February 9th, 2010 — 4.5 Stars, Book Review, Children, Great Britain, Historical Romance, Kings, Princes, Sheiks, Chiefs, Lisa Kleypas, Queen or Princess, Russia, Scarred Hero, Time Travel
This love story is one of the most endearing I have ever read. Lisa Kleypas spins a tale worthy of mystical magical world of fairy tales. Based on Russian superstition, a prince who is like the Beast in Beauty and the Beast meets the woman of his dreams and learns to love. The bedroom scenes are exciting and steamy. Prince of Dreams is a novel not to be missed.
Despite his wealth, Prince Nikolas did not lead a charmed life. Taught early on the abuses man could inflict, Nikolas is determined to avoid emotions at all costs. Tortured and exiled from Russia, Nikolas makes a new home in England where during his recovery he meets Emma Stokehurst. At the tender age of thirteen, Emma is the girl Nikolas is certain he will wed. She is his destiny.
Nikolas remains on the fringes of Emma’s life as she grows and now at the age of twenty, he is more certain than ever that she is the one for him. Emma is tall and lithe, her body he imagines will match his own to perfection. Her red hair, independence, and forthright attitude remind him of the women back in Russia. Though she has a large dowry, Emma is left alone and dismissed by the male of the species. Everything about her is unfashionable in the eyes of polite society.
When he discovers that a man is wooing her under false pretenses, Nikolas strikes swift and sure, cutting her secret beau out of her life with a single conversation. Everything is working according to his plan as Nikolas seduces and marries the bewitching Emma. Now with her by his side as his wife, he is positive that his life is going to turn for the better. He was wrong.
Emma’s gentle nature and guileless giving is more threatening than the memories of those that tortured him in Russia. She can cause more havoc with a single kiss than Nikolas is comfortable with. His life has been dedicated to suppressing his emotions and the feelings Emma brings out are threatening to destroy all that he’s worked for, so Nikolas does the most hateful thing he can think of… he sleeps with another woman.
But despite the wedge he’s driven between them, the bewildering flashes of déjà vu keep happening to him. Snippets of conversation leave him in a cold sweat and a painting once revealed causes him to faint dead away. When Nikolas awakes he is angry and confused. Destiny has taken him back in time to mother Russia, where he lives life through the eyes of his ancestor Prince Nikolai. It is here in the midst of the past, Nikolas learns to become a better man… Emelia, beautiful Emelia, who is in every way his wife Emma, teaches Nikolas how to love. Disaster tears them apart and sends Nikolas to the future.
Realizing what a mess he’s made of his own life, Nikolas is determined to set things right. But Emma won’t have him. She doesn’t trust in the changes Nikolas has under gone. She won’t love him… won’t let herself love him. This new man who is in every way the man she had hoped he would be can't last, because she knows his nature. As soon as she loved him he’d revert and mock her for her love. After all Nikolas is not a man that can change, he is a product of others hatred and fear, whose innate stubbornness rejects all kinds of affection. But he has changed and he will prove it. If it’s the last thing he does, he’ll make her believe in him; love him as she once did in the past.
Rating: 4.5 Stars
Buy: Prince of Dreams
Originally posted 2008-12-07 19:34:48. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
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December 3rd, 2009 — 5 Stars, Book Review, Clumsy Heroine, Great Britain, Historical Romance, Poor Eyesight, S-U, Scarred Hero, Spectacles
I just finished rereading Love is Blind by Lynsay Sands today. It combines two of my favorite things to read in a romance novel. The hero is scarred and she is practically blind. Plus the sex is steamy. What more could one want?
Adrian Montfort, Earl of Mowbray, was scarred in battle against Napoleon. Raw and vivid, the scar proved indecent to display in polite society. Women swooned on sight! The women who did not cringe away in terror were nefarious and cruel. Before the night was over Adrian had packed and fled to his family’s seat in the country.
It is ten years later, after his father died, that his mother convinced him to return to London in search of a bride. Long suffering, Adrian complies and goes to London for the season. At the first ball, he explains to his cousin, Reginald, that the women are all the same, just younger, and proves it by referencing each maiden to one from the past.
