Romantic Encounter over An Unlikely Romance
I cast the deciding vote for The Quiet Professor over A Happy Meeting but it was a little bit 'six of one, half a dozen of the other'...or soba noodles.
An Old-Fashioned Girl rode roughshod over The Awakened Heart (which title sounds a little E.A. Poe-ish)
and
A Valentine for Daisy beat out At Odds with Love
I don't know if you noticed but these are the books that began to be published in the early 90s.
 |
| So, when those naughty teens in Neeldom are blasting their pop records..."Here we are now, entertain us, I feel stupid and contagious, Here we are now, entertain us...OOF" (Was that the sound of a slacker being knocked over by the highly polished fender of a whisper quiet, great, socking Bentley?) |
And now for Section 11 Voting! (There are 14 sections so we are nearing the end of round one and the other rounds will be faster and faster):
A Girl in a Million vs. The Proposal
Waiting for Deborah vs. Dearest Mary Jane
A Secret Infatuation vs. A Christmas Wish
Fate Takes a Hand vs. Wedding Bells for Beatrice
Dearest Love vs. The Bachelor's Wedding
There are some I really like in here so I'm interested to see how it shakes out.
Happy voting!
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| But not all was dreck. The 90s also heralded the onslaught of sideburns on the style of 90210 bad boy Dylan McKay. Mijnheer van Voorhees sported these at our wedding and never after. Ah well. |
The Proposal
ReplyDeleteWaiting for Deborah Waiting, waiting, waiting ...
A Secret Infatuation
Fate Takes a Hand
The Bachelor's Wedding Huzzah! - er, no, Hussar, the Gay Hussar (London)
Betty Anonymous
Betty Barbara here--
ReplyDeleteI notice that Betty Magdalen was final voter in the previous round. I guess she didn't have time to stick around and be first voter for this round.
Girl in a Million,but just barely.
OhNoes!!Two of my favorites up against each other! Sob!! (grits teeth and blindly points to...)Dearest Mary Jane
Secret Infatuation Bosnia for the win!
Fate Takes a Hand wins the coin toss.
Dearest Love is another favorite, so it easily gets my vote. Though I do enjoy Bachelor's Wedding, it can't compete with the plunger.
Girl in a Million
ReplyDeleteWaiting for Deborah (but I love Dearest MJ-this breaks my heart)
A Secret Infatuation
Fate Takes A Hand
Dearest Love
Betty von Susie
I'm in the middle of packing for a trip (it's Spring Break here in my neck of the woods...), so I thought I'd better hurry up and vote. For those of you who rely on me to publish your votes, don't fret, I'm taking my computer along with.
ReplyDeleteA Girl in a Million - follow the bouncing red ball!
Dearest Mary Jane - rolling pins and lard!
A Secret Infatuation - Bosnia!
Fate Takes a Hand - love the secondary love story
Dearest Love - "...you encourage me to fend off the encroaching years..." (I have that on a t-shirt).
I can only vote for one: Christmas Wish. *sigh*
ReplyDelete*A Girl in a Million - Love the red frisby! ;)
ReplyDelete*Dearest Mary Jane - Handsome Sir Thomas to the rescue!
*Secret Infatuation - Mists on the moor. Love at first sight. War zone. Bucket by the door. Lurves it!
*Wedding Bells for Beatrice - A fave of mine. Love the ending at the dance.
*********Dearest Love - #4 in my top ten Betty books! I absolutely love this book. I have read it more times than I can remember. Love Arabella and Titus. Love the animals. Love the basement apartment. And, OMG, there is a baby *before* the end of book!
Betty AnoninTX
Man, I gotta vote faster--I missed the last two rounds.
ReplyDeleteA Girl in a Million in appreciation of Aunt Meg
ReplyDeleteDearest Mary Jane!!!
A Christmas Wish in appreciation of Rodney's wedding
Wedding Bells for Beatrice in appreciation of Lord Great-Granddad
Dearest Love for having much the better emergency -- gully-tumbling heroine so much more meaningful than a nephew lost in a flood so we'll drive for hours to search for him. Poor boy would have drowned before they hit the London city limits.
