Created 007.11.16; Updated 2007.11.16

This article originally appeared in British Weekly.

Evans dashes romance in 'A Hopeless Romantic' by Gabrielle Pantera 2 stars ** SANTA MONICA, CA (British Weekly) 11/07/07 — An overly romantic woman rejects romance and finds the man of her dreams. In 'A Hopeless Romantic', Twenty-eight-year-old Laura Foster is a hopeless romantic. Strike that, all she ever really had was hope. She thinks every man she meets is Mr. Right. But, they always end up as Mr. Wrong. Laura has a revelation. The problem is her faith in all things romantic. She swears she'll turn her life around. She's not going to scare yet another boyfriend away by being too clingy. No more dating disasters where she thinks everything is wonderful until she discovers she's the other woman. Never again will she lose her job over a man. More...

The first things to go are her romantic movies and collection of Georgette Heyer romance novels. From now on Laura will view men realistically. Of course, that will be after wallowing in self-pity for a few days.
Laura goes sightseeing with her parents to stately Chartley Hall. As she views the gorgeous house and it's grounds, Laura congratulates herself for her new romantic restraint. She's reformed. She's not thinking about being the mistress of the house or dreaming of being pursued by it's dashing master, the Marquis of Ranelagh. Laura even asks questions about the artwork in the house.
While waiting outside the house for her parents, Laura meets Nick, a guy farming one of the estate's fields. She's not looking for a date, but Nick asks her to meet him at the George. You don't get into that exclusive hot spot unless you know someone. Laura realizes Nick would know the Marquis, and it's confirmed in her mind when he introduces her to Charles. Except, she's made one little mistake. Nick is the Marquis, not Charles!
Laura is pleased with herself for finding an ordinary likable guy as a friend, someone she can have as a pal without building up any romantic notions. Nick is pleased to find a girl who's not impressed by his title, who just treats him like an ordinary guy. The more Laura sees Nick the more her anti-romance. resolve crumbles.
Author Harriet Evans was born in London. This is her second book. In the first half of 'A Hopeless Romantic', Laura always picks the wrong guy. We get it already. The first half could have been cut as too predictable. The second half, from Chapter 14, offers more humor and flashes of intelligence in the characters. Speaking of character, Laura smokes and continues doing something even though she knows it's wrong and will hurt people. I would have preferred a more heroic heroine.

Title: A Hopeless Romantic
Author Harriet Evans
Paperback: 544 pages
Publisher: Downtown Press (October 9, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-13: 978-1416550686 $15.00