This is book 2 in the Maiden Lane series - Hoyt seems to thrive on series. I liked it - really - but having come off of reading 3 Julie James contemporary romances in a row this weekend, it wasn't nearly as much fun.
In this one, Lady Hero Batten (Hero?) is the heroine who is promised to Lord Mandeville. She meets his notorious brother Griffin at their engagement ball, where Griffin is banging some other woman. And go figure, she ends up with Griffin. Well, it's a sort of complicated tale, with the Maiden Lane Home for unfortunate orphans in the background, and there's gin distillers and informants and Hero's brother trying to arrest all the distillers, and Griffin IS a distiller.
The one thing that sorta irritated me about the story was how easy Hero was - I mean, considering she was raised as the sister of a Duke, you'd a thought she could resist a man at least once, but no, she was boinking like a bunny every time she got near Griffin, including at a ball. But there you have it, it's how Hoyt saw the story. I also thought it wrapped up rather neatly, really too neatly, all things considered, but I still enjoyed it and decided to go with 4 stars rather than 3. I dunno, I use my gut to decide these things.
I'm stuck now - no more books to read, and still 1 1/2 hours left in the boring audiobook I've sworn to complete... I can't believe I got books from PBS and Amazon and read them all.
Showing posts with label Elizabeth Hoyt. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Elizabeth Hoyt. Show all posts
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Wicked Intentions by Elizabeth Hoyt *****
The whole purpose of my blogging my "reviews" of books is for me to remember later that (1) I did read the book and (2) how I felt about it and maybe even (3) a plot synopsis. When I wait even a day after reading a book - even one I loved - sheesh, I cannot remember a thing about it.
In this case, I remember that I was thinking it was just an ok read until a certain point, and then thinking how much I loved it. And then I finished it - on vacation, where my internet connection was spotty, and the computer I had with me was the Netbook - so I decided to wait til I got home to write. and dang if I can hardly even remember the plot, much less the turning point and why I changed my mind.
Ok, actually I do remember something about the plot. The heroine, a Mrs Dews, first name Temperance, runs an orphanage in an awful neighborhood in London with her brother. There's a sister named Silence, married to a sea captain, and 2 other brothers and maybe some more siblings, but only the 2 of them work at the orphanage (brother and Temperance). Mrs Dews is a widow and her thoughts imply that she has some deep dark secret in her past, possibly relating to her husband.
The hero is Lazarus, Lord Caire, who, we are told repeatedly, has unusual sexual appetites. He is searching for the murderer of his mistress, a woman who apparently would indulge unusual sexual appetites. I remember waiting to find out what these unusual appetites would be, and we learn that he ties her up and puts a blindfold on her. Or, as it is later described, "the rope and hood" which I just didn't think was exceedingly unusual. I expected something truly different - not sure what - paddling? buttseks? all of the above? Considering how we are lead to believe he is truly depraved, I was hard pressed to consider tying her up that outrageous. (In fact, I thought learning Temperance's secret was more shocking.)
Caire decides to employ Mrs Dews to help him in her neighborhood since he is a Lord and she is a resident. He is also attracted to her, and she lets us into her thoughts by admitting she's attracted to him as well, which she considers part of her awful secret.
There was something towards the end where Caire makes a realization about his inability to let anyone touch him because it causes him pain that I think might have been my turn-around. Unfortunately, I read the review at AAR to see if I could recapture my thoughts - but reading it, although it was a B review (that is to say, not a bad review), completely screwed up my own thinking about the story. What I liked, the reviewer didn't, and now I'm completely lost and will either have to re-read it to figure it out, or just let it go.
Maybe it will come out in audio and I'll get to experience it again that way. For now, I'll just say I liked it 5 stars worth and get on with my life.
In this case, I remember that I was thinking it was just an ok read until a certain point, and then thinking how much I loved it. And then I finished it - on vacation, where my internet connection was spotty, and the computer I had with me was the Netbook - so I decided to wait til I got home to write. and dang if I can hardly even remember the plot, much less the turning point and why I changed my mind.
Ok, actually I do remember something about the plot. The heroine, a Mrs Dews, first name Temperance, runs an orphanage in an awful neighborhood in London with her brother. There's a sister named Silence, married to a sea captain, and 2 other brothers and maybe some more siblings, but only the 2 of them work at the orphanage (brother and Temperance). Mrs Dews is a widow and her thoughts imply that she has some deep dark secret in her past, possibly relating to her husband.
The hero is Lazarus, Lord Caire, who, we are told repeatedly, has unusual sexual appetites. He is searching for the murderer of his mistress, a woman who apparently would indulge unusual sexual appetites. I remember waiting to find out what these unusual appetites would be, and we learn that he ties her up and puts a blindfold on her. Or, as it is later described, "the rope and hood" which I just didn't think was exceedingly unusual. I expected something truly different - not sure what - paddling? buttseks? all of the above? Considering how we are lead to believe he is truly depraved, I was hard pressed to consider tying her up that outrageous. (In fact, I thought learning Temperance's secret was more shocking.)
