| The Secret Pool vs. | |
| The Hasty Marriage | |
| Cassandra By Chance vs. | |
| Roses Have Thorns | |
| The Promise of Happiness vs. | |
| bye--no match this week |
The Secret Pool took down one of my favorites (The Little Dragon), so I'll have one of those tissues if you pass over the box...
In other news, WRONGS have been committed and REDRESS is demanded. This post is for all the books that have gone up against some heavy hitters and have fallen in rounds too early to reflect their awesomeness.
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| The mob that formed was not going to take the elimation of 'Blow Hot, Blow Cold' lying down. |
I would like you all to cast your votes (No more than four votes per Betty.) and, since your favorites may not get another hearing, tell us why early elimination was a poisoned dart that hit the Baroness, right below her heirloom pearls, instead of the brassy Veronica it was meant for. I will take the top FOUR books and weave them into the current brackets going forward.
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| You can do this. |
Not Once but Twice
ReplyDeleteBlow Hot, Blow Cold
Tabitha in Moonlight
There was some definite pearl clutching when I saw that Duert and Chrissy had been eliminated. Sure, Chrissy is infected with the Handsy-Houseman Virus, but Duert is the antiviral that overcomes all.
BHBC and Tabby deserve to be in the mix - they just were paired against giants.
Add Dearest Mary Jane
DeleteThanks, Betty Barb in Maryland - I almost missed that one!
Hi Pam
DeleteHappy to be of service!
Not Once But Twice
ReplyDeleteA Girl to Love
Winter Wedding
Tulips for Augusta
Not Once But Twice – the most adorable of the younger brother/cousin theme RDDs – Duert letting Chrissy sleep, nestled against his shoulder, in his car for more than an hour
A Girl to Love – the best Christmas, especially Christmas morning scenes in the Canon! The little girls ordering their father to take ladies out on dates – and he does. ^_^
Winter Wedding – The Hocked Locket, The Seconal Twins, The Silver Mouse – Need I say more?
Tulips for Augusta – from My dear Staff Nurse, I don’t like carroty hair. to My dear Roly
Correction: 😊
DeleteSilly me! I had opened the blogger smileys page and ... - Closed it! Tsk, tsk.
Wait! Tabitha in Moonlight needs a wild card? What on earth?!? How did this happen? What could possibly have been up against it that won?
ReplyDeleteIn other words, if I'm reading Pam's comment correctly and Tabitha in Moonlight needs to be a wild card, then for goodness sake, make it a wild card. Oil stained shorts, people. That is all I need to say. Oil Stained Shorts. Nothing more than a pair of oil stained shorts. This is the closest Betty gets to risque and we have to honor that!
Others:
Winter Wedding. I love this one. The heroine is sweet and yes, oh so clueless about the general all around torridness of her sister. But she really is one of the most put upon heroines of the canon, and therefore deserves a wild card.
The Girl with Green Eyes. I think this one fell early. I know it isn't a favorite but I loved it because of the way the hero lets the heroine decide if taking on a large family is something she wants to do. Granted, taking on a large family (most of whom are pretty close to adulthood), in the midst of lots of money, servants, and other luxuries isn't exactly like asking her to take in five kids while living in near poverty. But I give the hero props for making sure she knows what she is getting into.
Cassandra by Chance. I know the vote that eliminated this one was a tough decision for me. I love this book. I have a thing for blind heroes--I'm not sure why. And I loved our ogre of a hero in this one.
Errr, ummm--Cassandra by Chance is alive and well--It's the one that knocked out our dearest Tabitha. I know, I know--it all gets so confusing...
DeleteAlso I think you mean Damsel in Green (Georgina Rodman and the van den Berg Eyffert family) rather than the Girl with Green Eyes, who is Lucy Lockitt. Don't worry, I get these two confused all the time too!
DeleteOkay then! Betty Barbara would like to see the return of:
ReplyDelete1)Tabitha in Moonlight--I know it just got eliminated, but really, it deserves the CPR of a second chance (but please don't put it up against 'Promise of Happiness', pretty please?) Oil-stained Shorts! Oil-stained Shorts!!
2)End of the Rainbow--went out too soon. Waldo's grovel is the best in the canon. Yes, indeedy, Waldo, you should be shot!
3)Dearest Mary Jane--fabric mice! biker gang! another charmer that went out too early.
I can't think of a fourth, as I am generally happy with all the ones that have made it through round 3.
Thanks to Melody, I now have a fourth book--Saturday's Child.
DeleteSaturday's Child: (c'mon everyone, give Bollinger some of your love!) Who can resist the adorable batman/FFR, let alone Abigail at the top of a ladder forcing Dominic to grovel?
ReplyDeleteTulips for Augusta: "Why do you call me Roly?" "Don't you want to know why I call you darling?"
Damsel in Green, because Julius.
Discovering Daisy because of the goaded kissing in the antique shop.
Thank you, Melody, for jogging my brain! I now have a fourth book! Saturday's Child. How could I have forgotten?
DeleteBlow Hot, Blow Cold: The Blot! and Titus. Hospital explosion and rescue. *Her* FFR.
ReplyDeleteNever Say Goodbye: Nanny retrieved from The Cold. Walking in the morning alone in The Cold. Sweden. Pushing her away. Pulling her back. Pushing. Pulling. Keeping. Finally.
