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Forever Amber
Forever Amber | Kathleen Winsor
44 posts | 29 read | 37 to read
Abandoned pregnant and penniless on the teeming streets of London, 16-year-old Amber St. Clare manages, by using her wits, beauty, and courage, to climb to the highest position a woman could achieve in Restoration England that of favorite mistress of the Merry Monarch, Charles II. From whores and highwaymen to courtiers and noblemen, from events such as the Great Plague and the Fire of London to the intimate passions of ordinary and extraordinary men and women, Amber experiences it all. But throughout her trials and escapades, she remains, in her heart, true to the one man she really loves, the one man she can never have. Frequently compared to "Gone with the Wind, Forever Amber" is the other great historical romance, outselling every other American novel of the 1940s despite being banned in Boston for its sheer sexiness. A book to read and reread, this edition brings back to print an unforgettable romance and a timeless masterpiece."
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review
KateReadsYA
Forever Amber | Kathleen Winsor
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Pickpick

I have so many feelings towards this book! I can see why it was a best seller. The drama was intense, and the obsession for more was profound. In this book, you get points of view from numerous characters, but the main focus is on Amber and everything that revolves around her world. I didn't see that ending coming.

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KateReadsYA
Forever Amber | Kathleen Winsor
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This tagged book got me like.......😆🤭🫣😳

Captivatedbybooks lol that's enough to have me add it to my TBR 12mo
KateReadsYA @Captivatedbybooks 🤣 the drama 12mo
Ruthiella I‘m sure Windsor had to have based Amber at least a little on Scarlett O‘Hara. She‘s pretty outrageous, but then her options as a woman were extremely limited. 12mo
44 likes2 stack adds3 comments
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KateReadsYA
Forever Amber | Kathleen Winsor
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I've been enjoying my rainy weekend, books, and hot cocoa!
At 200 pages, poor Amber has already endured soooo much! She just wants to be great haha and the world just isn't having it.

BookmarkTavern So cozy! 🧡 13mo
BooksNBowls I‘m jealous of your aesthetic right now 😂 13mo
53 likes2 comments
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KateReadsYA
Forever Amber | Kathleen Winsor
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Enjoying a quiet day with my dogs!
This book is almost 1,000 pages, was banned due to being "problematic," and was the best-selling novel in the 1940s!

JamieArc This sounds similar to the tagged book, which I love. 13mo
KateReadsYA @JamieArc Oh my goodness, thank you so much for the recommendation. I love books like this! I added it to my tbr. 13mo
rubyslippersreads I ❤️ this book! I think my mom let me read it when I was about 12, even though she remembered the scandal about it. 🙀 13mo
KateReadsYA @rubyslippersreads That's amazing hahaha 13mo
59 likes1 stack add4 comments
review
ChaoticMissAdventures
Forever Amber | Kathleen Winsor
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Pickpick

And that is a wrap! 975 pages of Drama and history. Amber is a fictional character but the events she lives through and most of the characters surrounding her are factual.
The book reminded me of Gone With The Wind, but unbelievably more epic and Amber is an even worse person than Scarlett!
If you enjoy a multi layered story with lots of intrigue this was a fantastic read, the writing feels incredibly modern and the pages flew by.

CoverToCoverGirl Great review! A very well written book that has withstood the test of time. 1y
35 likes2 comments
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ChaoticMissAdventures
Forever Amber | Kathleen Winsor
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"...the crime for which they hoped to have his blood - treason against King and state, the casting of his Majesty's horoscope"

In 1667 George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, was tried seriously for going to a fortune teller and asking for the King (Charles II) horoscope.

What a time to live!

Cuilin You‘re so close to finishing. I‘m on my way to a book store, I may look for a second hand copy. 1y
33 likes3 comments
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ChaoticMissAdventures
Forever Amber | Kathleen Winsor
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#bookedintime @Cuilin
FA starts at the beginning of the civil war and runs through the reign of Charles II. It was a TIME. Amber is conceived at the beginning, then lives through the civil war, and the Parliamentarian rule as a child, she runs to London with the love of her live when Charles II returns. She lives through The Plague, and I am at the point of the Great Fire.
Interesting I am finding 2 people/causes of the fire. Curious which it is

