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Review Date: 2/28/2008
9 member(s) found this review helpful.
"This book should come with a warning to mothers: Dead Baby alert! I read this book while nursing my son and had a terrible time not crying through the whole thing. It's a beautiful story and very well written, however be prepared for any emotional turmoil that you might encounter because of the dead baby angle."
Review Date: 2/28/2008
9 member(s) found this review helpful.
"My mother-in-law gave me this book when I told her I was spending a lot of time reading with the baby at my breast. Like a lot of novels, it had acclaims printed all over it, and three full pages of critic quotes praising it at the beginning. However, for me it failed to deliver. The beginning kind of dragged, for one. Also, the author tended to write her character's thoughts in a stream-of-consciousness format that was incredibly hard to follow. She would start a sentance with a thought, then interrupt it with a second thought, then a third, then maybe a fourth, and then finish up the first thought. It was very hard to follow. Also, her characters were, for the most part, incredibly hard to sympathize with. The main characters were in their 30s and selfish, entitled, and bratty. I wanted to smack the lot of them. I think the reason the book got such rave reviews is that it takes place in 2001, from March to November, and the climax is the September 11th attacks. I had to work hard to get myself in a pre-9/11 mindset for the beginning of the book, and when the attacks came I was as shocked as the characters. Without including the horror of September 11th, her book would have been a tremendous disappointment. With it, the story was almost redeemed. Almost. I think the melancholy nature of many of the characters through the book affected my own post-partum mood."
Review Date: 4/8/2009
2 member(s) found this review helpful.
"Brenda Joyce always tells a thrilling tale of love and danger. While this book borrows much from The Pygmalion, it is still a wonderful read for anyone who enjoys historical fiction. A plucky heroine, a dashing hero, a villain who is not so evil as he seems, and some steaming hot sex to sweeten the mix."
Review Date: 2/28/2008
1 member(s) found this review helpful.
"The subtitle to this book is "A Jade Del Cameron Mystery", and that it is. A little clunky at times, at others a little too simple, but the story is interesting enough. Not a book I'd go out and buy, but it passed the time."
Review Date: 6/7/2010
"This is my favorite Novel of Joyce's, to date. Every time I read it (and I read it about once a year) I am again swept away by the shared passion of Lizzie and Tyrell, and the crazy circumstances that keep them apart and bring them back together. A fabulous story for anyone who enjoys historical romance."
Review Date: 8/14/2010
"This book has an engaging heroine, a dashing hero, and all the elements of a good romance novel.
What it does not have, however, is believability or originality.
First: the dialogue gets to the point far too quickly for my taste. People are too blunt too fast, backstory is rushed over (except, of course, for the Big Secret in the heroine's past), and emotions run hot and cold seemingly at the flick of a switch.
Second: For a period novel, the book takes nothing of actual history into account. An author's note explaining how the king was so obviously gay and nobody cared would have been nice, as would the heroine's imagined ability that her noble blood would permit her an audience with the king. The couple has sex on the floor of a dungeon, where reality is suspended, since he's been there for days at least, but where is all his excrement?
Third: This novel is DRIPPING with cliché. The lady is called Lady Deformed, when nothing is wrong with her? The hero loves her almost before he sees her, then loves her more afterward. And--SPOILER ALERT--I know of no blindness that can be cured by a fall that fails to cause a miscarriage.
The storyline is, at least gripping, the villian disgusting, and the conclusion sweet, if it does require too much suspense of disbelief. 1.5 stars."
What it does not have, however, is believability or originality.
First: the dialogue gets to the point far too quickly for my taste. People are too blunt too fast, backstory is rushed over (except, of course, for the Big Secret in the heroine's past), and emotions run hot and cold seemingly at the flick of a switch.
Second: For a period novel, the book takes nothing of actual history into account. An author's note explaining how the king was so obviously gay and nobody cared would have been nice, as would the heroine's imagined ability that her noble blood would permit her an audience with the king. The couple has sex on the floor of a dungeon, where reality is suspended, since he's been there for days at least, but where is all his excrement?
Third: This novel is DRIPPING with cliché. The lady is called Lady Deformed, when nothing is wrong with her? The hero loves her almost before he sees her, then loves her more afterward. And--SPOILER ALERT--I know of no blindness that can be cured by a fall that fails to cause a miscarriage.
The storyline is, at least gripping, the villian disgusting, and the conclusion sweet, if it does require too much suspense of disbelief. 1.5 stars."
Review Date: 2/28/2008
3 member(s) found this review helpful.
"I couldn't finish this book, because the Second Mrs. De Winter's complete lack of a spine drove me up the wall."
Review Date: 2/28/2008
"I kept trying to get interested in this book, but just couldn't. The Point of View kept jumping from character to character, so I had a hard time keeping track of who was who, let alone who was thinking what. The first part of the book draaaaagged, in such a way that after a good 100 pages, the characters hadn't moved. It was immensely frustrating to follow and I eventually gave up."
Review Date: 4/8/2009
2 member(s) found this review helpful.
"I tried to read this book, I really did. The premise was fascinating. However, all of the dialogue was phonetically written in the dialect of the period, and I could NOT get through it. It was driving me crazy. I got about ten pages in and had to stop.
When a book takes place in France, you assume the characters are speaking French, and the author is translating for you. For a book taking place in midevil Scotland, I would assume without being told that everyone spoke in a Brogue. They probably all spoke Gaelic. I do not need to try and translate that.
So, it's probably a great story, but I was unable to read it."
When a book takes place in France, you assume the characters are speaking French, and the author is translating for you. For a book taking place in midevil Scotland, I would assume without being told that everyone spoke in a Brogue. They probably all spoke Gaelic. I do not need to try and translate that.
So, it's probably a great story, but I was unable to read it."
Review Date: 6/7/2010
"I truly enjoyed this book of Brenda Joyce. She paints a vivid picture of Carolyn and Nicolas's life and love, and helps the reader suspend the disbelief of the circumstances that would have kept these lovers apart. A fabulous, fantastical story of two lovers in difficult times against impossible circumstances."
Review Date: 4/24/2009
1 member(s) found this review helpful.
"This story at least had a reasonable villian and expectation of danger. She did give away the identity of her victim a trifle too soon, but the sex was hot and reasonably graphic, even if the circumstances were somewhat less than believable. I enjoyed the novel and will read others by this author."
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