Tabitha in Moonlight: Oil. Stained. Shorts. Scheming to save her family home from the evil stepmother and stepsister. Sailing!
Nothing more than a pair of oil stained shorts...
ReplyDeleteOK. Oil-stained shorts in the kitchen. Unusual, I give you that. But whataboutallthetimestheheroesgoswimming? Huh?
You Bettys crack me up! 😄
Greetings from a long-time lurker, first-time poster! I haven’t voted in any of the previous rounds, but I feel compelled to come out of lurking to stand up for Polly!
ReplyDelete• Polly, twenty years old, with “no looks to speak of.” She does have “eyes, large and brown, fringed by curling lashes which needed no mascara at all. ” [Good! An Araminta who caught a break – no mascara needed!]
• Polly is a levelheaded person who gets things done. She is undaunted, and she doesn’t wallow in self-pity. She holds her own in conversations with the hero, even when he is being snide.
• Polly is a rare Neels heroine who not only has parents and siblings who are all still alive, but who are also genuinely nice people! There are nice family interactions throughout the book.
• Polly shows evolving fashion sense. In addition to being book smart, she can also take constructive feedback.
• It is hard to top the scene where she runs through the ward with little choking Benny and finds the hero. “Sam,’ she cried, ‘for heaven’s sake—he’s not breathing! I’ve held him upside down and put a finger down his throat—do something!”
• For many Neels books, it is hard to remember which title goes with which plot. Not so, for this title – Polly is very memorable!
Welkom, new ℬetty!
DeleteTabitha, Judith, Polly.
ReplyDelete(It's a bit of a toss-up between Polly and Mary Jane, but Polly was the first one I read, so there's that.)
Also, even though I seem to be the only one who likes it, I will use my fourth vote for The Course of True Love (Marc and Claribel). He knows immediately that she's the one, and he's pretty obvious about it, although OF COURSE he never actually says it until the end and she has no idea. There follow a series of scenes where he is gently bringing her around, while she is still bewildered that he is paying any attention to her at all. For some reason this one amuses me more than almost any of the others.
When he takes it for granted that she will go see Phantom of the Opera with him: 'Why me?' she asked. He sat himself down in the easiest chair and the cats got on his knee. 'I suppose that you have had a busy day--so have I. I don't want to make small talk and I don't think you would want that either. On the other hand, I don't want to go alone.'
'How charmingly put,' said Claribel. 'Just the sort of invitation any woman would jump at.'
later--
Marc: "Let me hasten to assure you that no one has, or ever will, impose upon me. I do what I like and I contrive to get my own way." Claribel: "How very arrogant. I am surprised that you have any friends." Marc: "Ah, but I am cunning; I hide my arrogance under a smooth exterior." He contrived to sound ill-done-by. "I am in fact both soft-hearted and lovable when you get to know me." Claribel felt laughter bubbling up inside her. "What a good thing that we're almost there or I might begin to feel sorry for you."
Hmmmm. Somehow those don't come across as well when taken out of context. I think my favorites are the ones where they are both strong-willed and there are lots of clashes of wit as they get to know one another, and CoTL is a great one for that.
AGH!! *pulls hair dementedly* Tulips for Augusta!!! the goaded kiss in the kitchen! and Philomena's Miracle!! sobbing over fish and chips and the pebbles against the window! This is really hard. I'll just stop. Only one is going to end up winning in the end anyway, right?
DeleteRight. I was tempted, repeatedly, to tell you so. 😊
DeleteI, too, adore The Course of True Love. Enoch and Toots, life in the bedsit, beautiful Claribel, and Marc, who I picture as looking like a younger George Clooney (Yum!) I love that she learned the sound of his knock on the door. So many lovely bits in it!
DeleteBlow Hot, Blow Cold a/k/a Visiting Consultant a/k/a Surgeon from Holland. I think one reason this gets overlooked is that, as the only novel with *three* titles, people don't always know which one it is. Sophie refusing to leave the theatre when Max tells her to (as it is on fire); training a clumsy student so she becomes a great nurse; making up a fictitious boyfriend, quite incompetently, to try to stave off this magnificent man who she assumes can only break her mousy heart; Max risking his reputation to help a friend; and the pinnacle of excellence in early-relationship dialogue: "'Blot. Escutcheon or landscape?' 'Landscape. We don't have an escutcheon.'" Right there, in ten words, these two know about everything they need to know to be certain they will be happy together forever.
ReplyDeleteI'll also back Dearest Mary Jane, Tabitha in Moonlight and A Girl to Love, please. I would shove Cassandra by Chance in there, too, if I could. Also Saturday's Child. And Damsel in Green and Tulips for Augusta. Also... Okay. Sorry, Betty Keira.
I, too, am a long-time lurker/first-time commenter. I discovered Betty as a teenager, when my Nana would use me as a book scrounge to find her titles at used book stores, garage sales, libraries, etc.
ReplyDeleteI'll vote for Winter Wedding, which I read every Christmas (I love the horrid sister), The Course of True Love, Dearest Mary Jane, and The Little Dragon (which I only just read for the first time).
Thanks for your great blog! Every time I find a new Betty, or re-read an old one, I visit your reviews to see how you've recapped it. They're a delicious treat after the satisfying main course!
Welkom, ℬetty Jennie!
Delete