Suddenly Reginald smiles and points to Lady Clarissa Cambray and dares Adrian to classify the chit as another girl from the past. She is clumsy, a terror to dance with, and vain, refusing to wear spectacles to help her see. Upset teacups, burned piffles, and alighting wigs on fire are her repertoire. Intrigued, Adrian finds himself drawn to her.
They hit it off right away with Clarissa’s frankness and cheerful retellings of all her woes since coming to London. But best of all in Adrian’s mind is that she can not see him! No awful cringing, fainting, or ugly whispers to contend with, but he can’t leave her blind forever. A few days longer wouldn’t hurt, though, right? He just needed a little longer to make sure she loved him back.
One of the most memorable parts of the novel is when the stepmother tries to explain to Clarissa about the marriage bed. Lydia, the stepmother, has either not had a singular good experience with sex or used this opportunity to spread fear of the act to her stepdaughter maliciously. It dealt with a key and a lock and more specifically the lock was a cherry pie and the key was a truncheon that was slammed violently into the pie. The fallout of this explanation scares the hell out of Clarissa and she immediately becomes terrified to complete the act with Adrian. Their wedding night is hilarious... poor Adrian was most confused.
Rating: 5 Stars
Happy readings!
Originally posted 2008-11-21 05:24:35. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
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November 20th, 2009 — Dukes and Earls, Eliza Doolittle, Guest Blogger, Heiress, J-L, Victorian, Western
by Kathryne Kennedy, guest blogger and author of My Unfair Lady
It’s a pleasure to be here today on Love Romance Passion! Thanks so much for having me. Since my upcoming book was inspired by Shaw’s Pygmalion (and the movie, My Fair Lady), I’ve decided to compare my heroine, Summer Wine Lee, to Eliza Doolittle.
First, a little bit about My Unfair Lady. Raised in a Wild West mining town, Summer knows she’s an unacceptable bride for her fiancé’s knickerbocker family. So she goes to London to hire a sponsor to turn her into a lady. The Duke of Monchester reluctantly takes on the task, and Summer’s penchant for carrying a knife in her boot, picking up stray animals, and not knowing the least thing about acceptable polite society, makes his job difficult. When the duke starts to fall in love with her just the way she is, it becomes nearly impossible. But they are both determined—even when things get more complicated when it becomes clear that someone is trying to kill the duke.
There are a few similarities between Summer and Eliza. They are both products of their environment, their speech and mannerisms determined by where they were raised. Eliza in the East end of London, with her cockney speech and crude behavior. Summer in the untamed west, with her uncultured speech and masculine pursuits. They both have indifferent fathers, men who are more concerned with their own happiness and pursuits than they are with their daughters’. But in Summer’s case, she wants to become a lady, and Eliza was pretty much bullied into it. Summer couldn’t be bullied into anything. But I think this aspect of their character is also a product of their environment. Eliza is a product of the Victorian attitude that men are superior persons. That their needs are more important than a woman’s. Whereas, Summer pretty much raised herself. She made her own rules, and although her father’s opinion is important to her—perhaps too much so—in her every day life she’s used to making up and following her own rules. Because of this, I have a tendency to think of Summer as more similar to Annie Oakley. A girl who can compete in a man’s world. Who can ride and shoot and fight with the best of them.
Although Eliza has compassion, I think this is one of Summer’s strongest traits. Especially her compassion for injured animals. She picks up quite a menagerie, which provides for some humorous moments in My Unfair Lady, and also allows us to glimpse Summer’s fears and insecurities.
The way Summer interacts with men is different from the way Eliza does, as well. Summer trusts her instincts, knows a good man when she sees one, despite what persona he chooses to reveal to the rest of the world, and acts accordingly. She doesn’t fear men, doesn’t see them in the role as her protector, or her superior. She considers herself an equal and treats them accordingly. I think this allows her to see beyond the surface of a man, and in many ways, get closer to him on a more equal footing. Eliza never views herself as an equal to Henry Higgins, even after she is successfully transformed into a lady. Perhaps this is why there is no happily-ever-after for the two of them. And why the author left it open as to whether she goes off with Freddie, or stays with Higgins.
