Book Review- Whitney, my love

Since Almost Heaven, I have been looking for another book by Judith McNaught. Whitney, my love is her first book and is considered a romance fiction classic by many. It was one of the first regency novels, a sub genre which Judith McNaught invented.
Whitney, my love falls into the historical romance genre. I found many similarities between Almost heaven and this book.

Whitney Stone is a naughty young girl whose father cannot manage her. She is in love with Paul, who is sick of her childish behaviour. Her father is sunk in debts and he doesn't have time for Whitney. He sends her to France with her aunt and uncle to become a sophisticated woman. Whitney wants to change herself so that she can win Paul's heart.
After achieving success in France, she returns to England on her fathers notice with conviction that she'll be able to win Paul's heart. However, fate has decided something else for her. She finds out that Duke of Claymore, infamous for his reputation of ruining women has paid her father 100,000 pounds to marry her. She hates him and doesn't want to marry him.
However, love blossoms between them. There are a lot of conflicts and misunderstandings but in the end Whitney decides that the Duke is her only true love and they live happily ever after.

It had some striking similarities with Almost Heaven like the hero and heorine's character. Most romance novelists have a signature style which they carry into all their novels. Whitney, my love is more than 700 pages long with lots of plot twists and turns and misunderstandings to keep it going.

The love develops at a decent pace but there are some gaps in between. The first hundred pages can easily be skipped. They are about her transformation from a naughty brat to a lady. Some characters from these pages appear later but none of them are very important. The climax is good and the conflicts keep the story going. Judith McNaught writes long books hence, there is lot of time and space for love to develop.

Judith McNaught's writing style is good and she delivers quality. However, like Barbara Carland, this style becomes repetitive after a while.

The characters develop well. There were not many strong supporting characters in the book except the Duke's brother.

The kind of love Judith McNaught writes of is passionate and firey. It has lots of explosive fights and misunderstandings and plotting. There is a bit of idealism but not as much as those in Barbara Cartland novels.

The ending was a happy one. Happy endings are expected from romance novels especially from authors like Barbara Cartland, Judith McNaught and Nora Roberts and many other romance writers.

The historical details are accurate to a large extent. I have been reading historical romances for a long time so, I tend to compare them and know a lot about historical society.

Overall, a good read and definitely worth your time.