Ivy H's Reviews > Almost Heaven

** spoiler alert ** Every lover of romance novels has got that one special story that's #1 in her eyes; it's the novel that always tops all others with MC's who are a head and shoulders above all the other favourites. Well, Judith McNaught is my favourite romance novelist of all time and this novel is my special #1. I've read this about 4 or 5 times ( perhaps even more ) ever since I first borrowed a copy from my aunt almost a decade or so ago. It was perfect and heart wrenchingly romantic. It's as much a timeless classic as this wonderful old song, whose lyrics are perhaps most suitable for the tale that McNaught unfolds in this novel:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnUMz...

Each time I re-read this novel, I am captivated by the absolute romantic splendor that's filled with angst, comedy, tragedy, drama that befits a soap opera and most of all: a second chance tale of love lost and found again. And, each time I read this again, I'm always in a rush to finish whatever chores I'm doing, just so that I can get back to the tale of Ian and Elizabeth:



Ian Thornton, the H, is my #1 H of all time. In my mind, he's the H to top all others:



Ian's the grandson of the Duke of Stanhope but he has relinquished his claim to that legacy because his grandfather had disowned Ian's family after the H's father chose to marry an ordinary Scottish girl. Ian doesn't need his grandfather's money or title, though, because he's a genius who has far more wealth than most of the Ton can begin to imagine. The H met the heroine Elizabeth at a country house party years ago during her debutante season and he was filled with insta-love for the beautiful young noblewoman:



Elizabeth is the belle of her Season and she received many marriage proposals from her adoring admirers, but there was only one whom her mercenary brother favoured: Viscount Moundevale. But, there was a viper in residence at the house party and that creature went by the name of Valerie. Valerie was also a plain debutante who pretended to be the heroine's friend and was jealous of all the attention that Viscount Moundevale gave to Elizabeth. This led the jealous young woman to engineer a scheme that would ensure Elizabeth's fall from grace. It was one of the saddest part of the story because it involved a pair of forged notes that led the MC's to meet each other at a cosy cottage out in the back of the estate, bordering the woods by the lake. It all blows up in their faces, Elizabeth is ruined, Ian offers to marry her because he's in love but her nasty brother challenges him to a duel. The story begins a few years after all this drama went down and the heroine's brother has "disappeared". Her guardian is now her miserly, wicked uncle who's determined to marry her off to the highest bidder. One of the men on her uncle's list is an obese, old pervert called Sir Francis Belhaven and this horrid old man has got his ugly sights set on the heroine. His intentions are nefarious, scary and gross. Elizabeth is horrified !



I loved how the MC's are brought together again in a simple cottage way up in the highlands of Scotland. The H is a perfect cad who thinks Elizabeth is a flirty gold digger, so he is mean and nasty. I don't know why I still love Ian above all other H's. I think if I'd read this novel for the first time as an adult, my perceptions might be slightly different. Perhaps it's sentimentality that makes me warm to him so much even though he behaves like an ass to the heroine while they're in the secluded cottage in Scotland. I think it's all due to the magic of McNaught's writing. She has a special way with words and is the queen of heart wrenching and wrecky drama. She also manages to infuse lots of humour into situations that should be depressing. I admired the spunky heroine for the way she persevered and fought to hold on her beloved home, Havenhurst. Elizabeth was a proud, compassionate and strong character but she did have her TSTL moments too. Ian's proud and filled the need for revenge because he thinks that Elizabeth had spurned his offer of marriage all those years ago. When they meet again in Scotland, Ian's on the verge of proposing a marriage of convenience to some boring daughter of an Earl.

McNaught is one of the few authors who also manages to create some wonderfully unforgettable minor characters who are crafted with such care that one can help but love them. Two of these are: Lucinda Throckmorton-Jones ( Elizabeth's eccentric, grouchy, sourpuss but loving chaperone ) and Ian's uncle Duncan ( a priest who plays the central role in reconciling the MC's ). The MC's attraction for each other is as strong as it ever was but each is still filled with bitterness based on the lies and misconceptions from the past. It's only after Elizabeth leaves Scotland that Ian's uncle Duncan tells him the truth. Lucinda Throckmorton-Jones had been injured and in her laudanum filled state she managed to reveal everything about Elizabeth's past and current problems. Ian was shocked and desperate to make it up to the woman he loved. That's the part of the novel that I loved the most. Ian's grovelling was epic !



Ian does what many other H's never have to do: he lowers his pride for her sake and sacrifices his integrity by reconciling with the grandfather he hates. He does this this because he has to save Elizabeth from a forced marriage to the nasty Sir Francis Belhaven and because the heroine's uncle would only give her to the man with the highest title. Ian therefore resigns himself to accepting his legacy as the marquess heir of the Duke of Stanhope:

“That title is within your power, Ian. I realize how deep your hatred for your grandfather goes, but it no longer signifies. Either you let Elizabeth wed this despicable man Belhaven, or you reconcile with the Duke of Stanhope. It’s one or the other, and you know it.”

Ian tensed, his mind locked in furious combat against the idea of reconciling with his grandfather. Duncan watched him, knowing the battle raging inside him, and he waited in an agony of suspense for Ian to make his decision. He saw Ian bend his dark head, saw him clench his hands into fists. When at last he spoke, his infuriated curse was aimed at his grandfather:

“That miserable son of a bitch!” he bit out between clenched teeth. “After eleven years he’s going to have it his way. And all because I couldn’t keep my hands off her.”

Judith McNaught. Almost Heaven (Kindle Locations 4315-4321). Pocket Books. Kindle Edition.

