Helpful Score: 2
Loving A Lost Lord is the first in Mary Jo Putney's new series, "The Lost Lords." Ever since rereading her novel The Wild Child my interest in her has been renewed and I have been on the lookout for more of her books, since I enjoyed that one so much. Unfortunately, this one was a complete disappointment. I don't remember all of the plots of the other Putney books I have read, but I do remember that her stories, as well as her characters, are usually intense and lively - two adjectives which definitely do not apply here.
~~SUMMARY (from back cover):
"Battered by the sea, Adam remembers nothing of his past, his ducal rank, nor of the shipwreck that almost claimed his life. However, he's delighted to hear that the golden-haired vision tending his wounds is his wife. Mariah's name and face may not be familiar, but her touch, her warmth, feel deliciously right ...
When Mariah Clarke prayed for a way to deter a bullying suitor, she didn't imagine she'd find the answer washed ashore on a desolate beach. Convincing Adam that he is her husband is surprisingly easy. Resisting the temptation to act his wife, in every way, will prove anything but. And now a passion begun in fantasy has become dangerously real - and completely irresistible ..."
~~CRITICISM (may include slight spoilers):
Most of my criticism has to do with Mariah and Adam - them as characters, their romantic relationship, and the sexual tension (or lack thereof) between them. The second half of the book really caused problems for me story-wise, though, and Putney throws in so many twists, turns, and surprises that one is left reeling and feeling slightly exhausted and incredulous.
*[POOR ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIP]* The period during which Adam doesn't know who he is and is living with Mariah as her husband only takes up the first half of the book, after which his friends show up and his identity is revealed. At that point, they are supposedly already in love, but I found this hard to believe, since they still don't seem to know one another. Also, neither of the main characters displays any strong emotions or passions and although there are times when it seems Putney is trying to write as if they do, the effect is unsuccessful. Once they arrive in London, Putney gives us several obstacles to their relationship, but seems unable to focus or clearly point to any of them (difference in rank? Moriah's deception? then of course it turns out that Adam is apparently engaged to his cousin ...).
*[NOT MUCH CHEMISTRY]* There was hardly any chemistry between Adam and Mariah. It wasn't completely non-existent, but we're given more a promise than anything substantial, with mere glimpses of something stronger - but that something never actually shows itself. There are a few kissing scenes, though hardly noticeable, and two love scenes that aren't really anything to write home about. This surprised me since the Putney books I have read tend to be very highly charged in this sense and it's usually an area in which she excels.
*[WEAK HERO AND HEROINE]* A bad sign is when one likes supporting characters more than the main ones, and frankly I found Adam's friends (and Lady Agnes) more interesting and entertaining than either he or Mariah. Neither of them was very well-developed nor at all compelling. In the first half of the book Mariah has definite promise and at the beginning I actually liked her, but Adam was extremely bland; in the second half, the situation reverses and I found Mariah boring and placid, whereas Adam's character developed and became quite interesting.
I was also extremely annoyed that Moriah even considered George Burke's offer at the beginning (he's the "bullying suitor" she makes up a husband for) or the fact that she thought she might weaken and eventually accept him just to make her life simpler - have a backbone: don't make up a fake husband, just continue to say no! I was also bothered that she thinks maybe she'll settle on the vicar once she returns from London and leaves Adam to his fiancée - either she doesn't love Adam that much or she's planning on being very unfair to the vicar by marrying him when she loves another.
*[TOO MANY PLOT TWISTS]* The first half of the book in which Adam has amnesia and he's at Hartley Manor with Mariah was not horrible and I was actually biding my time, waiting for things to pick up. Be careful what you wish for! While that part of the book is languid and slow-paced, once the cast goes to London *everything* changes and Putney goes a little crazy. I don't know if she realized the book was uninteresting and so decided to put in as many plot twists and surprises as possible, but she basically does everything but throw the kitchen sink at us. It's like she wanted to include the soap opera drama of The Forsyte Saga, but since she has only 300 pages instead of 1000+, she crams it all into the last 150 upon realizing the story has to start winding down.
What am I talking about exactly? Adam still doesn't remember anything, then starts to remember things, then it all comes flooding back to him; assassination attempts continue; Moriah gets in touch with her father's lawyer who hadn't answered any of her letters and it turns out maybe her father isn't dead; Adam's own relative comes back from the dead and he reunites with his mother (long thought dead), her second English husband, his sister (whose existence he was unaware of), and his two half-siblings; we discover that in fact George Burke was pulling all these manipulations and Moriah's father is alive; then, not only is he alive, but we're given his wife and Moriah's twin sister (turns out her "imaginary friend" Sarah - which had been weird in and of itself - isn't imaginary at all but her younger-by-five-minutes twin); the explanation for the family's split doesn't really make sense and isn't fully given and even weirder is Moriah, who just laughs at this and finds the fact that her father hid this from her amusing (ummm, excuse me?). I mean, I could go on, but you get the picture.
~~BOTTOM LINE:
Frankly, I grew to not even really care what was going to happen between Moriah and Adam and found all of the twists and turns utterly ridiculous. I can't even say "read this book, but don't buy it just get it from the library." I have really enjoyed some of Putney's work, but they don't include this one and I can only hope that the other books in the series are stronger. Pick up The Wild Child instead and definitely skip this latest romance by Putney.