Caire decides to employ Mrs Dews to help him in her neighborhood since he is a Lord and she is a resident. He is also attracted to her, and she lets us into her thoughts by admitting she's attracted to him as well, which she considers part of her awful secret.
There was something towards the end where Caire makes a realization about his inability to let anyone touch him because it causes him pain that I think might have been my turn-around. Unfortunately, I read the review at AAR to see if I could recapture my thoughts - but reading it, although it was a B review (that is to say, not a bad review), completely screwed up my own thinking about the story. What I liked, the reviewer didn't, and now I'm completely lost and will either have to re-read it to figure it out, or just let it go.
Maybe it will come out in audio and I'll get to experience it again that way. For now, I'll just say I liked it 5 stars worth and get on with my life.
Saturday, August 14, 2010
To Desire A Devil by Elizabeth Hoyt ***
Hoyt is starting to be an on/off author for me - I really liked the first couple I read but now ...
and part of that might be the narrator, Anne Flosnik. My first encounter with Flosnik was the audiobook The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox, and frankly I thought she was brilliant in that book. I actually began to seek out books with her narrating, and as I listened to them, I started to wonder what was wrong.....
I noticed, for instance, at AAR the audiobook blogger doesn't seem to like her, and comments indicate agreement. After slogging through a Julie Garwood medieval she narrated, and then today this book, I think Flosnik has some weird idea about narrating historicals and or romance, because ICK her voice is annoying as hell on these, and I thought she was truly great in Vanishing Act. She does this thing with the word "her" especially at the end of sentences where she pronounces it "huhhhhhhh" and holds it for a count of 8. Every time. Every. Time. AARRRRGGG. Now I'm in agreement with AAR.
Plus the book was only middlingly good - the last in the series and I just couldn't get that interested in the last soldier. Hoyt's fairy tale chapter headers have completely lost their appeal for me. This one is Reynaud St. Aubyn, who was believed killed by Indians during the French and Indian wars in the colonies. His sister Emmeline marries a colonist in the first book (or maybe the second) in the series. The heroine is Beatrice, the niece of the man who took Reynaud's title and lands as next of kin (but she's not related by blood to Reynaud...). Reynaud is fighting to get his title and lands back; Beatrice is fighting to get a bill passed by parliament and to have her uncle treated well after he's stripped of the title. And there's still the mystery of the traitor that betrayed the British to the French during the war.
But all in all, I'm still giving it 3 stars because I didn't hate it (but Flosnik's voice was pretty dang annoying). Don't think it'll be up for a re-listen.
and part of that might be the narrator, Anne Flosnik. My first encounter with Flosnik was the audiobook The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox, and frankly I thought she was brilliant in that book. I actually began to seek out books with her narrating, and as I listened to them, I started to wonder what was wrong.....
I noticed, for instance, at AAR the audiobook blogger doesn't seem to like her, and comments indicate agreement. After slogging through a Julie Garwood medieval she narrated, and then today this book, I think Flosnik has some weird idea about narrating historicals and or romance, because ICK her voice is annoying as hell on these, and I thought she was truly great in Vanishing Act. She does this thing with the word "her" especially at the end of sentences where she pronounces it "huhhhhhhh" and holds it for a count of 8. Every time. Every. Time. AARRRRGGG. Now I'm in agreement with AAR.
Plus the book was only middlingly good - the last in the series and I just couldn't get that interested in the last soldier. Hoyt's fairy tale chapter headers have completely lost their appeal for me. This one is Reynaud St. Aubyn, who was believed killed by Indians during the French and Indian wars in the colonies. His sister Emmeline marries a colonist in the first book (or maybe the second) in the series. The heroine is Beatrice, the niece of the man who took Reynaud's title and lands as next of kin (but she's not related by blood to Reynaud...). Reynaud is fighting to get his title and lands back; Beatrice is fighting to get a bill passed by parliament and to have her uncle treated well after he's stripped of the title. And there's still the mystery of the traitor that betrayed the British to the French during the war.
But all in all, I'm still giving it 3 stars because I didn't hate it (but Flosnik's voice was pretty dang annoying). Don't think it'll be up for a re-listen.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
To Beguile A Beast by Elizabeth Hoyt ****
This was somewhere between 4 and 5 stars. I enjoyed it but it's not a keeper for me. It's the 3rd in the Legend of the Four Soldiers series, and this time I just completely skipped over the fairy tale beginning to each chapter because that is starting to irritate me as a writing conceit.
In this one, the hero is the Beast - Sir Alistair, who lost an eye and some fingers to the Indians during an attack in the Colonies. He's a naturalist, writing a book on flora and fauna, and was just traveling with the British troops for security and safety - his own.
