A teacher in a school for wealthy young ladies, Sheridan, Bromleigh is hired to accompany one of her students, heiress Charise Lancaster, to England to meet her fiance. When her charge elopes with a stranger, Sheridan wonders how she will ever explain it to Charise's intended, Lord Burleton.

Standing on the pier, Stephen Westmoreland, the Earl of Langford, assumes the young woman coming toward him is Charise Lancaster -- and informs her of his inadvertent role in a fatal accident involving Lord Burleton the night before. And just as Sheridan is about to speak, she steps into the path of a cargo net loaded with crates!

Sheridan awakens in Westmoreland's mansion with no memory of who she is; the only hint of her past is the puzzling fact that everyone calls her Miss Lancaster. All she truly knows is that she is falling in love with a handsome English earl, and that the life unfolding before her seems full of wondrous possibilities...

After I read this book the first time, I didn't write a review for it right away. I honestly didn't want to ruin JM's good image in my reviewer's page :-) Thank goodness I waited...I would have rated it a 2-3 stars then. However, after reading ONCE AND ALWAYS, SOMETHING WONDERFUL and ALMOST HEAVEN, I re-read UNTIL YOU because I remembered the secondary characters in this book are the heroes on the 3 books I mentioned above. What do you know, the 2nd timer seems much more fun. There's a new spark of interest due to the apperances of Victoria and Jason, Alexandra & Jordan. Oh dear Nicki too... Even the mention of Ian Thornton, Charity, the Duchess of Claremont & Dorothy made me smile. It's a delight to read updates of these characters especially the couples and the mention of their children. Perhaps you should read all three books before starting the Westmoreland Series... I find it more interesting if you know the secondary characters romance stories as well.

Overall, this book isn't too bad. It's just not one of JM best. IN MY OPINION, this is somewhat a flaw in comparison to AKOD, WML, SW, OaA and AH. If you are a JM's fan and have thoroughly enjoyed all her historical books, dont' expect too much when you read this one. Be warned that way it won't be too much of a disappointment. Enjoy it anyhow!


No misunderstanding - bad   June 19, 2003
 13 out of 18 found this review helpful

Unbelieable the kinds of no account, sleazy, jerks that some authors dare to foist upon unsuspecting readers as attractive marriage partners and soul mates. Their equally superficial, hypocritical, amoral counter parts are not complex or courageous, but are some of the most desperate-for-a-man-to-worship females to clog litterary pages. Sherry is one of these. Any woman, who prior to saying "I do," who has never heard her man say "I love you," is not marrying for love: Unless his non-existent love doesn't count, leaving us with not romance but idolatry.

As part of her fiesty show of courage she is too reluctant to know if he's gotten rid of his coutesan she asked him to. She's obviously typical of many of the females of that period with a don't ask don't tell if you want to keep your jewels and frocks martyr complex. He does get rid of his courtsan, but in the end she doesn't know that and hopes to please him enough so if he hasn't, he will. This character deserves only to be told "until you."

These brooding pervs with titles, money, handsomeness and bad attitudes are allowed to debase and demoralize the women they "love," as long as they marry them in the end. Sherry the living doormat, who conveniently "forgets" her complete humiliation (public and private) at the kids party by Stephen the body slurping, one track minded damsel in distress rescuer, grovels her way through the 2nd half of the book to bring about some sort of reconciliation we are to think of as a romantic story book ending.

This author must have something against her own gender why her female lead drags herself week after week to an opera she can't afford, to stare lovingly at the face of a man (and the woman he's with this week) who didn't trust her enough to go looking for her, speak to, or determine her state of mind after she regained her memory. And since when does a doctor rely on hearsay to determine his patient's state of mind. The impromptu brain backlog that must precede and follow each "misunderstanding," robs the reader not only of their time and cash, but also their sense of romance if they are to get any satisfaction from this novel.

1/3 of the book is spent rehashing Whitney, 1/3 setting up another book's hero (DuVille), leaving 1/3 for the author to completely sacrifice the plot she created, and characters she ought to be developing for specious melodrama. The first 1/2 of the book is contrived and convoluted warmed over left overs. The age gap tried my sense of decorum, even decency. The 2nd 1/2 is too ill conceived to even bother letting the characters account for their behaviours - They can't! Not even they know why they're doing what they're doing, let alone the reader. When DuVille accounts for his behaviour by saying he may have "inadvertantly" cause the separation of Sherry and Stephen, I almost inadvertantly gagged on my bacon sandwich.

Most of the dramatic moments are a satisfaction let down. You're waiting for Sherry to show the courage we keep reading of. Her power of reasoning and comprehension of how she's been insulted seems lost on her, but not this reader. All that red hair must have blinded her. This story ought to have been about trust and honesty, instead (up until the very end), lies and tricks to get her to get her chapel.

Add to all this the author's tendency to time travel to 20th century morality whenever Regeny behavioral standards get too cumbersome for her frail storyline or whenever her characters can't extricate themselves from an overburdened plot, and you'll realize why this book doesn't work. The fight scene (or never seen) at Whites is suppose to be funny. My guess is since we never find out who really wins, most will find it more contrived let down rather than comedic. I'm still trying to figure out where the maid got to since she had no money for a return passage to America. Don't walk away from this book, Run! and keep running.


Great follow up to 'Whitney'   March 19, 2000
 11 out of 11 found this review helpful

I bought this book and Whitney at the same time, and I'm so glad that I did. As soon as I was finished with the first book I grabbed the second one. I loved each book about the same (although I loved 'Whitney, My Love' just a tinsy bit more). Judith McNaught writes the absolute best books. The character developmant in this book was above and beyond and I loved the fact that she gave us a little insight as to what Sheridan's childhood was like. If you kinda sorta like Judith's other books, you'll fall in love with Until You. (Although I have to wonder about the Westmorland brothers' tendency to mistrust their loved fiancees and to ... ahem... rape them)