Oh, ye jigs and juleps -- look what just landed in my mailbox, thanks to a completist brother-in-law.
This "Harlequin Ginger Blossom - Harlequin Pink" version of A Girl in a Million is credited as "written by Betty Neels" on the cover and copyright page, but the title page admits it is "Based on the original novel by Betty Neels." I can't find any mention of who adapted it to this format, and s/he did a lot of adapting. The artwork is by Kako Itoh. The pix attached give some idea...
The story begins, as in the novel, with Caroline delivering a book to her nursing colleague Corina's cousin Marius Van Houben whilst on a vacation in Amsterdam, falling on his steps and being succored by Marius and his butler Fram. Back in London, she specials Marius's injured nephew, thinking it's his son. However, there's a dramatic back-story of Marius having been engaged to his now sister-in-law, but losing her to his brother when Marius chose to go into medicine rather than the family corporation where he'd have been wealthier.
HEA for sure, though, with white wedding.
I hope you enjoy these pix 1/10 as much as I enjoyed this wacky little book!
All the best,
Betty van den Betsy
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| Sorry this is on its side... |
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| ...and so is this. |
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| Does it have English captions? |
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| I'm kind of digging it... |
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| ...in spite of the fact that the couple look to be teenagers... |
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| ...they do have a HEA. |
There are a bunch of Betty Neels remakes into Manga (or Anime or whatever Japanese graphic novels are called). Amazon has them for the Kindle. I haven't tried one. The "looks like teenagers" aspect is a big red circle with a slash through it for me.
ReplyDeleteMy kid (11, heir to the Van Voorhees fortune)loves Manga drawing. We got him special Manga pens and a Manga monsters drawing book for his birthday. I dunno, I might give this a try...
ReplyDeleteIt's all in English. The teenage-look is Manga protocol for heroes and heroines; that is, when they don't look like pre-teens. More off-putting for me with this story is the really angst-y plotline about Marius, his ex-gf/now-sister-in-law, SIL's troubled marriage to Marius's cold & jealous brother, the family fortune seems to stem from manufacturing and Marius lost it all (except Amsterdam mansion and servant) when he chose to defy tradition and become a doctor... Yikes!
ReplyDeleteAunt Meg is adorable, though, as is the middle-aged sister on Caroline's ward. And the tea party reproduced above is a comprehensive one.
I used to have this and a few other of these Harlequin pink books for Betty Megan. She liked them. It takes about 5 minutes to read, so not really worth the cost. Lucky for me I got them from PBS, but I needed credits and sent them off when BettyMegan was ready to let them go.
ReplyDeleteAnd we also had The Bachelor Prince by Debbie Macomber, Jinxed by Day LeClaire and A Prince Needs a Princess by Barbara McMahon and a few others.
The teenagey look appealed to her. I wouldn't have got them w/o her interest. They were fun for a few minutes, but no substitution for a real book. Be warned the Pink version is G-rated, but the Violet ones are a little more 'graphic'. (pun intended!)
Betty Barbara here--
ReplyDeleteBack from vacation and catching up on all things Betty.
I have a copy of this that I will gladly mail out, free of charge, to whomever wants it.
It is an absolute hoot. I was especially fond of the large crystal chandelier in the front hall of Marius' house.
Betty Magdalen--Anime is video(as in animated), Manga is print.
I had seen these, not only for Betty but for many other Harlequins as well. Today, though, I had nothing new to read and the only available e-book at my library was a Manga version of "Only By Chance". They adapted a couple of things -- the ne'er do well nephew was turned into a guy who had toured the Manor House, and instead of the lady with the teahouse falling, it was Adam's (the RBD) housekeeper. And we get to see Adam tell Deidre off. It was okay, but having to read backwards gave me a headache. And you miss all the nuances of prose.
ReplyDeleteNot sorry I tried it, but probably wouldn't do it again.