The heroine, Helen Carter, is the Beauty - but she's also a Beast in her own right, since she has been the mistress of the Duke of Lister for 14 years, with 2 children by him. She's been cast out from her family, and she feels she is in danger from the Duke, who is very possessive. She has run away from him, with her 2 children, to hide undercover as Alistair's housekeeper in Scotland.
Alistair is surly and rude and tries over and over to throw Helen and the children out of his house - especially since it's obvious to him she is quality and doesn't have a clue about housekeeping. Desperate as she is, she figures a good housekeeper just oversees the housekeeping staff, so she hires several people from the village to do the actual work.
Alistair is in with the 2 previous heroes of this series, trying to discover who the traitor was in their midst who told the French their location. However, not much time is spent in pursuit of the traitor in this story - mostly it centers around their relationship and Lister's pursuit of Helen.
The story is about 2 flawed characters coming to terms with the choices they've made in their lives and dealing with an unknown future. Alistair's slow conversion from Beast to Human is helped along by his compassion for animals, especially his dog Lady Grey and the new puppy, Puddles. He also develops a relationship with the children. Helen, while admirable as a mother, isn't exactly the most commendable heroine - it took her quite a long time to start to atone for her decision to be the Duke's mistress and bear him 2 bastard children.
It's also in the Serial Readers Challenge 2009, as well as notable pets.
In this one, the hero is the Beast - Sir Alistair, who lost an eye and some fingers to the Indians during an attack in the Colonies. He's a naturalist, writing a book on flora and fauna, and was just traveling with the British troops for security and safety - his own.
The heroine, Helen Carter, is the Beauty - but she's also a Beast in her own right, since she has been the mistress of the Duke of Lister for 14 years, with 2 children by him. She's been cast out from her family, and she feels she is in danger from the Duke, who is very possessive. She has run away from him, with her 2 children, to hide undercover as Alistair's housekeeper in Scotland.
Alistair is surly and rude and tries over and over to throw Helen and the children out of his house - especially since it's obvious to him she is quality and doesn't have a clue about housekeeping. Desperate as she is, she figures a good housekeeper just oversees the housekeeping staff, so she hires several people from the village to do the actual work.
Alistair is in with the 2 previous heroes of this series, trying to discover who the traitor was in their midst who told the French their location. However, not much time is spent in pursuit of the traitor in this story - mostly it centers around their relationship and Lister's pursuit of Helen.
The story is about 2 flawed characters coming to terms with the choices they've made in their lives and dealing with an unknown future. Alistair's slow conversion from Beast to Human is helped along by his compassion for animals, especially his dog Lady Grey and the new puppy, Puddles. He also develops a relationship with the children. Helen, while admirable as a mother, isn't exactly the most commendable heroine - it took her quite a long time to start to atone for her decision to be the Duke's mistress and bear him 2 bastard children.
It's also in the Serial Readers Challenge 2009, as well as notable pets.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
To Seduce a Sinner by Elizabeth Hoyt ****
This is the 2nd in the Soldiers Series, Hoyt's second series (after the Prince series) - and like the Prince Series and the first in the Soldiers, it opens with a part of a fairy tale at the beginning of each chapter. This time I didn't follow the connection between the tale and the story, but that's ok because I liked the story this time.
The hero in this story is Jasper, Lord Vale, Emeline's first fiancee in book 1, and Sam's compatriot in his search for the traitor from 6 years earlier in the American Colonies. Sam and Emeline have now married and moved back to the colonies, and Lord Vale in on the threshold of marrying his second fiancee when she too leaves him at the altar. While he sits there in the church, hung over and pondering his dilemma, Melisande comes in and offers to wed him.
It seems Melisande had met Jasper years before, through Emeline, but he doesn't remember her. She, however, remembers him, since it was love at first sight for her. Well, not exactly first sight - she saw him as others did, a sort of playboy/rake/rogue, until she discovered his tender side (unbeknownst to him, she observed a private moment).
He agrees to wed her, but even after the marriage, he stays away from her as much as possible because he believes himself to be unworthy - of her, of any woman really. His PTSD from the incident in the Colonies still haunts him, enough to drive him to continue the search for the traitor. Melisande chips away at his hard shell, slowly, to get to the sensitive fellow underneath.
I liked the tone, the voice of this story better than the previous one (To Taste Temptation). Jasper's hidden insecurities made more sense, and Melisande was a more credible and likable heroine for me. Interestingly, the book blurb indicates that Melisande keeps her husband at a distance - in fact, I found it was Jasper keeping her at a distance, and her pursuing him. She did have secrets she didn't want him to learn, but he was the one who was keeping her distant, refusing to stay overnight in her bed.
So I'm going with a 4 star rating - I liked it, a lot. It's in the Serial Challenge and the Winter Challenge (book published in 2008). And Melisande has a featured dog, a Notable Pet, named Mouse (he's a rat terrier).