(http://historical-romance-heaven.blogspot.com/)
~~SUMMARY (from back cover):
"Battered by the sea, Adam remembers nothing of his past, his ducal rank, nor of the shipwreck that almost claimed his life. However, he's delighted to hear that the golden-haired vision tending his wounds is his wife. Mariah's name and face may not be familiar, but her touch, her warmth, feel deliciously right ...
When Mariah Clarke prayed for a way to deter a bullying suitor, she didn't imagine she'd find the answer washed ashore on a desolate beach. Convincing Adam that he is her husband is surprisingly easy. Resisting the temptation to act his wife, in every way, will prove anything but. And now a passion begun in fantasy has become dangerously real - and completely irresistible ..."
~~CRITICISM (may include slight spoilers):
Most of my criticism has to do with Mariah and Adam - them as characters, their romantic relationship, and the sexual tension (or lack thereof) between them. The second half of the book really caused problems for me story-wise, though, and Putney throws in so many twists, turns, and surprises that one is left reeling and feeling slightly exhausted and incredulous.
*[POOR ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIP]* The period during which Adam doesn't know who he is and is living with Mariah as her husband only takes up the first half of the book, after which his friends show up and his identity is revealed. At that point, they are supposedly already in love, but I found this hard to believe, since they still don't seem to know one another. Also, neither of the main characters displays any strong emotions or passions and although there are times when it seems Putney is trying to write as if they do, the effect is unsuccessful. Once they arrive in London, Putney gives us several obstacles to their relationship, but seems unable to focus or clearly point to any of them (difference in rank? Moriah's deception? then of course it turns out that Adam is apparently engaged to his cousin ...).
*[NOT MUCH CHEMISTRY]* There was hardly any chemistry between Adam and Mariah. It wasn't completely non-existent, but we're given more a promise than anything substantial, with mere glimpses of something stronger - but that something never actually shows itself. There are a few kissing scenes, though hardly noticeable, and two love scenes that aren't really anything to write home about. This surprised me since the Putney books I have read tend to be very highly charged in this sense and it's usually an area in which she excels.
*[WEAK HERO AND HEROINE]* A bad sign is when one likes supporting characters more than the main ones, and frankly I found Adam's friends (and Lady Agnes) more interesting and entertaining than either he or Mariah. Neither of them was very well-developed nor at all compelling. In the first half of the book Mariah has definite promise and at the beginning I actually liked her, but Adam was extremely bland; in the second half, the situation reverses and I found Mariah boring and placid, whereas Adam's character developed and became quite interesting.
I was also extremely annoyed that Moriah even considered George Burke's offer at the beginning (he's the "bullying suitor" she makes up a husband for) or the fact that she thought she might weaken and eventually accept him just to make her life simpler - have a backbone: don't make up a fake husband, just continue to say no! I was also bothered that she thinks maybe she'll settle on the vicar once she returns from London and leaves Adam to his fiancée - either she doesn't love Adam that much or she's planning on being very unfair to the vicar by marrying him when she loves another.
*[TOO MANY PLOT TWISTS]* The first half of the book in which Adam has amnesia and he's at Hartley Manor with Mariah was not horrible and I was actually biding my time, waiting for things to pick up. Be careful what you wish for! While that part of the book is languid and slow-paced, once the cast goes to London *everything* changes and Putney goes a little crazy. I don't know if she realized the book was uninteresting and so decided to put in as many plot twists and surprises as possible, but she basically does everything but throw the kitchen sink at us. It's like she wanted to include the soap opera drama of The Forsyte Saga, but since she has only 300 pages instead of 1000+, she crams it all into the last 150 upon realizing the story has to start winding down.
What am I talking about exactly? Adam still doesn't remember anything, then starts to remember things, then it all comes flooding back to him; assassination attempts continue; Moriah gets in touch with her father's lawyer who hadn't answered any of her letters and it turns out maybe her father isn't dead; Adam's own relative comes back from the dead and he reunites with his mother (long thought dead), her second English husband, his sister (whose existence he was unaware of), and his two half-siblings; we discover that in fact George Burke was pulling all these manipulations and Moriah's father is alive; then, not only is he alive, but we're given his wife and Moriah's twin sister (turns out her "imaginary friend" Sarah - which had been weird in and of itself - isn't imaginary at all but her younger-by-five-minutes twin); the explanation for the family's split doesn't really make sense and isn't fully given and even weirder is Moriah, who just laughs at this and finds the fact that her father hid this from her amusing (ummm, excuse me?). I mean, I could go on, but you get the picture.
~~BOTTOM LINE:
Frankly, I grew to not even really care what was going to happen between Moriah and Adam and found all of the twists and turns utterly ridiculous. I can't even say "read this book, but don't buy it just get it from the library." I have really enjoyed some of Putney's work, but they don't include this one and I can only hope that the other books in the series are stronger. Pick up The Wild Child instead and definitely skip this latest romance by Putney.
(http://historical-romance-heaven.blogspot.com/)
Helpful Score: 1
enjoyed how characters were different than typical hero/heroine ... lot going on in the last chapter to finally bring it all together
