Loving Julia

I frankly don't remember much about this book, but I reviewed it in the document that I keep on all authors. I put that I finished it and overall it was a good book, 3.5 stars. The fact that I finished it says a lot because I won't bother if the book doesn't keep me interested.

Julia/Jewel had a fighting spirit, she was fiery, determined, brave, kind, smart, funny and forgiving, all the traits of an endearing heroine, she was indeed. She spiced up every scene with her presence. Sebastian was cold and cynical, but hidden behind the icy mask was a man hungry for love and afraid to be hurt by loving anyone. Despite the harsh and unforgiving condition of living on the street, Jewel cherished herself, was brave, kind and compassionate. Despite having everything he could possibly have in life, Sebastian was lonely and deprived of love.
I enjoyed reading how Jewel struggled to be Julia, a lady, how she refused to be defeated, how shame and pride made her determined and brave. It provided the most funny and admirable moments and I found myself applauding her spirit and triumphs. There were sparks whenever Sebastian and Julia were together, the fiery exchanges, the battling of wits, control and passion. Sometime I found Sebastian to be too harsh and cruel to Julia, in turn being harsh to himself. The book had very good character development, but I wish for a little more insights to the anguish felt by Sebastian when he forced himself to hurt the person he loved. Sebastian was almost too cold and unfeeling at some scenes to be likeable at all. Despite all the ill treatment from Sebastian, Julia was determined to fight for her love, to break his icy control and reach behind his mask. She was touchingly forgiving and loved so completely. So I was particularly satisfied to read about Sebastian's anguish when he feared that he might lose Julia forever. That certainly brought up the depth of his feelings toward Julia, his desperate need to have someone who love him totally, and hardened his resolve to treasured her for the rest of his life. Though I think Sebastian deserved to suffer a bit for the way he treated Julia earlier, there is something very tender about a man losing control over love.
Well, I won't say that the book was romantic. But it tugged your heart and carried you along with the tide of emotions of the characters. The plot held enough twists and surprisings that you would hold your breath and keep the pages turning. Quite a wonderful read.

One of the best historical novels I have ever read -

And I have read quite a few!

I was actually surprised that this novel was not more well-known - and not as universally raved as some other historical novels. I suppose because this book was published so many years ago - twenty, to be exact - and because Karen Robards is better known for her contemporary/suspense novels that she has written in recent years.

I have to admit, I had this book on my TBR pile for quite a while. While I did enjoy *some* of Ms. Robard's other novels, many of them are very much on the dark side, a no-no for me. I had just picked up, and put down, two or three in a row that did not meet my specifications, so when I picked up LOVING JULIA, I was expecting more of the same. Boy, was I in for a surprise! This was a very fun, easy to read historical (it reads like a Regency, but it does not say anywhere in the story if this is a Regency or not) with an unusual storyline, and two excellent leading characters - what more can you ask for?

I was even surprised at how much of an true-to-the-period "feel" this book has - the characters talk in a realistic-for-time-period way, or at least it is definitely English (for instance Julia says "in future" instead of "in the future"). I am sure that there are some minor innacuracies, and there was even one big blooper which I cannot explain without giving away the plot, but all in all, if there were any more innacuracies, I for one, didn't catch them.

Jewel Combs is not a lady, she is an inhabitant of London's underworld - as far away from London society as is possible to be. By a strange quirk of fate (and some good plotting by Ms. Robards), she ends up as "Julia Stratham" - but one does not turn into a society lady just by changing one's name, and "Jewel" has some heavy work ahead of her in order to fit into a "society lady". While this part of the story is excellent in and of itself, it is the romance part that really makes this book shine. Sebastian, Earl of Moorland, is everything in a hero that a romance reader could wish for - handsome (gorgeous, even), emotionally cold and distant, and best (or worst) of all - accused of killing his first wife.

It is the relationship between "Julia" and Sebastian that really makes this book shine, and it is the unusual storyline, excellent, excellent writing, and really good characterizations and character development that make this book a level or two above the others. This book simply has everything, a true "keeper".

Very, very highly recommended. If you are a romance reader and have never read LOVING JULIA, I recommend that you get yourself a copy immediately!

Contains spoilers
When I first seen the many positive reviews about this book, I thought I had the wrong book. Take my advice and skip this book. First off the title is misleading. The whole book, Sebastian doesn't love Julia and in fact by the end of it, I still didn't believe his feelings for her were genuine.