The hero in this story is Jasper, Lord Vale, Emeline's first fiancee in book 1, and Sam's compatriot in his search for the traitor from 6 years earlier in the American Colonies. Sam and Emeline have now married and moved back to the colonies, and Lord Vale in on the threshold of marrying his second fiancee when she too leaves him at the altar. While he sits there in the church, hung over and pondering his dilemma, Melisande comes in and offers to wed him.
It seems Melisande had met Jasper years before, through Emeline, but he doesn't remember her. She, however, remembers him, since it was love at first sight for her. Well, not exactly first sight - she saw him as others did, a sort of playboy/rake/rogue, until she discovered his tender side (unbeknownst to him, she observed a private moment).
He agrees to wed her, but even after the marriage, he stays away from her as much as possible because he believes himself to be unworthy - of her, of any woman really. His PTSD from the incident in the Colonies still haunts him, enough to drive him to continue the search for the traitor. Melisande chips away at his hard shell, slowly, to get to the sensitive fellow underneath.
I liked the tone, the voice of this story better than the previous one (To Taste Temptation). Jasper's hidden insecurities made more sense, and Melisande was a more credible and likable heroine for me. Interestingly, the book blurb indicates that Melisande keeps her husband at a distance - in fact, I found it was Jasper keeping her at a distance, and her pursuing him. She did have secrets she didn't want him to learn, but he was the one who was keeping her distant, refusing to stay overnight in her bed.
So I'm going with a 4 star rating - I liked it, a lot. It's in the Serial Challenge and the Winter Challenge (book published in 2008). And Melisande has a featured dog, a Notable Pet, named Mouse (he's a rat terrier).
Sunday, January 25, 2009
To Taste Temptation by Elizabeth Hoyt ***
I consider myself a fan of Elizabeth Hoyt's work because I read her first trilogy and really liked it. I found her "voice" fresh and interesting, and the conceit of using a fairy tale (that she created, not a regular tale in children's books) was fun.
This time I found the fairy tale thing, well, almost annoying. I mean, been there done that. And the story, while I liked it ok, wasn't one I found compelling and moving. In fact, I managed to find other things to do and dragged it out over several days, even waiting to read the last several pages...
The hero Sam is an "untamed" fellow, raised in the wilds of the American colonies - it's 1760s I believe - and was a tracker or some such with a British unit in the French and Indian wars several years before. He served with the heroine's brother, who was killed in an Indian ambush that the hero believes was a sell-out by one of the British troops. Sam has come to England to track down this traitor and... well, I wasn't really sure what he planned to do with him, except that he may have wanted to clear his own name, since everyone thought he had run away to save himself. He did run - to get help and ransom for the British officers that were being held.
The heroine is Emeline, a lady who also chaperones young women entering society. Sam brings his sister along as a cover, so he has a reason to get close to Emeline and also to get invited to certain balls and soirees in search of his traitor. He originally thinks the traitor is Jasper, Emeline's fiance, but when he discovers Jasper is not, he and Jasper join forces.
I dunno... something about the tone of the book just didn't work for me. Sam was all alpha male, in control, except he had this PTSD thing going on with crowds - when he smelled men's sweat, he imagined himself back in the war and had anxiety and panic attacks. And Emeline was this very tightly coiled, very respectable widow with a hidden passionate nature. All very melodramatically portrayed, and mostly I kept thinking she was a bitch with a stick up her behind. Whenever I read something like this, I wonder if it's me, if it's my current mood - I'd been putting off reading it, even though everyone has been raving about it, and I sorta forced myself to go ahead and start it. And I liked it ok, but not a lot. I wonder if I had waited until I wanted to read it if I would have liked it better?
Well, I'll never know the answer to that. 3 stars - it's in my Serial Readers Challenge, my A To Z challenge and the Winter 2008 challenge.
This time I found the fairy tale thing, well, almost annoying. I mean, been there done that. And the story, while I liked it ok, wasn't one I found compelling and moving. In fact, I managed to find other things to do and dragged it out over several days, even waiting to read the last several pages...
The hero Sam is an "untamed" fellow, raised in the wilds of the American colonies - it's 1760s I believe - and was a tracker or some such with a British unit in the French and Indian wars several years before. He served with the heroine's brother, who was killed in an Indian ambush that the hero believes was a sell-out by one of the British troops. Sam has come to England to track down this traitor and... well, I wasn't really sure what he planned to do with him, except that he may have wanted to clear his own name, since everyone thought he had run away to save himself. He did run - to get help and ransom for the British officers that were being held.
The heroine is Emeline, a lady who also chaperones young women entering society. Sam brings his sister along as a cover, so he has a reason to get close to Emeline and also to get invited to certain balls and soirees in search of his traitor. He originally thinks the traitor is Jasper, Emeline's fiance, but when he discovers Jasper is not, he and Jasper join forces.