This is why I love writing romance.
In My Fair Lady, Eliza does come to respect and stand up for herself. Summer has always done so. But in many ways, I think Eliza is more accepting of her true nature. Summer has a long journey before she even begins to understand herself. And her hero is going to help her toward that realization, not bully her into it.
I hope you enjoy the journey that Summer must make in order to finally become the person she truly wants to be. I’ll be checking back in throughout the day for comments, so please take a moment to say hello.
Wishing you happy reading,
Kathryne
My Unfair Lady by Kathryne Kennedy—in stores December 2009!
He created the perfect woman…
The impoverished Duke of Monchester despises the rich Americans who flock to London, seeking to buy their way into the ranks of the British peerage. So when railroad heiress Summer Wine Lee offers him a king’s ransom if he’ll teach her to become a proper lady, he’s prepared to rebuff her. But when he meets the petite beauty with the knife in her boot, it’s not her fortune he finds impossible to resist…
For the arms of another man
Frontier-bred Summer Wine Lee has no interest in winning over London society—it’s the New York bluebloods and her future mother-in-law she’s determined to impress. She knows the cost of smoothing her rough-and-tumble frontier edges will be high. But she never imagined it might cost her heart…
Buy: My Unfair Lady
About the Author
Kathryne Kennedy is the author of the Relics of Merlin series, acclaimed for her world-building and best known for her historical paranormal romances. She has also written a fantasy romance and this Victorian historical romance. She has also published nearly a dozen short stories in the SFF/Romance genre, receiving Honorable Mention twice in the “Writers of the Future” contest. She has traveled a great deal and has lived in Guam, Okinawa, and several states in the U.S. She is a business owner and currently lives in Arizona with her husband and two sons. For more information, please visit http://www.kathrynekennedy.com/
Giveaway: 1 copy of My Unfair Lady for 1 random commenter. Open to US and Canada readers only. To enter please share why you love the Eliza Doolittle plot, why you love when American heiresses and English lords fall in love, and/or what most excites you about this novel. Multiple comments allowed! Ends November 27th, 2009. Good luck!
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October 20th, 2009 — 4.5 Stars, A-C, Barons and Baronets, Guest Reviews, Regency, Rogues and Rakehells
By: Marcia, guest reviewer
Most Regency Romances portray life in this period as opulent and sensual. And it was, but it was also very hard. Wealthy children were valued not so much as individuals but for what they could contribute to the family in the way of money or power. Each member of the family was bound by duty to do their part, but could not hold a paying job or engage in industry or business. They were not encouraged to marry for love. In fact, most people of this class did not think such a thing was possible. Debt was a worry for all classes of people. There was no welfare system and many people died of starvation and exposure. Even those from good families could suffer the effects of malnutrition since keeping up appearances was more important was maintaining one's health. Women and children were legal chattel (personal property) and did not have the right to self-determination or to manage their own money or affairs. With money and power a man could easily get away with murdering members of his family; abuse and neglect were not crimes.
Today we think of the Caribbean as a luxurious place to vacation with warm tropical breezes and beautiful scenery. During the 19th century the Caribbean was a backwater place without culture or conveniences of any kind. There was no air-conditioning, running water, window screens, paved roads or hurricane warning system. Insects thrived in the swamps and hot, humid weather. Many of the resident landowners had been exiled from polite society. The slave population far outnumbered white landowners. The slaves were angry, desperate people with nothing to lose and access to fire and machetes. Slave uprisings were not uncommon and greatly feared. As a result, the methods used to keep the slave population cowed and in check are too horrible to mention. A hard life makes people hard.
