Tag Archives: historical romance

Book Review of A Curious Beginning (Veronica Speedwell #1), by Deanna Raybourn

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A Curious BeginningI borrowed Deanna Raybourn‘s A Curious Beginning from my local library.

Description from Goodreads:
London, 1887. As the city prepares to celebrate Queen Victoria’s golden jubilee, Veronica Speedwell is marking a milestone of her own. After burying her spinster aunt, the orphaned Veronica is free to resume her world travels in pursuit of scientific inquiry—and the occasional romantic dalliance. As familiar with hunting butterflies as she is fending off admirers, Veronica wields her butterfly net and a sharpened hatpin with equal aplomb, and with her last connection to England now gone, she intends to embark upon the journey of a lifetime.

But fate has other plans, as Veronica discovers when she thwarts her own abduction with the help of an enigmatic German baron with ties to her mysterious past. Promising to reveal in time what he knows of the plot against her, the baron offers her temporary sanctuary in the care of his friend Stoker—a reclusive natural historian as intriguing as he is bad-tempered. But before the baron can deliver on his tantalizing vow to reveal the secrets he has concealed for decades, he is found murdered. Suddenly Veronica and Stoker are forced to go on the run from an elusive assailant, wary partners in search of the villainous truth.

Review:
A Curious Beginning is a bit like a non-paranormal Parasol Protectorate, except that Veronica Speedwell is no Alexia Tarabotti. I found her nowhere near as approachable. Frankly, I found Veronica emotionless and over the top in her forwardness. What’s more, I was excessively put off by how anachronistic her whole personality was. She held very modern ideals and went about behaving in a very free and modern way that I find hard to believe would even have been possible for a woman in 1887.

I appreciate that she was Sherlock Holmes smart and I did find her and the book in general amusing, but the whole thing just never really peaked for me. The entire read was just sort of a middle of the road, never bored, but never engrossed kind of middling experience. It felt like a copy of something else, I’m afraid, with some of the spark lost in the translation.

None of this was helped by the fact that book starts strong, with a break-in, adventure and murder, then the main characters run about doing little of importance for most of the book and the plot doesn’t come back around to anything pertinent until the end.

I didn’t dislike it and the writing is pretty good. I’ll likely read the next one, but I wasn’t blown away either.

Book Review of The Soldier’s Scoundrel, by Cat Sebastian

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The Soldier's scoundrelI purchased a copy of Cat Sebastian‘s The Soldier’s Scoundrel. It was the buddy read in one of my favorite online groups.

Description from Goodreads:
A scoundrel who lives in the shadows
 
Jack Turner grew up in the darkness of London’s slums, born into a life of crime and willing to do anything to keep his belly full and his siblings safe. Now he uses the tricks and schemes of the underworld to help those who need the kind of assistance only a scoundrel can provide. His distrust of the nobility runs deep and his services do not extend to the gorgeous high-born soldier who personifies everything Jack will never be.  
 
A soldier untarnished by vice 
 
After the chaos of war, Oliver Rivington craves the safe predictability of a gentleman’s life-one that doesn’t include sparring with a ne’er-do-well who flouts the law at every turn. But Jack tempts Oliver like no other man has before. Soon his yearning for the unapologetic criminal is only matched by Jack’s pleasure in watching his genteel polish crumble every time they’re together.  
 
Two men only meant for each other

Review:
Really lovely, I thought. I enjoyed the way Oliver and Jack rubbed each-other the wrong way (when they weren’t rubbing each-other the right way). I enjoyed the way Oliver was almost boyish in his straight forward, goal-oriented pursuit of Jack and the way Jack enjoyed it despite himself. I liked that Jack was a bit older than the average romance hero and I liked the close friendships between the sister and her ‘companion.’

I did think the book a little too long, or at least longer than what seems to be the average for such books. The mystery especially seemed to take forever to come to a head. And, after all Jack’s protests about social position, I thought the ending didn’t adequately address how they were going to make their HEA work. But the writing was lovely. There was humor and feelz. I’m looking forward to reading more of Sebastian’s work.

On a side note: I understand the cover is a mimicry of the het historical romances Avon has published in the past (bodice rippers especially, I think), but I hate it. Do with that what you will.

Book Review of The Nobleman and the Spy, by Bonnie Dee & Summer Devon

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The Nobleman and the SpyI bought a copy of The Nobleman and the Spy, by Bonnie Dee and Summer Devon.

Description from Goodreads:
They once faced each other on a battlefield. Now soldier-turned-spy Jonathan Reese must keep watch over the man he’s never forgotten. A close encounter reveals Karl von Binder, the count’s son, also recalls the day he spared Jonathan’s life. Sparks fly between the former enemies and Jonathan begins to lose perspective on his mission. He knows he must maintain distance because the heat he encounters in Karl’s touch stirs him far too deeply for his own good. He can’t keep away–especially when he suspects someone is trying to kill the nobleman.

The spy becomes a protector as Jonathan guards the man he’s begun to care for. Together the men try to puzzle out who would benefit from Karl’s death—and how much they’re willing to trust each other when a torrid sexual fling threatens to become an affair of the heart.

Review:
I enjoyed this as a nice bit of erotic fluff. The problem was I didn’t expect it to be erotic fluff, but political intrigue and/or historical romance. As it turned out, the mystery and political machinations were all just decorations for the sex. To me, almost everything that happened happened in order to change the location for a new sex environment. That made the plot feel very shallow indeed. Plus, that first sexual encounter was extremely unbelievable.

What’s more, I felt the relationship was almost instant and moved from lust to love equally as fast. These men were putting their lives in each-other’s hands, over people they’d known for years, based on practically nothing—a passing on a battlefield years earlier. Similarly, while I liked both characters, I didn’t feel I knew them well. I didn’t understand the need for the subtle dom/sub aspect of the relationship. It was wholly non-contextual. And the ending felt rushed. So, while I didn’t dislike it, in fact, I enjoyed the ride, I wasn’t overly impressed.