I dunno... something about the tone of the book just didn't work for me. Sam was all alpha male, in control, except he had this PTSD thing going on with crowds - when he smelled men's sweat, he imagined himself back in the war and had anxiety and panic attacks. And Emeline was this very tightly coiled, very respectable widow with a hidden passionate nature. All very melodramatically portrayed, and mostly I kept thinking she was a bitch with a stick up her behind. Whenever I read something like this, I wonder if it's me, if it's my current mood - I'd been putting off reading it, even though everyone has been raving about it, and I sorta forced myself to go ahead and start it. And I liked it ok, but not a lot. I wonder if I had waited until I wanted to read it if I would have liked it better?
Well, I'll never know the answer to that. 3 stars - it's in my Serial Readers Challenge, my A To Z challenge and the Winter 2008 challenge.
Friday, September 19, 2008
The Serpent Prince by Elizabeth Hoyt *****
This is the 3rd in her Prince series, after The Raven Prince (which I loved) and The Leopard Prince (which I didn't love) - and, hurrah, I loved this one!
There were so many things to love about this story - the Viscount Iddesleigh, Simon, with his strong but misplaced sense of honor; Lucy who discovers the world outside Maiden Hall when she takes Simon into her home to convalesce; the wonderful secondary characters like her father the sea captain, Simon's sister in law and niece, the return of Edward from Raven.
Simon is found by Lucy, naked and unconscious, in a ditch, after being beaten and stabbed. Lucy takes him into her home to recover, against the wishes of her father, and she nurses him back to health. She and her father live in the country, and the fellows who tried to kill Simon had attacked him in London but took him here to die.
Having someone from London stay in her home is an eye-opener for the country miss who has been courted by the vicar for three years with no proposal in sight. She realizes there's more to life than wearing brown and gray and talking about repairing the church roof - and turns down the inevitable proposal from the vicar she doesn't love, even if it means a life without marriage at all. But Simon has fallen head over heels for Lucy, and comes back for her.
Meanwhile, he is still out for to avenge the death of his brother by the men he has been systematically dueling and killing.
Interestingly, I liked that Simon is in love with Lucy by the time he returns to London, that he proposes marriage, and that he is determined for her to remain chaste until after marriage. It seemed almost quaint and practically unheard of in romance. And even as he continues with the revenge of his brother's death, we are shown more and more reasons that shore up his determination for this revenge that make it seem almost right, almost necessary. But the killing is taking a toll on Simon's soul.
I also liked the Serpent fairy tale that is woven through the story - this time told by Simon to Lucy as a story he learned growing up - and how it intertwined with their story.
The story did what I like: it made me feel the emotions felt by the characters - their growing affection for one another, their joy at getting married, Simon's grief at losing Lucy, Lucy's anguish over Simon's inability to share what he was going through with her, and her reluctance to leave. All that. That's what makes it a 5 star read for me, and apparently for a lot of readers since it's an AAR Top 100 read as well.
There were so many things to love about this story - the Viscount Iddesleigh, Simon, with his strong but misplaced sense of honor; Lucy who discovers the world outside Maiden Hall when she takes Simon into her home to convalesce; the wonderful secondary characters like her father the sea captain, Simon's sister in law and niece, the return of Edward from Raven.
Simon is found by Lucy, naked and unconscious, in a ditch, after being beaten and stabbed. Lucy takes him into her home to recover, against the wishes of her father, and she nurses him back to health. She and her father live in the country, and the fellows who tried to kill Simon had attacked him in London but took him here to die.
Having someone from London stay in her home is an eye-opener for the country miss who has been courted by the vicar for three years with no proposal in sight. She realizes there's more to life than wearing brown and gray and talking about repairing the church roof - and turns down the inevitable proposal from the vicar she doesn't love, even if it means a life without marriage at all. But Simon has fallen head over heels for Lucy, and comes back for her.
Meanwhile, he is still out for to avenge the death of his brother by the men he has been systematically dueling and killing.
Interestingly, I liked that Simon is in love with Lucy by the time he returns to London, that he proposes marriage, and that he is determined for her to remain chaste until after marriage. It seemed almost quaint and practically unheard of in romance. And even as he continues with the revenge of his brother's death, we are shown more and more reasons that shore up his determination for this revenge that make it seem almost right, almost necessary. But the killing is taking a toll on Simon's soul.
I also liked the Serpent fairy tale that is woven through the story - this time told by Simon to Lucy as a story he learned growing up - and how it intertwined with their story.
The story did what I like: it made me feel the emotions felt by the characters - their growing affection for one another, their joy at getting married, Simon's grief at losing Lucy, Lucy's anguish over Simon's inability to share what he was going through with her, and her reluctance to leave. All that. That's what makes it a 5 star read for me, and apparently for a lot of readers since it's an AAR Top 100 read as well.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
The Leopard Prince by Elizabeth Hoyt ***
This is the 2nd in the series, the first of which was The Raven Prince and the last The Serpent Prince.