ChaoticMissAdventures Google gives 2 stories - Thomas Farriner a baker fell asleep with an oven working, sparks flew.
Or Robert Hubert son of a watchmaker set the fire on purpose.
Anyone know which is the correct version? The Great Fire burned almost 80% of London in 1666, it took down the London bridge stranding people, and making it harder to get to water.
Amber uses this time to her advantage, because she is a perfect opportunist. She is horrible, but interesting.
1y
jenniferw88 The Farriner one! It's in this book which covers the rebuilding of St Paul's Cathedral and London after the fire, and there's no mention of the arson story. It's also the more prevalent and widely-believed story. 1y
Cuilin I agree with @jenniferw88 I heard of the baker falling asleep and it catching and spreading quickly. Forever Amber sounds epic! (edited) 1y
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ChaoticMissAdventures @jenniferw88 thanks! I don't know why Google was giving me 2 answers, @Cuilin truly super epic! She goes through it! 1y
Ruthiella I have this ideas that Amber was an ancestor of Scarlett O‘Hara. There are similarities. 😃 1y
ChaoticMissAdventures @Ruthiella oh my God yes!!!! I have thought about Scarlett more than once while reading this, especially when race comes into the picture and how she treats her Black servant - this idea that he is a toy for her to play with not an actual person. 1y
dabbe In Samuel Pepys's diary, he records the fire and basically says, “Well, I went to the window and saw that the fire was far away, so I went back to sleep.“ 😳 When he wakes up the next day (probably after eating a hearty breakfast) he then tours the damage and feels bad. ~a sophomore read to make this period more interesting. 😃 1y
21 likes7 comments
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ChaoticMissAdventures
Forever Amber | Kathleen Winsor
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If I had read this 4 years ago I would have placed Amber's ways of getting through the plague firmly in the past, along with all the doctors and their blood letting. But after the last few years people relying on unicorn horns strung around their necks and Queen Elizabeth minted coins in their mouths don't sound as far fetched as they used to.

I almost liked Amber as she nurses her ❤️ through the plague but she turned quick back on that growth

Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks 🐾📚😽 1y
Eggs I love everything about this photo - cat, pillows, glass and the colorful room … 1y
ChaoticMissAdventures @Eggs thanks!! I love color in a house! Maximalism feels so much better - warmer and happier - than the grey on grey trend so many are doing! 1y
dabbe Da sweetest kitty face! 🖤🐾🖤 1y
37 likes1 stack add4 comments
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ChaoticMissAdventures
Forever Amber | Kathleen Winsor
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One thing that I will never understand is when people say they want to time travel to this planet's past. I would do anything to avoid ever being somewhere that medicine is this-
"They did everything they knew to cure her: They bled her until she was white as the sheets she lay on. They cut live pigeons in 2 & tied them to the bare soles of her feet to draw out the poison. They gave her purgatives and....."
It is a miracle anyone survived.

CoverToCoverGirl Terribly horrifying, and really how did anyone survive?! 1y
Cuilin It‘s a wonder the human race has continued really. 1y
IuliaC I fully agree, never to the past! 1y
36 likes3 comments
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ChaoticMissAdventures
Forever Amber | Kathleen Winsor
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Making a dent in my #BookedInTime #Chunkster
This starts at the beginning of the English Civil War and glosses a bit over the 11 years of Parliamentary rule, which is the time Amber is growing up on her "Uncle's" farm. She runs away with a Duke soldier to London as Charles Ii is coming back into the country to take back over.
I was cautious of this book written in 1944 but it is highly readable, the language feels very modern still
330/972 pages

38 likes1 stack add
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ChaoticMissAdventures
Forever Amber | Kathleen Winsor
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July's #bookspinbingo list!
@thearomaofbooks

I am reading #chunkster Forever, Amber (974pgs) for #BookedInTime bookclub with @Cuilin so I am not super confident I will get to many of these others. But I do have some on audio from my library which should help!
Excited for July Reading!

