Helpful Score: 2
Sophisticated, intelligent, passionate. It's no wonder that the great Lisa Kleypas said about this new writer: "The next great romance author has arrived....If there is only one new author you will try this year, it must be Lydia Joyce."
Helpful Score: 2
This is a gothic romance. The main characters are strong and independant and I loved that. This was a good read.
Helpful Score: 2
Very interesting characters and a unique setting (Eastern Europe) make for a refreshing read.
Helpful Score: 1
When four London seasons fail to find her a suitable match, Alcyone Carter does the unthinkable and treks across Europe to marry a foreign nobleman she's never met. But on her wedding night, she discovers her handsome, enigmatic husband is not the man he claimed to be. Rather than live a lie, she escapes his estate into the darkness. But her husband-ignited by his desire and pride-risks everything to follow her from the depths of the Romanian forests into the decadent heart of Istanbul, where they're forced to confront the sensual passion they've discovered-and the dire threat that could cost them both their lives.
Very good read. I have read all of Lydia Joyces books and this is as good as the others.
Very descriptive, lilting narrative. A fully developed hero with an empathetic side and a protective side. Bravo!
Wonderfully written, as always. Lydia Joyce is one of my favorite new authors. But this book is her weakest, in that the author falls into the lamentable trap of putting the heroine, Alcyone, into the TSTL category. (TSTL = Too Stupid To Live)
Example: She's in a foreign country, a country her new husband knows very well. Alcyone rarely listens to him when he tells her the dangers ahead, instead, stupidly throwing herself into situations that could get her killed. Him, too, since he must now rescue her from her own stupidity. But of course she won't admit she'd done a stupid thing. Oh no, she has to show her independence! Sigh....
What I love best about Lydia Joyce's writing is her ability to set the mood of the story, and how she makes you care for her characters. And those love scenes.....WOW. They are always SO well done! (No pun intended!) When Lydia Joyce is at her best, her stories are amazing.
So although the book is very well written, it doesn't have the emotional connection of Joyce's other books, simply because of the TSTL factor. It's worth a read, but I much preferred her first novel, "The Veil Of The Night," and her second, "The Music Of The Night." Now those are downright AWSESOME reads, filled with angst, compassion, and wonderfully sexy love scenes. Those two books are on my permanent Keeper shelves in my library. Whispers was good, but not her best.
Example: She's in a foreign country, a country her new husband knows very well. Alcyone rarely listens to him when he tells her the dangers ahead, instead, stupidly throwing herself into situations that could get her killed. Him, too, since he must now rescue her from her own stupidity. But of course she won't admit she'd done a stupid thing. Oh no, she has to show her independence! Sigh....
What I love best about Lydia Joyce's writing is her ability to set the mood of the story, and how she makes you care for her characters. And those love scenes.....WOW. They are always SO well done! (No pun intended!) When Lydia Joyce is at her best, her stories are amazing.
So although the book is very well written, it doesn't have the emotional connection of Joyce's other books, simply because of the TSTL factor. It's worth a read, but I much preferred her first novel, "The Veil Of The Night," and her second, "The Music Of The Night." Now those are downright AWSESOME reads, filled with angst, compassion, and wonderfully sexy love scenes. Those two books are on my permanent Keeper shelves in my library. Whispers was good, but not her best.