Now - only Raven and Serpent made it to the AAR Top 100 and I'm in accord with that. I just didn't think Leopard was anywhere near as good as Raven.
The heroine is Georgina - but everyone calls her George. She's an Earl's sister, and she inherited a large estate from an aunt. She hired Harry Pye, the hero, to be the estate manager. Harry's a buddy of Edward from Raven - they are in the Agrarian Society together.
Right off the bat I'm getting confused by the heroine being called George.
Harry is a native of the region where the estate is located - in fact, his father was gamekeeper of the local magistrate and villain, Granville. Granville is buh buh buh bad to the bone. He's a womanizer, maybe even a rapist, and he hates his older son. He raised a younger son (Bennet) born to Harry's mother. In fact, it's even possible Harry is also his biological son. When Harry was 12, Granville horsewhipped Harry and his father, and Harry lost a finger to this treatment. So that sets up the bad feelings twixt Granville and Harry.
Now, there's sheep dying from poisoning and everyone blames Harry because... well, someone found a tiny carving near a dead sheep, and Harry carves tiny beasts. Not that that is actually evidence, but everyone starts gossiping about it anyway.
Then there's George's 15-year-old sister Violet - she thinks Harry did it. She also is in hiding from a man 10 years her elder who seduced her and is trying to blackmail her into marrying him cuz she's rich and he's in debt. This entire story line never did mesh into the main story line so I kept wondering what the point of it was... OK, so Harry ran into the guy once, but it didn't have anything to do with anything. Since Violet thinks Harry did it, why does she send George a hysterical note to tell her Granville had Harry arrested? I dunno. Didn't make any sense to me.
This story didn't flow nearly as easily as Raven did for me - I just did not make the leaps with the author this time. I never really felt that George had any feelings for Harry - she just kept showing up in his cottage but I never felt she was actually falling in love. It was more like she was just toying with him. He was not in her class, after all, which she made more than clear.
After I did think they had declared for each other and everything was ok, Harry is called away to a catastrophic and fatal fire - and he has to convince her not to come help. Somehow - this was really stupid in my opinion - she decides he is actually saying he doesn't want her in his life, which gives the author a chance to throw another obstacle in their path. As if they didn't already have to leap over tall buildings, now she has George run away from Harry and try to marry someone else. How she turned his telling her to stay away and not put herself in danger at the fire into a declaration that their relationship was over, I have no clue. None. And by this point, I was already not that engaged in the story, so I wanted to reach in and slap the twit.
Of course, it's romance, so it's not a spoiler to say he keeps her from marrying the other fellow - but the scene at the church was as out of left field as all the other scenes and story lines in the book as far as I was concerned. Let's see, we had poisoned sheep, a womanizing villain, a murdered woman, an extra kid, an Earl's sister boinking the hired help... and a lot of it got left unresolved - was Bennet now the Granville heir, or were they going to try to make Harry the Granville heir? Was anyone going to take care of Will (the extra kid) or what? Was Violet interested in Bennet?
Sorry, but it just didn't give me the warm fuzzies that I like to feel at the end of a good book. Mostly I was glad it was over and I didn't have to try to follow all the divergent threads anymore. So I'm going with ... well, if I gave fractions, it would be about 2.75, so I'll round up and go with 3 stars.
Now - only Raven and Serpent made it to the AAR Top 100 and I'm in accord with that. I just didn't think Leopard was anywhere near as good as Raven.
The heroine is Georgina - but everyone calls her George. She's an Earl's sister, and she inherited a large estate from an aunt. She hired Harry Pye, the hero, to be the estate manager. Harry's a buddy of Edward from Raven - they are in the Agrarian Society together.
Right off the bat I'm getting confused by the heroine being called George.
Harry is a native of the region where the estate is located - in fact, his father was gamekeeper of the local magistrate and villain, Granville. Granville is buh buh buh bad to the bone. He's a womanizer, maybe even a rapist, and he hates his older son. He raised a younger son (Bennet) born to Harry's mother. In fact, it's even possible Harry is also his biological son. When Harry was 12, Granville horsewhipped Harry and his father, and Harry lost a finger to this treatment. So that sets up the bad feelings twixt Granville and Harry.
Now, there's sheep dying from poisoning and everyone blames Harry because... well, someone found a tiny carving near a dead sheep, and Harry carves tiny beasts. Not that that is actually evidence, but everyone starts gossiping about it anyway.
Then there's George's 15-year-old sister Violet - she thinks Harry did it. She also is in hiding from a man 10 years her elder who seduced her and is trying to blackmail her into marrying him cuz she's rich and he's in debt. This entire story line never did mesh into the main story line so I kept wondering what the point of it was... OK, so Harry ran into the guy once, but it didn't have anything to do with anything. Since Violet thinks Harry did it, why does she send George a hysterical note to tell her Granville had Harry arrested? I dunno. Didn't make any sense to me.