Mademoiselle Camille Marchand has come to London with her natural father, Comte de Valigny, a devious and dissolute man intent on using Camille for his own ends. Camille has her own plans. She has learned to trust no one and is intent on not making the same mistakes as her mother, who was foolish enough sacrifice all for love. Camille has recently learned that her maternal grandfather has left her an inheritance with the caveat that she marries an English nobleman before the age twenty-eight and give birth to a child within two years. Camille's twenty-eighth birthday is in six weeks. Her parents' reputations are so bad that she has no hope of finding an honorable husband so in desperation she has agreed to allow her father to offer her in a card game. A small group of men have gathered at Valigny's home. It is very late and the men are drunk. Valigny has lost a great deal of money. For his final bid he offers Camille, providing the winner marries her and splits her dowry of 50,000 pounds with him. Her beauty mesmerizes the men at the table including Lord Enders, whose depraved proclivities are well known and Kieran, Baron Rothewell.
Kieran and his brother and sister were orphaned and a young age and sent to live with their paternal uncle in Barbados. The uncle, exiled for killing a footman, is a violent drunk who abuses the children. Kieran tormented by his past and slowly killing himself with hard living, is suffering from alarming symptoms that suggest that his death will be sooner rather than later. Despite that fact that he has no use for a wife, Kieran cannot stomach the idea of Enders winning Camille and he cheats to win the hand. Kieran and Camille agree that theirs will be a marriage of convenience but, of course, that is not to be.
This novel is written in beautiful, sumptuous prose with realistically structured scenes that showcase the torment and vulnerabilities of the characters. The bedroom scenes are elegantly erotic. Ms. Carlyle skillfully immerses us in the intense emotional struggle of Camille and Kieran to relinquish their fear of intimacy and trust themselves and each other enough to fall in love. Never Romance a Rake is a stupendous finale to the Rothewell trilogy.
4 ½ Stars
Buy: Never Romance a Rake
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Originally posted 2008-10-14 05:02:19. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
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March 22nd, 2009 — 3 Stars, Book Review, Great Britain, Historical Romance, J-L
Lady Phoebe Fairchild is in a pickle. Mrs. Ramsey is blackmailing her. The awful woman has guessed her biggest secret-- that she is Madame Dupree, the French modiste, whose fashion creations are the talk of the ton. In exchange for not exposing her secret and ruining her reputation Phoebe must go to Wentworth Hall. Immediately.
The fantastical experience she had imagined for herself was not living up to the reality. Ladies Alice and Jane are the most ill behaved women of quality Phoebe has ever met. They constantly bickered and goaded one another. Neither one of them listened to her and treated her as the very lowest of servants.
William Darby, was the one bright spot. Lord Summerfield intrigued her. This man who had traveled the world, bore a tattoo from India, and could tame wild horses thrilled her beyond imaginings. Here was a man that evoked fever in her blood, the very fever her mother had talked about, but Phoebe feared would never find her. The more she came to know him, the harder it was to tell the truth. Why he had said lies and those who purposefully deceived were the only things he could not abide or tolerate! She could not bear it if he hated her.
Will hated being home. If it was not one thing with his family, it was another; Alice fantasized herself in love with a smithy, his brother thieved and whored about, and his father was mute and parallelized from a seizure. He knew he had come home too late and despite the chafing of the polite society, Will was determined to do his father proud and uphold the family honor. He would do his duties as heir and older brother to the best of his abilities. That unfortunately included finding a bride.
The bummer crop of women that paraded by him day and night, he found not one woman that stirred his passion. Madame Phoebe Dupree, the seamstress he had hired on to outfit his sisters stirred his blood in a way no woman abroad or at home had ever done. He found utterly enchanting. His thought constantly pulled in her direction. The troubles of his family could not distract him for long, not even Joshua’s insolent ways and fierce determination to ruin the family name.
But how could he marry Phoebe, even if he loved her, when Caroline Fitzherbert was more the wife that he needed? It would all be so different if Phoebe were of quality. Why if she were, all of his problems would be solved.
In the end I found The Dangers of Deceiving a Viscount by Julia London was a sweet and engaging romance story. I found the love scenes lacking however. They were too short and not overly descriptive. Not the worse I’ve encountered by far, but in the middle of such a tender story it’s a little too lukewarm for the passion I was expecting… craving.
Rating: 3 Stars
Originally posted 2008-11-22 18:18:24. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
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