TheAromaofBooks I also have a chunkster on my July list!! We will see if anything else happens! 😂 1y
ChaoticMissAdventures @TheAromaofBooks it is the size of three of my regular books, and I read like 14 books a month but my brain looks at it and starts having a "I will never be able to!!!" Meltdown ? 1y
TheAromaofBooks I have been there!! Sometimes I start those with a chapter-a-day commitment until I get hooked. 1y
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TheBookgeekFrau Now that I know Forever, Amber is over 900 pages I'm kind of glad I couldn't find a copy and settled on Year of Wonders for #BookedInTime 😅 1y
ChaoticMissAdventures @TheBookgeekFrau it is something that has been sitting on my shelf for awhile... because it is almost 1K pages 😂 I am trying to read things I own, so for good or evil going to try it. I am about 50 pages in an honestly it doesn't feel too daunting, the language feels super contemporary, even though it was written in the 1940s. 1y
TheBookgeekFrau @ChaoticMissAdventures 😂 I get it!! Curious to see your overall thoughts when done. It sounds like a good story. 1y
CoverToCoverGirl I enjoyed Forever Amber. Her‘s is quite the character. I‘ve read it twice, once as a teenager and just recently. I loved it the first time and wanted to see if it would be still as good as I remembered. It was still an interesting read but I am forty years “wiser “ so I saw it through entirely different eyes. I hope you enjoy Amber‘s journey, it is certainly full of drama. (edited) 1y
ChaoticMissAdventures @CoverToCoverGirl 2x!! So good to hear you enjoyed it! I have read some reviews that she can be annoying as a character, I was concerned about the writing style but just dipping in it seems easy to read. 1y
CoverToCoverGirl @ChaoticMissAdventures those reviews are correct. Be prepared, as she‘s often not very likeable. 1y
25 likes9 comments
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tokorowilliamwallace
Forever Amber | Kathleen Winsor
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My 2023 #roll100 list.

@PuddleJumper

PuddleJumper Excellent! Good luck! 2y
19 likes1 comment
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Amiable
Forever Amber | Kathleen Winsor
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It was a busy weekend for our Chunkster Challengers. Another one down by @CovertoCoverGirl ! Great job, CJ!

#ChunksterChallenge2022

Bookwormjillk Woo hoo 🎉 3y
squirrelbrain Well done! 🎉🎉🎉 3y
Lcsmcat Congratulations @CoverToCoverGirl ! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 3y
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Megabooks Great job!! 🎉🎉 3y
AmyG Yay 🎉 3y
Blackink_WhitePaper Wow great job 👏 3y
slategreyskies Congratulations, CJ!! 🙌✨ 3y
Ddzmini Congratulations 🍾🎉🎊🎈📖 3y
AmyG Yay! 🎉 3y
TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!!! 3y
Mollyanna Nicely done @CoverToCoverGirl 🥳🥳🥳 3y
MaureenMc Congratulations! 👏👏👏 3y
67 likes1 stack add12 comments
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Leftcoastzen
Forever Amber | Kathleen Winsor
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#beginswith #Forever a historical romance published in 1944 about 17th century England, & so much more. I haven‘t read it but it was banned in several states due to 70 references to sexual intercourse , 39 illegitimate pregnancies, multiple abortions. The ban helped it become one of the bestselling books of the 1940s https://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2019/10/when-banning-a-book-backfires/

SRWCF Loooove that cover! 😍 3y
Leftcoastzen @SRWCF a photo I found online of original dust jacket. 3y
SRWCF @Leftcoastzen Amazing! I love that old-time type of artwork. 3y
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LeahBergen I read this in my teens … specifically because it was supposed to be so ribald. 🤣 3y
TrishB @LeahBergen me too!! 3y
LeahBergen @TrishB Great (dirty) minds! 😆 3y
Leftcoastzen @LeahBergen @TrishB a special category, books you read & hide from your parents, this one , Peyton Place , Love Story , hey , we don‘t necessarily condone the lifestyle but we are curious!😄Valley of the Dolls …. 3y
LeahBergen @Leftcoastzen Exactly! 😆 3y
Lcsmcat I haven‘t read this (yet) but I‘ve known about it all my life because my mother was tasked by her sister with convincing my cousin not to name his daughter Amber, specifically because of this book. (They named her Carrington instead.) 3y
Leftcoastzen @Lcsmcat what a great story! I like both names .😃 3y
Eggs Fascinating 📚👏🏻. Never read it, but I was obsessed with Valley of the Dolls-so melodramatic 3y
Ruthiella I read this maybe ten years ago. It would be hard to hide from the parents, it‘s a BRICK of a book. Something like 900 pages.😅 3y
TrishB @Leftcoastzen @LeahBergen it was in my mums top shelf- books I couldn‘t read until I was 18! I think I‘d read them all by 14 😁 sneaking them upstairs. 3y
Leftcoastzen @TrishB love it ! 😂 3y
71 likes1 stack add15 comments
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Ruthiella
Forever Amber | Kathleen Winsor
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Three books that I have read which have been banned:
📚 A Farewell to Arms was banned in Fascist Italy
📚 Forever Amber was banned in Boston
📚 Cancer Ward was banned in the Soviet Union