This story didn't flow nearly as easily as Raven did for me - I just did not make the leaps with the author this time. I never really felt that George had any feelings for Harry - she just kept showing up in his cottage but I never felt she was actually falling in love. It was more like she was just toying with him. He was not in her class, after all, which she made more than clear.
After I did think they had declared for each other and everything was ok, Harry is called away to a catastrophic and fatal fire - and he has to convince her not to come help. Somehow - this was really stupid in my opinion - she decides he is actually saying he doesn't want her in his life, which gives the author a chance to throw another obstacle in their path. As if they didn't already have to leap over tall buildings, now she has George run away from Harry and try to marry someone else. How she turned his telling her to stay away and not put herself in danger at the fire into a declaration that their relationship was over, I have no clue. None. And by this point, I was already not that engaged in the story, so I wanted to reach in and slap the twit.
Of course, it's romance, so it's not a spoiler to say he keeps her from marrying the other fellow - but the scene at the church was as out of left field as all the other scenes and story lines in the book as far as I was concerned. Let's see, we had poisoned sheep, a womanizing villain, a murdered woman, an extra kid, an Earl's sister boinking the hired help... and a lot of it got left unresolved - was Bennet now the Granville heir, or were they going to try to make Harry the Granville heir? Was anyone going to take care of Will (the extra kid) or what? Was Violet interested in Bennet?
Sorry, but it just didn't give me the warm fuzzies that I like to feel at the end of a good book. Mostly I was glad it was over and I didn't have to try to follow all the divergent threads anymore. So I'm going with ... well, if I gave fractions, it would be about 2.75, so I'll round up and go with 3 stars.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
The Raven Prince by Elizabeth Hoyt *****
Funny how the ending of a book can change your mind about ratings... I was a little put off in the near beginning, and thinking it was stretching my limits of credibility, then I just slid off the cliff into the story itself, and have just finished it, silly grin on my face.
What a superb hero was our Edward! He was gruff, and surly, and bad tempered and - frankly, soft as a marshmallow. And so much in love with the heroine Anna!!! Sigh...
Anywayssss, on to the review. I loved Edward! Oh wait, that's not a review!
OK - Anna is a widow in a country town, living with her mother-in-law and a young woman they are trying to train (unsuccessfully) to be a maid. She is about out of money, and goes looking for a job.
Edward is a widower whose wife died in childbirth - and an Earl of Swartingham - in need of 2 things: (1) a secretary and (2) a wife. The #1 need is the secretary because Edward has a lot of correspondence and a manuscript to transcribe, so he sends a servant to town to locate one. This is 1760, mind you, and a secretary would be male. His servant runs into Anna (literally) and she learns his mission and offers to do the job. Meanwhile, Edward heads to London to make arrangements to marry some virginal miss.
Edward is a rather forbidding fellow, with small pox scars on his face and body. His first wife found him rather ugly, a fact which hurt him at the time, and now he's a little, well, distant as a result. See, he was the only survivor of an epidemic of small pox during his teen years - he lost his parents and all his siblings. Over time, he has covered his pain of these losses and the reality of his appearance with this gruff, loud, scowling persona - one that Anna sees through rather quickly.
He also has a wonderful mongrel/mastiff dog that Anna takes to as quickly as she takes to Edward.
Anna realizes there is an attraction between them, but knows as well as Edward it can never be - for one thing, she is apparently barren, and Edward wants children. For another, there's a disparity between their stations in life. Edward decides to take out his sexual frustration with a visit to a well-known London brothel which, get this, sends their patrons bills. Being his secretary, Anna learns about this place and hatches a crazy plan.
It was the crazy plan that had me thinking, ???? and wondering how I felt about the book. However, the book, in addition to being fiction after all, has a running fairy tale at the beginning of each chapter, about The Raven Prince, a fellow who is cursed to be a Raven by day but a beautiful man at night. The "fairy-tale-ness" of it saved it for me! In addition to the excerpts in each chapter, the book itself is a player in the story as Anna discovers the book in Edward's library and attempts to read it. First Edward takes it back from her, but later he uses it to lure her to him.
OK Crazy Plan Spoiler Alert - Anna learns that sometimes even virtuous (appearing) women go to this brothel in disguise and take lovers, so she high tails it to London on Edward's heels, and gets a room and asks the Madam to send Edward to her while she wears a mask (and little else). And then the sparks fly.
After 2 nights of this joyous sexual abandon for both of them, she rushes back to their country village and tries to go on as if nothing has happened. Eventually, through some rather obscure clues, Edward realizes it was she who had made love with him in London, and determines they must marry. At first, he decides they must marry because he has compromised her. She leaves his employ, and then he realizes the hole she has left in his heart, and goes about - in his own gruff and scowling way - wooing her into his own heart. Not that it would take much, since she is smitten, but she holds out because she cannot give him children.