The story begins when the cousin of Seb's is stabbed and robbed in the street. Jewel was apart of the robbery but was disgusted by the violence the man endured. She gets the man to safety. The man is set to inherit money when he dies and because he doesn't want his relatives to have it, he offers marriage to her, knowing he is about to die. She agrees to the proposal and once the man dies, she goes to the Sebastian, Earl of Moorland to get what she is due.

After meeting her, Seb decides to turn her into a lady, hiring someone to do so. He gives her a new name, Julia,. I don't understand what is wrong with the name Jewel, but whatever. At first he avoids her. Later on in the story, he gets drunk and since she believes him her soul mate, ends up sleeping with him. Next day, he avoids her and she ends up confronting him. He calls her a whore. She was in fact a virgin, but he was too drunk to realize it.

Seb offers her to be his mistress. She gets angry and refuses. She was even offered marriage by a man. This makes Seb jealous and he gets violent. He doesn't beat her, but still he hurt her. He eventually offers marriage but a misunderstanding makes him insult her. She runs away and is captured by the man who murdered her husband. The man beats her severely that everyone believed she would die. She eventually recovers and Seb realizes his true feelings for her.

I hated Seb, he was cold and a no good snob. Jewel wasn't good enough for him and he just made me sick. Jewel wasn't much better. I believed she shouldn't have agreed to marry the man to get money. That was wrong even if she poor. She was also a thief and I couldn't see her becoming a lady in such a short time. That been said, these two deserved each other.

Loved this book. The story and characters were believable. I couldn’t help but love Julia and Sebastian and of course the HEA ending is like desert. Want to read the rest of the books this author has written. Well done.

Loving Julia is a fantastic story about a cold, arrogant Earl (Sebastian) and a charming female "gutter-snipe" (Julia) that finds herself on his doorstep.

If I could give you three reasons to read this book they are as follows; Sebastian, Sebastian, Sebastian. He seems like a snobby, heartless, bastard, but his moments with Julia are special. It seems Sebastian is constantly the cause of the ups and downs between them and it's heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same time.

My only complaint would be that I could barely understand what Jewel Combs was saying when she had her street-accent.

I would recommend this book, but it still doesn't measure up to Dark of the Moon, which is my favorite novel by Robards.

The ultimate My fair lady type story.... She is a lady from the streets who wins her way into his proud heart. Not only do I love these type of plot lines with transformation from street girl to lady but the characters were fabulous. This and Tiger's Eye are her best, IMO. Jewel, aka Julia is so fierce and strong and sassy and Sebastian is so manly and stubborn and their chemistry is amazing. Kind of reminds me of Johanna Lindsey's Loving scoundrel in a few ways.. loved it!!!

I read this book because I had just finished Karen Robard's "This Side of Heaven", which was clever, funny, and so unusual.

"Loving Julia" was such a disappointment. Julia acted like a tramp and then got insulted when she was treated like one.

I felt absolutely nothing for Sebastian, except that he was a borish bully with too much money and too much time on his hands.

This book was much the same as other Regency romances. In the end I expected that it would be discovered she was a princess or some other ridiculous thing, but thank heavens we were spared that.

This was an interesting read. The characters were fairly in depth, although Sebastian could have been more developed. It was interesting to see how Jewel/Julia and Sebastian's relationship evolved, during a time when women were treated much differently.

Great book. The author deals deftly with complicated situatons and keeps it realistic. There is great chemistry between the main characters and a little mystery thrown in. Its a great read and a book with depth, highly recommended

This was the first romance novel I ever read, back when I was 14 in 1986 I think it was. To this day after reading easily 200+ romance novels, this is still the best one by far. I have read it about 5 times since, and I never reread anything!

There's just something about it that is so different and well written. The story is gripping and exciting all the way through. The heroine is strong and the hero is unlikely, in that he is not the muscle guy with a swoard in his hand.

THe plot has ghosts, family curses, a terrible mother, a secret past, a beautiful advisary and a creepy theif. It's all good. Buy it, you'll LOVE it!

The story was wonderful and kept me reading, but the mistakes annoyed me. It was inexcusable for an author with so many published works to leave so many mistakes. I gave it three stars because the story was worth reading. I would have given it 4 or even 5 stars, otherwise.

Did not expect such well crafted story with well defined characters. Storyline seemed inspired by classics like pygmalion and rebacca...but still very enjoyble... My first read by the author...Looking forward to reading more of her work.