#3books

LeahBergen And now I feel like rereading Forever Amber. 😆 4y
Ruthiella @LeahBergen But it‘s SO LONG! I still have my paperback because I‘m so proud to have read it, it‘s so far outside of what I normally enjoy and because it makes an excellent door stop. 😀 4y
LeahBergen It IS a huge one, isn‘t it? I read it like 30 years ago. 😆 4y
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Ruthiella @LeahBergen Apparently the original manuscript was twice as long. I like to think that 17th Amber was an ancestor somehow to 19th century Scarlett O‘Hara. 4y
OriginalCyn620 📚👍🏻📚 4y
Vansa Cancer Ward is such an excellent, excellent book. 4y
Ruthiella @Vansa Agree! 😀 4y
36 likes7 comments
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Alfrazier21
Forever Amber | Kathleen Winsor
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#7Days7Books - Day 1

We present here 7 books that will remain in our minds, because they touched us so much, changed us. No further comments!

LeahBergen I loved this book! 5y
Alfrazier21 @LeahBergen me too! My mom had me to read it when I was younger. I absolutely loved it. 5y
22 likes2 comments
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amber_ldsmom
Forever Amber | Kathleen Winsor
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Pickpick

Day 1: I absolutely LOVED this book, and the fact that my own name is in the title makes it that much better. 😁❤️ #NameintheTitle #MagnificentMarch

OriginalCyn620 👍🏻📚😊 5y
16 likes1 comment
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EadieB
Forever Amber | Kathleen Winsor
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Day 3 - #Over500Pages #GratefulReads

Looking forward to reading this soon. My copy has 972 Pgs.

Abandoned pregnant and penniless on the teeming streets of London, 16-year-old Amber St. Clare manages, by using her wits, beauty, and courage, to climb to the highest position a woman could achieve in Restoration England—that of favorite mistress of the Merry Monarch, Charles II.

TrishB A great read 👍🏻 5y
EadieB @TrishB I read this many years ago but I want to read it again. 5y
Crazeedi @EadieB a classic, I remember reading it too. I always picked the chunky books! 5y
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EadieB @Crazeedi Definitely a chunky book! 5y
CoverToCoverGirl A great read! 5y
DrexEdit I think it'll be a fast read. That's how I remember it anyway! 😊 5y
OriginalCyn620 🙌🏻📚❤️ 5y
62 likes1 stack add7 comments
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aliasNayNay
Forever Amber | Kathleen Winsor
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Pickpick

This novel takes readers on a journey through Restoration England it offers vivid images of fashion, politics, affairs and the public disasters of the plague and the Great Fire of London. Truly this was the first real historical romance written. At 972 pages I thought I would never finish, but once started I was lost in the pages of this novel. A must read by all, the best novel ever written.

TrishB Love this book ♥️ 5y
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swynn
Forever Amber | Kathleen Winsor
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Mehso-so

"Forever" is right -- I think that's the term you'll find next to "Time remaining:" when you open this monster on an e-reader.

Still, I was happy to find it nowhere near as awful I had expected. The historical color is convincing, especially in some gruesomely effective chapters that take our heroine through the Great Plague. The book's worst sins are its length and Amber's shallow character, which lengthens the long length to longer than long.

rubyslippersreads I think Amber was supposed to be sort like Scarlett, due to the popularity of GWTW. My mother said this book was considered extremely scandalous when it first came out. 😄 5y
swynn @rubyslippersreads I agree she's very much like Scarlett O'Hara, frivolous and vain and unbearable at length. And it's true that Forever Amber was a scandal: it was banned in 14 states, which doubtless helped make it a bestseller. As always, though, "obscene" is relative: there is no explicit sex, but the word "bosom" is used more than once. Gasp. 5y
18 likes2 comments
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EmilieGR
Forever Amber | Kathleen Winsor
Mehso-so

Strangely forgettable considering it‘s size

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Kate.Braithwaite
Forever Amber | Kathleen Winsor
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This is a big fat beach read! 972 pages 😊

44 likes1 stack add
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Snikt6
Forever Amber | Kathleen Winsor
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1. Forever Amber
2. Chris Claremont‘s run on the Uncanny X-Men got me wanting to read and @amber_ldsmom introduced me to the classics.....thanks love!
3. Night
4. Enders Game series, Hunger Games, Jane Eyre and Rincewind from the Terry Pratchett books!

