Review: "Almost Heaven" by Judith McNaught

Almost Heaven by Judith McNaught

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I absolutely LOVE this book! This is what I posted at the RF (Amazon) when I read it for the 1st time, and I'm simply copying my post here on GR because I'm lazy and don't feel like writing a full review...

Well, I've just finished reading Almost Heaven and I'm glad to say that I'm in love with Ian, Elizabeth, and everyone and everything else in the book. :) I especially loved Ian for having no fear admitting to himself he was in love with Elizabeth without knowing if she felt the same, and I adored Elizabeth for standing her ground and not cowering when Ian tried to send her away.

I though the Big Misunderstanding issue would turn me off because I'm not a fan of this kind of plot device - and there were not only one, but two in this book -, but JM made it believable to me. Ian and Elizabeth were so much in love with each other that it rendered them defenseless, insecure and wary. The more you love someone, the more you're open to being hurt by them.

Quoting Elizabeth: "I've hurt you terribly, my love, and I'll hurt you again during the next fifty years. And you are going to hurt me, Ian - never, I hope, as much as you are hurting me now. But if that's the way it has to be, then I'll endure it, because the only alternative is to live without you, and that is no life at all." Oh my!

And I can't resist adding my favorite passage:

"If you would take one step forward, darling, you could cry in my arms. And while you do, I'll tell you how sorry I am for everything I've done -" Unable to wait, Ian caught her, pulling her tightly against him. "And when I'm finished," he whispered hoarsely as she wrapped her arms around him and wept brokenly, "you can help me find a way to forgive myself."

Tortured by her tears, he clasped her tighter and rubbed his jaw against her temple, his voice a ravaged whisper: "I'm sorry," he told her. He cupped her face between his palms, tipping it up and gazing into her eyes, his thumbs moving over her wet cheeks. "I'm sorry." Slowly, he bent his head, covering her mouth with his. "I'm so damned sorry."

OMG, I cried like a newborn baby when I read that! And I'm not ashamed to say, my eyes are "suspiciously bright" right now, while I'm typing this...

I'll stop now. Otherwise, I'll just end up posting every single line of dialogue exchanged between Ian and Elizabeth. :)



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