Sarah

One of the most charming, insightful coming-of-age novels ever written

Revisado: 12-01-24

What an absolute treat it was to listen to this heart-wrenchingly beautiful novel. I’d read it years ago when I was not very much older than Cassandra. I remember adoring the book then, but now, some thirty years on, it means so much more. The sweetly hopeful ambiguity of the ending is almost gutting, in a way, because we (the readers) know what’s going to happen in just a few short years (the war). Even as Cassandra is stepping from the decaying eccentricity of the castle into the dazzling world of London society, history is laying the foundation for its destruction. I don’t want to give away plot spoilers, but trust me - this is a great book.

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Another winning installment of a fabulous series

Revisado: 05-29-24

It was simply wonderful to reconnect with the old gang at the Grand Palace on the Thames. Two new faces star in this book amidst the titular season of scandal. As always, Ms. Long’s writing is both clever and heartfelt —and gets you right in the feels. Every sentence demonstrates a gentle, world-wise maturity that is sorely lacking in most other popular HR novels these days. Narrator Justine Eyre is excellent, as always.

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Whoa, this one needs content warnings (spoilers)

Revisado: 03-02-22

If, like me, you choose to immerse yourself in the delightful Victorian worlds of Lisa Kleypas as read by the incomparable Rosalyn Landor in order to escape the brutality of the real world, you might want to give this one a miss. I can handle a dark romance, but I’m only about three hours into this one and already I’ve had to strategically fast forward multiple times to avoid hearing some truly disturbing content. Be forewarned - this book contains graphic descriptions of torture, harrowing passages detailing animal abuse, oh, and I haven’t even mentioned our hero, Nicholas, yet. Nicholas is…I don’t even know where to start. He’s a cruel Russian prince-exile who has been obsessed with the heroine, Emma, since meeting her *at the age of twelve*. If you’ve read the first book in this series, you’ll already know that Nicholas hunted down Emma’s stepmother, Tasia, across Europe to drag her back to Russia for execution, after Tasia was framed for the murder of Nicholas’s even crueler and more disturbed brother. Arriving in England at death’s door, Nicholas meets the tween Emma and (I suppose) immediately begins plotting how he will ruin her life to satisfy his disturbing obsession. Sheesh. I’ll finish this book, but then I’m running straight back into the arms of the Ravenels (another excellent Kleypas series) for a palate cleanser. Five stars for Ms. Landor’s exquisite narration and, as always, Kleypas’s writing is excellent (this is one of her earliest books, I believe), but the story itself is a bit too much for this gentle listener.

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esto le resultó útil a 8 personas

Dated but still enjoyable romance

Revisado: 11-28-19

You really can’t go wrong with Mary Jo Putney. This is a sequel of sorts to the excellent Shattered Rainbows - the heroine, Alex, is Amy, Katherine’s daughter, all grown up. And that leads me to my biggest complaint about the story...whyyyyyy did her name have to be changed? I get it, “Amy” doesn’t have quite as much swashbuckling appeal as “Alex”, but come on. I do have a thing about stupid character names in historicals, so I’m probably just weird and this won’t bother anyone else. Anyhow! It is not essential to have read Shattered Rainbows, or any of the rest of the Fallen Angel series, but you’ll get more out of the second half of this book if you have. I’m a sucker for character follow up, though.

Do be warned that, while this is not nearly as bad as The China Bride for ignorant racist content, there are lots of cringeworthy depictions of Indonesia and Indonesians. Did I say cringeworthy? I mean straight up gross and offensive. It’s such a shame because there is a good story here about the heroine’s recovery from trauma (including rape). The made up Indonesian country has some odd traditions that, ah, play nicely into some tired old historical romance tropes. There’s more wing chun (see The China Bride) etc.

The hero, Gavin, is amazingly progressive for a man of his time. Lucky Alex/Amy! It’s sweet to watch their love for each other slowly develop. The story is broken into two parts. Alex/Amy is captured on the high seas and sold into slavery as the book begins. The first half of the book is Alex/Amy’s captivity and rescue by the hero, and then the second half is their return to England and reassimilation into Society with a capital S. Then there’s a total WTF plot line involving a second captivity for the unfortunate Alex/Amy.

Narration is excellent. I don’t normally like male narrators for my romances but this one is good.

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Vintage bodice ripper spoilt by poor narration

Revisado: 11-28-19

Sadly the narration of this classic is...not great. She sounds like a bored student haltingly reading out loud in school, which makes the characters sound flat and mechanical, at best. She does attempt a few regional accents here and there, but generally makes little effort to distinguish among the characters’ voices.

Now, as for the story, a modern PC historical romance this is not, so be sure to shed any such expectations going in. In my opinion, however, this only makes it more ridiculously delicious. The heroine is a tiny teenaged red haired spitfire, the hero a jaded French sea captain/privateer in his 30s. He’s a jerk, she’s indignant, rinse and repeat. He cheats, abandons her, blames the loss of her virginity on her even though she was drunk on grog at the time, plays bizarre and ridiculous tricks on her...I could go on and on but I won’t spoil it. My understanding is that this audio version and a recent ebook release have actually been Bowdlerized to accommodate modern sensibilities - heaven forfend! I’d love to read it as originally published. They just don’t write ‘em like that nowadays, which can be...boring. Of course, since it’s a historical romance, there’s a happily ever after.

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