Voting negative ten for the cheesecake. I can't even figure out who the drop-out with the stringy hair is, but he's No RDD! And Luke Perry - he's a Tony for sure!
ReplyDeleteSending emergency photo to Betty Kiera for the next round.
Betty Mary
DeleteI do believe that Betty Keira was using the picture of the late Kurt Cobain to stand for the 90's (when most of the books in this round were written),ditto Luke Perry and the sideburns. Rest assured, these men are NOT being offered up as potential RDDs.
Betty Barbara
BettyBarbara, I knew she was using them as 90's cheesecake, but I was not letting her get away with substituting those friedcakes for our usual fare! lol
DeleteThanks for being helpful, though. You're a doll!
Oh, no. I think Kurt Cobain is beautiful -- look a little deeper into that eye, and ignore the superficial trappings of hygiene or lack thereof. He grew up a very long, sad way away from Neelsdom, and however much you dislike his music, I don't know how you could deny that it's powerful, and that it was deeply moving to tens of millions of people.
DeleteIf you don't mind my saying...
I don't mind, and I honor your right to look in his eye and enjoy his music.
DeleteHe's just not my slice of cheesecake.
A Girl in a Million
ReplyDeleteDearest Mary Jane
A Secret Infatuation
Fate Takes a Hand
Dearest Love
This round relentlessly pitted some of my favorites against each other. (Teeth grinding.)
ReplyDeleteThe Proposal wins over the still delightful A Girl in a Million
Here the choice becomes painful. Waiting for Deborah is a favorite. I nursed my mother after 2 strokes, so I identify with her loving care of Mrs. Vernon, even though Deborah didn't know her beforehand. And that snake-in-the-grass The Younger Mrs. Vernon rings a familiar bell in my family estate. But pitted against Dearest Mary Jane, the heroine who whips out scones by the thousands...well, what else can I do but cast my ballot for her? While the books may not balance every week, Mary Jane does run her own business while caring for her neighbors. I find this book particularly colors in the side characters in the village.
Another excruciating choice to make! As much as I do love Eugenie's navigational skills in the fog, I cast my vote for A Christmas Wish for three reasons. First, I love the daily activities at the girls' school and how Olivia brings the youngsters such understanding and care. Second, the Great Betty's skill of revealing the detached grandmother's character with an uncomfortable chair, one she reveres in spite of its awkwardness because it came from a distant noble relation. Brilliant. Third, the entire sequence of Rodney's wedding and the Olivia's cleverness at putting together the appropriate attire.
Fate Takes A Hand--Household staff fall in love. Family silver slept upon nightly. Lawyers subverted for charity. YOUNG BOY CAN WRITE A LETTER! Pub owner runs public bath. Love it.
Again the sharp pain behind my eyes! Two loved ones meeting in the opening rounds! Winner: Dearest Love for inspiring "Design on a Dime" and other shows on HGTV
Betty Adrianne
Oh, the pain, the agony! Break out the Ranch Doritos to drown my sorrows!
ReplyDeleteGirl in a Million
Dearest Mary Jane
A Secret Infatuation, but very close here!
Wedding Bells for Beatrice. Really disike the premise of FTAH. buys her a house? Really? And those names!
Love Dearest Love, but really like The Bachelors Wedding. Why couldn't IT have gone up against Fate takes a hand, sob!
Would that be Rahnch Doritos or Raanch Doritos?
DeleteBetty Anonymous
I'm either the first or the last to vote. It's been that kind of month...wait, it's April. My luck's supposed to change. *sigh* Maybe after I deal with the backlog of homework, editing, more editing, and more writing...
ReplyDeleteAnyway:
The Proposal.
Dearest Mary Jane
A Christmas Wish
Fate Takes a Hand
Dearest Love
(No commentary; I did look them all up because, frankly, the books of The Late Canon are a bit of a blur to me. Yes, there are some classics in here, but I read them late so they didn't make the same impression as, say, Cassandra by Chance.)
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteFor some reason I can't reply under the comments, but, for Betty Anonymous, it's RAAnch Doritos here in the Pacific Northwest! LOL~!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the info.
DeleteBetty Anonymous