Month: September 2018

A Notorious Vow by Joanna Shupe

On By TracyIn America's Gilded Age (1870-1900), American Historical, Tracy's Reviews1 Comment

A Notorious Vow (The Four Hundred, #3)A Notorious Vow by Joanna Shupe

Tracy’s rating: 4/4.5 of 5 stars

Series: The Four Hundred, #3

Release Date: September 25, 2018

I thought this was a solid 4 star read, maybe even 4.5 stars…

Lady Christina Barclay is in in New York City with her parents, who have left England under a cloud of scandal and unpaid debts. Her parents want to marry her off to a rich man as soon as possible and have gotten an “in” to NY society via her mother’s cousin. Christina is meek and painfully shy, she hates crowds and escapes to the solitude of her cousin’s reclusive neighbor’s garden whenever she gets a chance. On this day, she is taken by surprise by a very large dog, the dog knocks her down and she is knocked out and ultimately rescued by the reclusive neighbor, Oliver Hawkes.

Oliver Hawkes never intended to be a recluse, but after losing his hearing at 13 and trying to fit into society, he decided he would rather not subject himself to cruel, ignorant people and has made a life for himself alone, he is filthy rich and incredibly smart. He uses both of those resources for his experiments and inventions. He is not happy to find a trespasser in his garden, but he is honorable and takes her in and sends for a doctor. When Christina wakes, she is embarrassed and scared, when the butler, Gill explains that Oliver is deaf, but can read lips, she forces herself to look at him while thanking him. They talk, with Gill acting as a translator. Later she learns that he can speak, but he choses not to, he makes an exception for Christina and even teaches her a few words in sign language, but then he tells her she is not welcome in his garden, he wants to be left alone. She leaves.

Days later, he sees her in the garden again, he brings her inside and they talk, she again asks if she can walk in the gardens and this time, he agrees. She watches him work and he teaches her a few more words before she leaves. She really likes Oliver and feels comfortable with him, but he has made it clear, he wants to be alone.

When her parents try to marry her off to a vile old man, Mr. Van Peet, she runs to Oliver for advice. Her parents are truly awful people, her father is self absorbed and her mother is emotionally and verbally abusive. They don’t care what Christina wants, they need money and she is just a means to an end for them. When Van Peet does something that terrifies Christina, she again runs to Oliver, knowing her parents would do nothing to help her. Oliver is appalled and agrees to help her run away. But before they can form a plan, her parents burst in and insist that Oliver marry her. He refuses at first, but then changes his mind and insist they marry immediately. What he doesn’t tell Christina is that it will be a temporary marriage in name only.

At least that was Oliver’s plan, but as the days pass and he gets to know her, he begins to think that maybe they could have a real marriage. But there are those who will do anything to keep them apart and when his greedy cousin Milton has him declared insane, Christina will have to put all her fears aside to save the man she loves.

I really enjoyed this story and found it a refreshing change from the more traditional historical romances I generally read. It was well written, steamy, fast paced and interesting. There are cameos from Nora, Julius and the rakish lawyer Frank Tripp and well as some wonderful secondary characters and some really nasty villains. I would have given the book 5 stars, I could understand why Christina was timid, but I never really understood why she had so many fears and why she was so shy. I also never learned what the scandal that drove them from London was or why everyone kept saying how strong she was, because she ran away and cried a lot, she wouldn’t stand up for herself and even at the end needed to be almost forced to speak on Oliver’s behalf in public. These things along with some timeline errors kept this from being a 5 star read for me, but I would absolutely read the book again and would happily recommend it. It is the third book in the series, but it can definitely be read as a stand alone title.

*I am voluntarily leaving a review of an uncorrected eARC that was provided to me by Edelweiss and the publisher.*

The Lady is Daring by Megan Frampton

On By BarbaraIn Barb's Reviews, Victorian Era (1837-1901)6 Comments

The Lady is Daring (Duke's Daughters, #3)The Lady is Daring by Megan Frampton

Barbara’s rating: 3 of 5 stars

Series: Duke’s Daughters #3
Publication Date: 9/25/18

Megan Frampton is normally one of my favorite reads. I enjoyed this story, but it was mostly because of the humor of the ‘classification game’, etc. Otherwise, I thought it was a bit slow and I never came to feel involved with the heroine because I didn’t like her or relate to her. I liked the hero much better, but I found him to be more milquetoast than hero. I think the author was trying very hard to put modern standards in period dress without seeming to do so. My rating is a 3.5, but I have had a hard time deciding whether to round down to 3 or up to 4, so I guess I’ll decide once I have the review written.

Lady Ida Howlett has inattentive, uncaring and uninvolved parents. Ida is highly intelligent and loves learning – and she has no problem sharing her knowledge ad-nauseam with others. She is the youngest of five sisters. Two sisters are happily in love and married, two live at home and one, Della, has run away and they don’t know where she is. It is Ida’s dearest wish to locate Della and bring her back to London.

Bennett is the son and heir to a marquess, but he might as well be the marquess because he is the one who takes care of everything while his father is off living the high-life and spending money right and left. Bennett is a person who takes care of others – always – and before himself. Sometimes, he’d just like to chuck all of the responsibilities and run away – maybe have an adventure.

Something Bennett NEVER does is get drunk – but, he has gotten drunk tonight and has fallen asleep in someone’s carriage. The door was open and he was sleepy so he crawled in. Now, imagine his shock to awaken and find himself in a moving carriage. He repeatedly wraps on the carriage roof and finally, the carriage comes to a stop. Shock! He is several hours outside of London and the carriage is being driven by Lady Ida who has stolen the carriage and is on her way to find her sister. Since Bennett cannot let her travel alone, they set off together on an adventure. I think the book could have profited from a bit more ‘adventure’ during this part of the story, but it was a pretty staid trip.

So, as I said, I enjoyed the humor in the story but wasn’t impressed by much more. Here are some of the things that bothered me:
(1) This one really aggravated me after a while. The constant, incessant, repeated references to how smart Ida was. It was as if nobody else in the world had a brain – only Ida.
(2) Ida’s ‘brilliant’ solution for her NOT being ruined when they returned to London. It was absolutely bonkers. She had spent a week traveling totally alone with a man who was not her husband and bringing her sister back with her was going to keep her from being ruined. What?????
(3) The relationship between Ida and Bennett was just too modern. It just wouldn’t have happened that way in that time period. If you want that, then write a more modern story rather than writing a modern story and draping it in period dress.
(4) Bennett’s role in the House of Lords was mentioned a couple of times. Well – he was an heir and would NOT have been in the House of Lords. His father would be the one in the House of Lords. Doesn’t matter who is running the Marquisate, ONLY the title holder can serve in the House of Lords.
(5) Bennett’s solution to how he was going to cut back on his duties and his reaction to his father’s objections were ridiculous. Of course, his father could take over the running of the Marquisate – he is the Marquess after all. It doesn’t matter that Bennett has been running things and signing everything – he still isn’t the Marquess.
(6) The wedding vows. I’m certainly not an expert here, but I don’t believe that, in that time period, they would have been allowed the change the vows. I believe those were dictated by the Church of England.
(7) It was hard to get a feel for a timeline since few if any, dates or periods were given in the book. Even the epilogue didn’t tell us how long after the marriage it took place. Of course, I guess that is one way to eliminate timeline errors – just don’t have one.
(8) The Epilogue. I love epilogues and think every romance should have one. However, I didn’t see any point in having this epilogue at all other than to – maybe – set up the idea that Della will be the heroine in the next book.

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“I requested and received this e-book at no cost to me and volunteered to read it; my review is my honest opinion and given without any influence by the author or publisher.”