Jump to ratings and reviews
Rate this book

What Then Is Love?

Rate this book
Libro usado en buenas condiciones, por su antiguedad podria contener señales normales de uso

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1956

Loading...
Loading...

About the author

Emilie Loring

58 books130 followers
AKA Emilie Baker Loring
Emilie Baker was born in Boston, Massachusetts in 1864 to George M. Baker and Emily Frances (Boles) Baker. Her father was a playwright and publisher and her mother was a homemaker. Loring married Victor J. Loring, who was a lawyer. She began writing in 1914, published her first novel in 1922 at the age of 56, and continued writing until her death after a long illness in 1951. She was a prolific American romance novelist of the 20th century, known for her "wholesome love" romances and independent, spirited heroines. Beyond romance, her books also explore a selection of topics including, but not limited to marriage, love, American patriotism, freedom, and optimism. She died in Wellesley, Massachusetts on March 13, 1951. At the time of her death, she had sold more than a million copies of her first thirty books.

After her death, her estate was managed by her sons, Selden M. and Robert M. Loring, who, based on a wealth of unfinished material they discovered, published twenty more books under her name until 1972. These books were ghost-written by Elinore Denniston. taken largely from wiki, made some corrections (dates didn't add up) per her biographer

Emilie Loring Wiki Page







Ratings & Reviews

What do you think?
Rate this book

Friends & Following

Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!

Community Reviews

5 stars
139 (41%)
4 stars
94 (28%)
3 stars
77 (23%)
2 stars
18 (5%)
1 star
5 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
92 reviews6 followers
December 3, 2024
What Then Is Love by Emilie Loring is set in Maine during the summer in the 1950's. It is not my favorite Emilie Loring book. It is possible that Mrs. Loring had written a rough draft or perhaps even an outline of the basic story, which was then completed by a ghost writer after her death. IMO, and I have read a majority of Mrs. Loring's novels multiple times, the plot and characters have been influenced by another writer.

What Then Is Love focuses on loyalty, faithfulness, and courage under fire, confusion, and disillusionment. A daughter rushes to her father's side when he is accused of behavior she knows he is incapable of committing. A loyal girlhood friend is loyal still... but members of the local Yacht Club are not so local until they are shamed into being so.

What Then Is Love has important questions each of us must ask not just ourselves but our society. What makes someone who has everything choose a life of crime over honest labor? How far does love, time, encouragement, the opportunity for a second chance go towards help vulnerable populations choose to be law abiding citizens instead of criminals?
Profile Image for Joy.
1,409 reviews24 followers
December 19, 2009
Patricia comes home to support her father in his disgrace. Judge Langston was accused of taking a "huge" bribe -- ten thousand dollars, which dates the book. Pat is determined to clear his name, so she has to sort through the relationships among the people of her small New England town. She also has to choose who to marry, her childhood friend or the glamorous stranger. Written mostly in the 1950s, Loring's serial romances are notable for a sense of old-time honor, but their characterization isn't particularly smart.
Profile Image for Susan.
820 reviews17 followers
August 16, 2016
I collect books by Emilie Loring, and reread them regularly. This is NOT my favorite of of her books. It's okay, it'st still an Emilie Loring book, but not as satisfying as the others. I was disappointed that the main characters are at mostly odds with each other the WHOLE book. I do appreciate however, the high moral standards of the day, and especially of the main characters.
Profile Image for Roseanne Wilkins.
Author 9 books58 followers
May 2, 2011
I'm not going to list all 50+ books by Emilie Loring, but I love them all, and they're in my home for my girls to read. Since they are all out of print, I'm not sharing. You'll have to find your own :).
22 reviews
June 1, 2014
I want to reread all od the Emilie Loring books because it has been so long I forget what a lot of them are about.
Profile Image for Madeline.
176 reviews
December 5, 2015
This is a fine Emilie Loring book. Not too boring not too exciting. Just an average love story.
Profile Image for Lizzie Warrick.
95 reviews
December 7, 2024
So I read this book a couple of years ago but I decided to pick it up and read it again.
For an older book, it's actually very easy to read and fast paced. It didn't feel too slow or too difficult. I loved the description of everything. It's beautiful. I did enjoy the mystery, there were some parts where I forgot what happened and than I reread it and it genuinely surprised me. The only thing that's kinda eh about the book to me is the romance. I did like it but I didn't exactly love it. Patricia and Andrew did have some chemistry but I never really felt it until the end. I did like the romance between Alice and Patricia's father. That was cute. Now I know, I'm not supposed to like Bill but I kinda felt bad for him,a little but I did hate him. But there was a moment or two where I didn't. Then obviously everything went downhill with me. I was kinda confused about Claire and at the end, I still didn't know how to feel about her. Like should I like her or not like her? I guess it was a little bit of both. I did like Madge and Nelson. They were such couple goals and I loved that. They were probably my favorite characters. I did like Patricia. I wouldn't say she was passive because she didn't want to break faith with Bill and I understand that. Anyways, all in all. I did enjoy this book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Leanna.
215 reviews7 followers
June 23, 2023
3.5 Stars rounded up.

