"Almost Heaven" by Judith McNaught

****SPOILER ALERT****
I really enjoyed this book, but the only thing was that I got impatient. The book was very long, but the times that it did grasp my full attention and move me to tears is what made me grateful I didn't give up on reading.
I absolutely loved Elizabeth Cameron for her mind and intelligence. In the Ton society, a woman is merely a thing of beauty, to be called upon by men of high ranking titles and is never to exchange her ideas or suggestions about life and literature and things of that nature with men. But not Elizabeth, no sirree, she had a brilliant mind and was not ashamed to share her ideas with anyone who would listen. She's a beautiful thing to behold, emerald green eyes, shiny golden hair and a figure that would take a mans breath away. I loved her SPUNK, WIT, CHARM, her love for her servants and her GENUINE LOVING HEART! Elizabeth Cameron was a diva! Many men asked for her hand in courtship and marriage, but only one man stood out to her and that was none other than IAN THORNTON.
Now he is a hunk of all hunks. He's handsome, muscular, tanned body and brilliant minded! He was known in the TON as a mad gambler, a murderer and an irrational man who went around to balls, courting all sorts of ladies and had the worst reputation. He could care less what people thought about him, for as far as he was concerned they didn't matter to him. Little did the people of the Ton know that Ian Thornton was one of the richest men in society. He won gold mines with his gambling, ships and was filthy rich. The so called higher nobles looked down on him because he would always gamble with them and would win. I loved Ian for his non-chalant character and his ability to LOVE Elizabeth. He loved her to no end and it was evident in the book as their love unfolded.
Talk about a whole bunch of miscommnication and misunderstanding in this book oh my goodness! Elizabeth first bumped into Ian at a ball and found herself immersed in his beauty and personality. Ian was intrigued by her mind and how beautiful she was. She ends up watching a poker game that Ian was in with the other noblemen and they were accusing Ian of cheating. Elizabeth without thinking, defends Ian and lets the other men know that he was not cheating and he won fair and square. Her actions were unheard of in Londons Society, but she didn't know why she reacted that way, but she knew that she felt things with Ian that she didn't comprehend herserf. The next day she meets Ian in a cottage and spends the rainy afternoon with him, but she was already betrothed to another mister..another big mistake for Elizabeth. She enjoyed her afternoon with Ian as things got a little hot and steamy and when she was with him, she lost all sense of logic and just went with what she felt and boy did that cost her a reputable reputation slandering in the Ton. She was young and naive and didn't understand her feelings for the opposite sex!
I loved this part of the book when Ian told Elizabeth he was summoning the divorce papers and she went stiff and still, this is what she  told Ian, "Listen carefully to me, darling, because I'm giving you fair warning that i won't let you do this to us. you gave me your love, and I will not let you take it away. The harder you try, the harder I'll fight you. I'll haunt your dreams at night, exactly the way you've haunted mine every night I was away from you. You'll lie awake in bed at night, wanting me, and you'll know I'm lying awake, wanting you. And when you cannot stand it anymore, she promised achingly, you'll come back to me, and I'll be there, waiting for you. I'll cry in your arms, and I'll tell you I'm sorry for everything I've done, and you'll help me find a way to forgive myself."
She said, " I've hurt you terribly, my love, and I'll hurt you again during the next fifty years. And you are going to hurt me, Ian-never, I hope, as much as you are hurting me now. But if that's the way it has to be, then I'll endure it, because the only alternative is to live without you, and that is no life at all. The difference is that I know it, and you don't- not yet." " I am not a labrador retriever."
Like I said, talk about LOVE ay yay yay! Those words moved me to tears. Her love for IAN was incomprehensible. She loved him with every fiber in her being as she declared her love for him even though he was being such a douche bag. I couldn't believe he put her thru that kind of torment. If I were in that situation, I don't know if LOVE would bring me to waiting on him and to endure the hateful things he said and as far as the divorce papers- what a dreadful thing to do. But luckily, Elizabeth is one sound and loving creature, who knew deep within her HEART, that IAN would come to his senses and they would be together again..Now that is LOVE! (awww....wiping my tears)
This is the part of the book that I loved when Ian found Elizabeth in the cottage in Scotland " If you would take one step forward, darling, you could cry in my arms. And while you do, I'll tell you how sorry I am for everything I've done. And when I'm finished,he whispered hoarsely as she wrapper her arms around him and wept brokenly, you can help me find a way to forgive myself." Tortured by her tears, he clasped her tighter and rubbed his jaw against her temple, his voice a ravaged, whisper: "I'm sorry," he told her. He cupped her face between his palms,tipping it up and gazing into her eyes, his thumbs movine over her wet cheeks. "I'm sorry." Slowly, he bent his head, covering her mouth with his. "I'm so damned sorry."
Now thats what I call an apology...I'm so sorry with all the emotion and love felt between the two of them was INCREDIBLE! I loved how their love was undefiable and how Elizabeth did not give up; what a GEM! Ian was a man of many wounds and misfortunes as he lost his whole family at a young age, having to grow up on his own. When he lost his family, he did not want to LOVE or be hurt again by anyone, Until without thought, he instantly fell in love with Elizabeht Cameron.
Their love story was truly one of ENDEARMENT AND TRUE LOVE. The things that LOVE causes people to do, is absolutely crazy and mind blowing. Alot of unfortunate things happened to both Ian and Elizabeth. They were together one moment and the next Ian was summoning divorce papers. It was a grueling 3 months withouth each other, and as fate would have it, Ian returned to his true home in Scotland only to find his true love who escaped London and went to the only place she knew she could find solace and peace from the rumors and newspaper slanderings of her and her husband Ian.He did not know she was in Scotland. He only went there to find peace of mind for himself and Elizabeth knew in her heart that he would one day return, and in her quest to never love another man only IAN, she was right; he returned.
Having the two of them Ian and Elizabeth reunited was truly "ALMOST HEAVEN."

Thank you for a lovely read about true love and that its not always the happy and loving moments that make life memorable, but the heart trenching and grueling adversities that two people in love must over come to truly enjoy their jouney and life together always! TEAM IAN AND ELIZABETH - they rock!!!
And those are my long thoughts...Thank you:)