Reviews

Garters by Pamela Morsi

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bukheeta's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny hopeful lighthearted relaxing sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

Very delightful!

malicepoyo's review

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adventurous funny hopeful lighthearted reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

I actually picked up this book specifically because of the Jude Deveraux endorsement on the cover (LOL). I was not disappointed in the least bit with this book. I was interested from page one and couldn't put the book down. Esme was a wonderful character that really went for what she wanted and boy was it amusing to read her methods of courting! I really liked the side characters and story as well too. I fully intend to get some more Pamela Morsi books now.

changeusernamel8r's review

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medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

Dual POV
HEA

I had seen only 5☆ ratings in recs of this book and probably if I had been in another mood I would have enjoyed it more but still I wasn't really invested.

I found annoying how the FMC

trapped him in marriage

even if it was not intentional like come on what did she expected she could have easily hid the item and with how she was acting obviously that was going to happen.

And also I stopped being as invested in the book when again the FMC

told him she only married him because of his house, even if it was a mistake again and not with bad intention

especially because the angst was not dragged or smt they just skipped it until the very ending.

I was like I don't even care how they solve the misunderstanding.

On the other hand, I can't believe how much I enjoyed the nickname he gave her of Hillbaby, for some reason it made me all giddy.

Content Warnings

mariek12's review

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4.0

Recommendation from tiktok. Set in Tennessee in seems like little house on the prairie times. She lives in the hills with her charmingly aimless father and featherbrained twin sisters in what’s basically a cave; they’re very poor. She sets her sights on the owner of the general store because he owns a big house that could house her whole family. She decides to court him, mostly by following him around. He’s baffled but can’t look away when she has to keep fixing her cheap stockings. If the tiktoker’s description hadn’t intrigued me, I never would have picked this up because it was originally written in the 1990s. Besides one truly medically inaccurate first sex scene, it mostly held up. If anything, the FMC was so great I felt like the MMC faded a bit into the background.

ppchili93's review

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adventurous funny hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Esmeralda Crabbe is a high-strung, independent, and resilient young hill woman (I think she's supposed to be 16 but I pretended she was early 20's) who is hellbent on securing the affections of Cleavis Rhy, the successful gentleman storekeeper in their small town to provide a better life for herself and her family. From the first day Esme waltzes into his store and bares her leg, Cleavis simply doesn't know what to do with her. He's haunted by images of that glorious leg and Esme's intelligence and wit even as he courts the preacher's daughter, an appropriate match. It all comes to a head when Cleav has enough of Esme's attempts at seduction and gives her a pair of garters - scandal! The only solution to the situation is a marriage neither are happy about. Esme is disappointed because she wanted to win the love of Cleav on her own merit. Cleav is ashamed that he was backed into a corner and forced to marry the "wrong" woman. However, it's obvious from the outset that Cleav is absolutely smitten with Esme, and when he discovers she didn't marry him for love but for his money, he vows to win her no matter what!

I really enjoyed this book. Even in the emotional moments when Esme was humiliated for her poor relations and means or explicitly rejected by Cleav, it maintained a kind of lighthearted and goodnatured humor (I loved the scene when Esme spied on his date from the tree above him and he was so focused on her that he couldn't even enjoy it). Esme and Cleav simply have too much chemistry to be contained for long, and even though neither set out to secure a marriage built on love, that's where they both end up long before the altar.

The side characters were likable but also vaguely annoying. Esme's sisters were airheads but they sewed her a new dress, her dad was a lazy no-good who put her desires first, Cleav's mom needed to mind her own business but learned to champion their marriage, and even the preacher's daughter was a bible-quoting gentlewoman - even though she ends up married to the biggest playboy in the county (the twins' - yes both of them - ex-suitor).

My favorite element to Cleav and Esme's union was that they each gave each other something invaluable and necessary. Cleav brought Esme financial stability and was someone who took care of her rather than letting her take care of everyone else. Meanwhile, Esme teaches Cleav that it's okay for him to be himself and to embrace his passions (for fish mostly). Cleav and his mother are both freed from years of restraint and begin to truly enjoy life again after the Crabbe family moves in. They are very beautiful to me.

Nickname I'll never forget: "Hillbaby"

lauriereadslohf's review

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4.0

I can always count on Pamela Morsi to write a good-hearted story about everyday people who make me laugh and GARTERS is no exception

Esme (short for Esmerelda!) Crabb is the practical one in her family. Her beautiful twin sisters are a little light in the brains department and her dad is kind-hearted but the laziest man in the county, so the burden of providing for her family is entirely hers. Determined to make a better life for her and her useless loved-ones she concocts a plan to make the richest man in town marry her.

Esme's not a beauty, nor is she refined, being brought up in the "hills" so she has to use her brains to snare Cleavis Rye's attention. He's the town store-keeper and is one of the best educated men in the land and she figures when he realizes how practical marrying up with her is he'd have to be crazy not to just jump at the chance. So she follows him around a like a puppy and insinuates her way into his life and before he knows what is happening she's working in his store, flashing her legs at him, driving him insane and ruining his reputation!

This book was fun, fun, fun! I so enjoyed watching the practical Esme lose all common sense when trying to catch herself a man. She's blunt, honest and funny and I was rooting for her all the way. It was also amusing to see the prissy talking and sometimes snobby Cleavis lighten up, get all hot and bothered and lose his heart to the most unlikely woman possible. His nickname for the heroine "Hillbaby" drove me nuts but you can't have everything, can you? There are no bad guys in GARTERS because Morsi has a gift that manages to turn even the most unlikable character into a real person (Cleavis's Mom comes to mind, as do the twins shifty suitor). Her books always remain centered on her characters growing love, never getting lost or bogged down with intrigue and action. And did I forget to mention the incredible sensual tension?! Whew, this one had plenty of it. It's the perfect book to brighten up a dank, rainy day or any day for that matter.