The hero bent over backwards to ensure that all the wrongs done to Elizabeth in the past had been righted. He even ensured that the jealous junior hagwitch Valerie got her comeuppance when he gave her the social cut at a ball by telling her that she'd misspelled the word "greenhouse" in the notes she'd sent to him and Elizabeth all those years ago. I also laughed at Valerie because after all these years, and all her conniving, she's still single and salivating after Viscount Mondevale who doesn't seem interested in her. Ian also proves his love for Elizabeth by protecting her from her horrible uncle Julius:


“Certainly,” Julius said, his face reddening with anger. “I have it, but you’re not changing one word, and I’m not giving back one shilling.” Rounding on Elizabeth, he continued, “He paid a fortune for you, you conceited little slut –”

Ian’s savage voice cracked like a whiplash.
“Get out!”

“Get out?” Julius repeated furiously, “I own this house. You didn’t buy it when you bought her.”

Without looking at Elizabeth, Ian snapped a question at her, “Do you want it?” Although Julius didn’t yet recognize the depth of Ian’s fury, Elizabeth saw the taut rage emanating from every line of his powerful frame, and fear raced up her spine.

“Do I-I want what?”

“The house!”

Elizabeth didn’t know what he wanted her to say, and in the mood he was in, she was actually terrified of saying the wrong thing. Lucinda’s voice turned every head but Ian’s as she eyed him with cool challenge.

“Yes,” she said. “She does.” Ian accepted that as if the woman spoke for Elizabeth, his gaze still boring through Julius.

“See my banker in the morning,” he clipped murderously. “Now get out!” Belatedly, Julius seemed to realize that his life was in genuine jeopardy, and he picked up his hat and started for the door.

Judith McNaught. Almost Heaven (Kindle Locations 5626-5638). Pocket Books. Kindle Edition.

I do admit that there was one part of the novel that was filled with some unwelcome drama. The MC's got married and were finally happy when the old specter of her evil brother Robert returned to destroy things for them. I disliked Elizabeth in this part of the story because her idiocy and inability to trust the man she loved almost ruined her marriage. There was some OTT drama where she faked her death, Ian was the suspect in her "murder", she returned to clear his name, he punished her by ignoring her for a few weeks etc. I felt that part was a bit too much and ordinarily it would have made me reduce my rating for the novel. However, McNaught managed to get back into my good books by the very beautiful reconciliation scene that she wrote. In this scene, it was the heroine's turn to grovel and I loved seeing how turnabout was great fair play. I think that's what made the novel so splendid for me: in the space of one story, I got to see instances where each MC had to bend over backwards to prove how much he/she loved the other. That's what's stood out for me in this story because true love is one in which both partners are willing to do whatever it takes to make amends and right the wrongs that have been committed. The reconciliation scene occurs in the Scottish cottage once again and the author's ability to craft pure romance out of mere words is once again obvious:

Stroking her hair, he swallowed and spoke, but his voice was shattered. “I love you,” he said, telling her what she had told him that terrible day in his study. “I never stopped loving you.” She raised her face to his, and her answer made his chest ache. “I know.”

“How did you know, sweetheart?” he asked, trying to smile.

“Because,” she said, “I wanted it so badly to be true, and you’ve always given me everything I wanted. I couldn’t believe you wouldn’t do it, just one more time. Just once more.” She moved slightly and Ian checked her, tightening his arms.

“Stay still, darling.” he whispered tenderly, and seeing her confusion, he told her, “because our child is being conceived."

Her eyes searched his. “Why do you think so?”

“Because,” he said, slowly smoothing her hair off her cheek, “I want it so badly to be true, and you’ve always given me everything I wanted.” A lump of emotion swelled in Ian’s chest as she pressed closer against him, cradled in his arms, not moving. She was willing it to be true; he knew it as surely as he knew that, somehow, it was.

Judith McNaught. Almost Heaven (Kindle Locations 8179-8189). Pocket Books. Kindle Edition.

That scene and those words might be a bit cheesy but it's cheesy wonderful ! It appeals to the my romantic side and makes me sigh with wonder whenever I read this novel. McNaught also added a grand cast of characters like the MC's ( and their relatives ) from her other great love story Something Wonderful, who made cameo appearances. It was splendid to see Jordan, Alexandra, the sour dowager duchess and cousin Tony again. This novel also has one of the best epilogues that I've ever come across in a romance novel. In this novel, the author creates her magic by highlighting why the title of her novel is so significant to the story. Ian is having a conversation with his 6 yr old genius son Jonathan about the definition of heaven:


Crouching down, he put his arm around the little boy’s shoulders and gestured toward the garden. As if Elizabeth and Caroline sensed that they were being observed, they both looked up at the terrace, and then they smiled and waved – two green-eyed girls with gilded hair and love shining in their eyes. “In my opinion,” Ian solemnly confided to his son, “that is heaven, right there.”

“There are no angels,” Jon noted.

“I see two of them,” his father quietly replied, then he glanced at his son and amended with a grin, “three of them.” The little boy nodded slowly, a smile of comprehension drifting across his face. Turning to look up at the tall man beside him, he said,

“You think heaven will have whatever a person most wants it to have, is that it?” 

“I think it’s very possible.”

“So do I,” Jon agreed after another moment’s thought. He started to turn, saw his tutor and his relatives looking expectantly in his direction, then he turned back to his father and said with a helpless smile,

“They’re going to ask what you said. And if I tell Mr. Twindell you said heaven will be like this, he’ll be very disappointed. He’s counting, you know, on gold streets and angels and horses with wings.”

“I see where that could be a problem,” Ian agreed, and he tenderly laid his hand against his son’s cheek. “In that case, you can tell him I said this is almost heaven.”

Judith McNaught. Almost Heaven (Kindle Locations 8384-8392). Pocket Books. Kindle Edition.