Whitney, My love was the first of at least 6 Historical Romances written by Judith McNaught that had me utterly spellbound. I'm not much of a "Romance Fiction" person, but it was more her style of writing, and her way of spinning an actual story around very strong, endearing and life-like characters that is somehow not so hard to believe that made me her eternal fan.
Her protagonists actually have some flaws that they overcome, and there definitely is some adversity at certain points of the story, that makes the story a tad more realistic than what is expected out of a Romance novel. It has the salient features of a romance novel, definitely, but in my opinion, she has manged to pick out the right ones, like the male protagonist being the athletic, powerful, masculine, handsome stranger and the lady who is stunning and delicate but not exactly all that porcelain doll-like, a little brazen, willful, headstrong and wily - you may have noticed the cleaver contrasts in her characters. I've read a few other romance novels that are tiresome in the fact that they are startlingly unrealistic, with characters that seem to have absolutely no flaws, have the perfect romance and a happily ever after, which I find very hard to believe. No one is ever perfect, and only a fake relationship looks perfect, since there is nothing going on in the first place to even have misunderstandings over, no expectations to be met, no hurt because there are no feelings involved. So Judith McNaught's story telling, to me, felt, not like a story, but more like the narration of an experience, and I feel very close to her characters, and I feel their joy, pain, love, anger and everything else, as my own, which I believe is her biggest success.
Any ordinary reader will find a true connection with her characters at at least one point, and Whitney's willful behaviour as a young girl is what I found in common. I was a similar type, childish, a busy body, willful, just doing something out of curiosity and ending up getting punished by someone or the other. Then, sulking over being the only one to be punished. I have felt the same way, with everyone having something to say about my naughtiness, and now, how I've changed. Like her, I also left home when I was 15 and I like to believe that I "grew up". :)
Like most love stories in real life, there is a spell of pure joy and excitement, then resentment, anger, attraction, marriage and so many other things to it that makes the story complete. I appreciate the fact where the story doesn't stop after marriage, with "and they lived happily ever after". This a direct contrast from the usual "Mills and Boon" that constantly describes the two individuals and their attraction. It's mostly the meeting of two perfect strangers, and how they can never be apart. When they aren't in the same room, they're thinking about each other. Everything that goes on is all about, despite or because of their attraction. That's the story. There's nothing more to it.
In these 6 novels, it is understood that there are certain parts to each other that they dislike, but their love blossoms despite all that. Most people who have been in love might be able to relate to that, of knowing that there are going to be certain things we aren't going to like but loving them anyway to the point where one day, we love them exactly for those little imperfections.
In all of her stories, Judith McNaught makes the emotions conveyed palpable, her characters more life-like and her Historical Romances, all 6 of them, in my opinion, were compelling, fast paced and left me wanting more. I read each of her books compulsively, in under a week. I felt every moment, loved every description. In fact, I couldn't help but picture my favourite, Hugh Jackman as Clayton Westmoreland, who fits the description so perfectly.
Of all the book series I've been through, this was one that I felt like I still haven't had enough. Even though each of her 6 books on Historical Romance were on average 500-700 pages long, they were page turners, with a rich, compelling story that always left me wanting more.
On a more personal note, since Whitney, my love was my first of the series, I find myself deeply in love with Clayton. He was one character who, despite his fiery temper and arrogance, appealed to me, and quite literally, touched my heart.
I'm thrilled to hear that there is an upcoming addition to the Westmoreland Saga, Someone Like You (2014) which is ironic, because one of Hugh Jackman's movies, earlier on, was also named Someone Like You(2001), which was shortly after his appearance as The Duke of Albany in Kate and Leopold(2001) :)
A second opinion: http://www.likesbooks.com/cgi-bin/bookReview.pl?BookReviewId=3519
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