in portraying sympathetically a homosexual man in another time frame - something most authors would never attempt and could probably never get "right". The Marquess of Wimborne is a lovely man and the friendship between him and Val, despite their differences, is exquistely portrayed. Lord Stanton, a sadistic man, probably bisexual is also well done and the conflicts the three deal with in the novel are wonderfully drawn.The other fundamental male relationships in this book are also outstanding. Val and his father have their ups and downs but Val is eventually reconciled to him and finds out that the relationship between his mother and her lover was not at all what he had expected. Val and his brother Charlie enjoy a close relationship and the nature of the loving and close brotherhood they develop is moving and poignant.The story is set in a military background - Wellington's forays in Portugal in 1810 against Napoleon's army. I adore stories with a military setting and know enough about this particular period to know when an author has done her research. I think that Bernard Cornwell of the Sharpe stories (she mentions these in her preface) would admire the quality of her evocation of this thrilling time. Indeed, I recall an academic comment I read some years ago that the best fictionalised account of the battle of Waterloo was "An Infamous Army" by Georgette Heyer. So, women can write this sort of thing well and some of us like reading it too! The author gets the tone right, the descriptions right and the social setting correct. In this book we have an enlisted man made up to an officer and unlike Deborah Hale's book dealing with this, Ms Farrell has excelled in getting the social and cultural problems dealing with this on tar

What a wonderful book!

Whe I finished this book, I was sobbing so loudly everyone in the house was convinced somebody has just died. This book is so wonderful! I cried, I laughed, and I closed this book with an intention to reread it again and again.Val is probably the sweetest and nicest hero ever, and it is a pleasure to read about such a noble hero. This book is heavy in military tactics, but Ms Farrell manages to sustain my interest.In fact, this book is a moving tribute to the casualties of war, the healing power of love, and the triumph of the human soul over darkness. Books like this one make romance reading a pleasure. Thank you Ms Farrell!

an excellent new book by a first-rate novelist

Set during the Pennisular Wars, the story of Val and Elspeth is a powerful one. With movingly drawn characters and intriguing sub-plots, Marjorie Farrell again manages to captivate her readers with this testament to the power of love. This is a book you will find hard to put down. I am grateful to Romantic Times for recommending it.