JoScho 📚😊❤️ 7y
9 likes1 comment
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Snikt6
Forever Amber | Kathleen Winsor
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1. Utah
2. Enders Game
3. Enders Game
4. Old Man Logan
5. Legion
6. All-time: Fugazi; Now: Killers
7. Green
8. Fantasy
9. Navy......in a few weeks Amazon.
10. Cat

AmyG The Argument has to be one of my all time favorite albums. Repeater ❤️ (edited) 7y
10 likes1 comment
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Snikt6
Forever Amber | Kathleen Winsor
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@amber_ldsmom recommend Forever Amber to me because she had loved the romanticism of this book. Seeing how I wish to be more romantic, I am in need of some great literature to show me the way. Any recommendations?

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amber_ldsmom
Forever Amber | Kathleen Winsor
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#MeetTheLittens
1. Virginia
2. Only one??? That‘s like asking which child is your favorite! But the tagged book is one of them.
3. Harry Potter
4. The ‘Burbs
5. All time: The X-Files; Right now: Legion
6. All time: The Beatles; Right now: Twenty-One Pilots
7. Orange
8. Classics
9. Home
10. One cat, soon to have two ferrets

maich 😍😍😍 7y
17 likes1 comment
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eeqazz
Forever Amber | Kathleen Winsor

This old ass book is actually amazing. Once you get into it it's hard to stop reading.

1 like1 stack add
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GreyZone
Forever Amber | Kathleen Winsor
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Bailedbailed

How could a cover so beautiful contain a story so disappointing? Victorian prostitutes have never been so boring. Amber falls flat as a protagonist and never manages to grow in her dreary, dismal surroundings. Proceed with caution, this historical fiction glutton couldn't do it.

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rubyslippersreads
Forever Amber | Kathleen Winsor
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Amber's obsession with Bruce Carlton rivals Scarlett's for Ashley. #taintedlove #gwtwreadalong #junetunz

mabell Forever Amber was a frequent mention on the Jack Benny radio show 😁 7y
rubyslippersreads @mabell My mother said it was considered a very shocking book at the time. 😱 7y
mabell Yes I definitely got that impression. Ripe for innuendos. Now comedians use Shades of Grey 😂 7y
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Cinfhen Look at that cover 😱tantalizing 😉 7y
Reviewsbylola Great book! 7y
LeahBergen I need to reread this one day! 7y
mjdowens I have this chunker of a book. Bought it last summer but have yet to attempt reading it. It sounds like a good story though (edited) 7y
CrowCAH What time period/year does this book take place? 7y
rubyslippersreads @CrowCAH During the reign of Charles II (Amber is one of his mistresses! 😱) 7y
CrowCAH @rubyslippersreads in my pirate/colonial time period. Have to check this out! 7y
CindyMyLifeIsLit I love this book! Amber and Scarlett are definitely kindred spirits! 😜 7y
73 likes5 stack adds11 comments
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Mammaletterario
Forever Amber | Kathleen Winsor
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Picked this back up after having stopped reading it for a while. I am not very far in this book but it is getting interesting now! *Don't mind my schoolwork in the background, lol.

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MissDodoBrooks
Forever Amber | Kathleen Winsor
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Excited about my book sale find 😄📚😄 #bookhaul

TrishB Forever Amber, 💟 from my teens! 8y
MissDodoBrooks @TrishB, it has been on my wish list for a long time! I can't wait to start it 😁 8y
9 likes2 comments
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Bibliotini
Forever Amber | Kathleen Winsor
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New cover on an old friend. I LOVED this book when I read it years ago.

LeahBergen Oh, I LOVED this one. I may need to reread it soon. 8y
15 likes5 stack adds1 comment