There are a couple of subplots with some intrigue and blackmailing going on - but the bottom line is, these 2 needed each other to heal their hearts. He is afraid to find out why she left him - does she hate his scars? Or just not love him? And she is afraid she cannot be the wife he needs. Oh it's so touching!
The characters were so much fun - even the villains were kind of silly and not at all scary. Davis, the valet, was a real hoot, and Jock the dog is now one of my favorite fictional dogs. I read a review somewhere that summed up the fairy tale story that ran in each chapter as some combination of Greek myths and something else. I guess my mythology education is sorely lacking - I didn't recognize the story for anything but a wonderful fairy tale that had as happy an ending as the The Raven Prince novel itself.
This is an AAR Top 100 pick, as is one of the others in the series, so I can check it off - I also listed it as my fairytale pick in the Fall 2008 reading challenge. Now on to The Leopard Prince and then The Serpent Prince and maybe even a full glom of this author! 5 stars.
What a superb hero was our Edward! He was gruff, and surly, and bad tempered and - frankly, soft as a marshmallow. And so much in love with the heroine Anna!!! Sigh...
Anywayssss, on to the review. I loved Edward! Oh wait, that's not a review!
OK - Anna is a widow in a country town, living with her mother-in-law and a young woman they are trying to train (unsuccessfully) to be a maid. She is about out of money, and goes looking for a job.
Edward is a widower whose wife died in childbirth - and an Earl of Swartingham - in need of 2 things: (1) a secretary and (2) a wife. The #1 need is the secretary because Edward has a lot of correspondence and a manuscript to transcribe, so he sends a servant to town to locate one. This is 1760, mind you, and a secretary would be male. His servant runs into Anna (literally) and she learns his mission and offers to do the job. Meanwhile, Edward heads to London to make arrangements to marry some virginal miss.
Edward is a rather forbidding fellow, with small pox scars on his face and body. His first wife found him rather ugly, a fact which hurt him at the time, and now he's a little, well, distant as a result. See, he was the only survivor of an epidemic of small pox during his teen years - he lost his parents and all his siblings. Over time, he has covered his pain of these losses and the reality of his appearance with this gruff, loud, scowling persona - one that Anna sees through rather quickly.
He also has a wonderful mongrel/mastiff dog that Anna takes to as quickly as she takes to Edward.
Anna realizes there is an attraction between them, but knows as well as Edward it can never be - for one thing, she is apparently barren, and Edward wants children. For another, there's a disparity between their stations in life. Edward decides to take out his sexual frustration with a visit to a well-known London brothel which, get this, sends their patrons bills. Being his secretary, Anna learns about this place and hatches a crazy plan.
It was the crazy plan that had me thinking, ???? and wondering how I felt about the book. However, the book, in addition to being fiction after all, has a running fairy tale at the beginning of each chapter, about The Raven Prince, a fellow who is cursed to be a Raven by day but a beautiful man at night. The "fairy-tale-ness" of it saved it for me! In addition to the excerpts in each chapter, the book itself is a player in the story as Anna discovers the book in Edward's library and attempts to read it. First Edward takes it back from her, but later he uses it to lure her to him.
OK Crazy Plan Spoiler Alert - Anna learns that sometimes even virtuous (appearing) women go to this brothel in disguise and take lovers, so she high tails it to London on Edward's heels, and gets a room and asks the Madam to send Edward to her while she wears a mask (and little else). And then the sparks fly.
After 2 nights of this joyous sexual abandon for both of them, she rushes back to their country village and tries to go on as if nothing has happened. Eventually, through some rather obscure clues, Edward realizes it was she who had made love with him in London, and determines they must marry. At first, he decides they must marry because he has compromised her. She leaves his employ, and then he realizes the hole she has left in his heart, and goes about - in his own gruff and scowling way - wooing her into his own heart. Not that it would take much, since she is smitten, but she holds out because she cannot give him children.
There are a couple of subplots with some intrigue and blackmailing going on - but the bottom line is, these 2 needed each other to heal their hearts. He is afraid to find out why she left him - does she hate his scars? Or just not love him? And she is afraid she cannot be the wife he needs. Oh it's so touching!
The characters were so much fun - even the villains were kind of silly and not at all scary. Davis, the valet, was a real hoot, and Jock the dog is now one of my favorite fictional dogs. I read a review somewhere that summed up the fairy tale story that ran in each chapter as some combination of Greek myths and something else. I guess my mythology education is sorely lacking - I didn't recognize the story for anything but a wonderful fairy tale that had as happy an ending as the The Raven Prince novel itself.
This is an AAR Top 100 pick, as is one of the others in the series, so I can check it off - I also listed it as my fairytale pick in the Fall 2008 reading challenge. Now on to The Leopard Prince and then The Serpent Prince and maybe even a full glom of this author! 5 stars.
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