As always, Loring's writing style was so pretty and perfect. I've now read a couple of her books and I've absolutely fallen in love with her writing style. For this specific book, I wasn't a huge fan of the plot. It was fine, but I didn't really love it until the end of the novel. I was, however, a big fan of the characters. Pat was entertaining, as were all of her friends. The romance was cute and I found myself liking many of the friendships as well. Overall, a nice read.
Profile Image for Jeanne.
741 reviews40 followers
July 6, 2018
I started reading Emile Loring books when I picked up a paperback from a rack in a hotel lobby (for 50 cents) while on my sister's & my yearly vacation to visit my father. Hooked! I went on to purchase and read every Emilie Loring romance written and available in paperback, not knowing that she had died before I was even born. I loved these books, but read them when I was between about 12 and 18 years old. I was a young reader - do keep that in mind!
Profile Image for Anna.
1,551 reviews31 followers
December 15, 2025
Love at first sight rarely works for me and it didn't here either, however the mystery was actually quite clever, with more suspects than it originally appeared there could be and some very clever misdirection. I also enjoyed the thoughtful discussion of why someone might commit crime and how it might be prevented.
78 reviews1 follower
September 1, 2020
Annoyed by heroine

O like Emily Loring books, but this one had me grinding my teeth. The heroine was rather stupid and it grated on me. There were surprises at the end, but ughhh. I won't be rereading this one.
3 reviews
June 13, 2021
Never ending Excitement

As. Usually Emilie Loring keeps you suspenseful and I trip all the way to the happy ending. It’s a lean romance filled with drama and exvcitement that Phivebit aGive it a try. You’ll be hooked. will keep you reading until late mighty hours.
17 reviews
December 30, 2024
Best read in a long time

I found the story a bit difficult to get into but couldn't stop going backtothe book and found I couldnt put it down.VEry late,nights, until finished.Now have to reread it! Thank you
3 reviews
April 9, 2025
An old favorite

This is probably my favorite romance novel of all time. I read it first when I was a teenager and it's only gotten better with time.
I enjoy the mystery angle and the sweet romance(s).
Love it!
Profile Image for Anna Jackson.
404 reviews4 followers
September 12, 2024
Not my favorite Emilie Loring, but it still held my interest. Not high on the re-read list. The main character didn't seem to have as much backbone as the author claimed she had haha
Profile Image for Giulia.
27 reviews41 followers
January 28, 2018
Found this book in an old vintage shop in Beirut and liked the description; it turned out to be a pretty amazingly written book. I love how the story doesn't follow the classic line; I've read so much romance garbage that I'd lost all hope.
The story is about Patricia, a young woman whose father is a well-respected judge, but there's a scandal regarding him so he can no longer work. And the scandal may or may not be false and unjust.
It turns around a love triangle, and an interesting one between Patricia, her childhood friend and an odd stranger.
The romance factor aside, I'd like to take a few words to speak about another subject that really got me; this book is about growing up, in a way. The main character, Patricia, transitions from being a girl in the beginning of the story to a full-grown woman by the end of it. She realizes she can't succeed in everything and can surely be wrong. It's quite a heart vs. brain situation and I love how she chose to direct her moves in the story.
I saw a lot of myself in her so maybe that's why I liked this book so much.
Overall, it's a nice, easy, read that makes you long for summer days. I recomment 100%!
3 reviews
April 28, 2019
I have loved Emily Loring books for over 60 years and have a collection I can't part with. She writes so beautifully and her hero's and heroines are not tarnished. Sweet romance with a mystery to solve and no torrid sex scenes to flip past and pick up the story. The Loring books retain their value through the decades soon a century.

My all time favorite author of mystery and romance. We need more authors like this. Maybe I will have to write some. Clean and beautifully descriptive.
45 reviews
April 9, 2019
Action packed .mystery

Great book that helps us see what young men need.
Who has Broken the lock on the gate?
Why are there lights in a mansion with no electricity?
Read this book to find out.
Profile Image for P..
1,486 reviews10 followers
May 11, 2019
DNF Neither plot nor character nor prose = redeemable.
Profile Image for Darlene Mindrup.
34 reviews
June 29, 2019
A good read

Not my favorite but still an enjoyable read. Typical Emilie Loring with her story twists and turns. Loved the New England setting.
801 reviews
October 22, 2019
A mystery, a love story and a murder or two.

A mystery, a love story and a murder or two. This is just part of the action in this interesting story.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews