Romancing the Duke

Romancing the Duke by Tessa Dare

Isolde Ophelia Goodnight lives in the mind of millions of Englishman as the beautiful and imaginative daughter of famous storyteller Harry Goodnight, but the reality is quite different as Izzy is plain and destitute. When she receives a letter that she has inherited a Gostley Castle, she rushes there only to find that the very handsome and mysterious, Duke of Rothbury, is in residence and the former owner is in no hurry to give up his familial estate. Ransom Dane has shut himself up in his crumbling and decrepit castle ever since a duel with his former fiance's new husband left him scarred and mostly blind. He is not a fan of this loud and energetic woman taking over his life and trying to force him into society and his castle into the 19th century. Izzy knows this is her last chance as she is completely without funds and the fan's of her father's novel, while numerous and generous, are not people whom Izzy enjoys depending on. When Ransom realizes that something must be horribly wrong with his solicitors and his funds, he hires Izzy to read his correspondence and discover the truth of what has been going on.

Ransom is not at all impressed with Izzy's army of fans, who still believe she is the little girl from the stories, but is quite impressed with Izzy herself. What little sight he has left and the way that she is helping him acclimate to real life now, makes him wonder if he is deserving of the love the world has denied himself since his mother died in childbirth. But Izzy has hope for him and as she fixes up his castle, and provides quite the temptation to him, he starts to believe that their is hope for him as well. When Izzy's fans, the Moranglian Army, comes to visit, Ransom wants her to claim her independence from the little girl from the fairy tales. But when Ransom's solicitors attempt to take control of his fortune by having him declared insane, it will take Izzy, Ransom, and the entire Moranglian army to carve out a happily ever after for Ransom and Izzy.

This story was Beauty and the Beast with some twists that nicely avoided the whole Stockholm Syndrome element as Izzy was free to leave whenever she wanted. Izzy was very interesting and I love how she was independent and capable, but also felt a need to live up to the expectations of her father's fans by pretending to be something she wasn't. It was both frustrating and admirable, but was well explained by Dare who is remarkable at writing characters motives and back stories. Ransom was definitely dark and brooding locked up in his crumbling castle, determined to shut himself off from the world. He was both heroic, especially when some truths about him are revealed, and difficult to like because he repeatedly pushed Izzy away. However, there were many times when he showed how wonderful he was by sticking up for Izzy and only wanting what was best for her, even if he did come across as surly while he was doing it.

Izzy's exuberance and positive outlook in life, even with all that life has thrown at her, was in direct contrast to Ransom's inability to see anything but the worst in everyone and everything. With Izzy's help, he was able to overcome a lot of that, but it just seemed a little off that two people who were so different could form a real connection. They spent quite a lot of time together, fixing up the house, getting to know each other, flirting madly, and preparing for the competency hearing and I really liked seeing how they acted together under so many different circumstances. There was a lot of heat between them, and they were always madly flirting and making inuendos about sex, but there was truthfully very little sex and it was rather boring and not what I expected from Dare.

Rating: Two very different protagonists who had an almost unbelievable romance, but I did like the modern retelling of Beauty and the Beast.

Surrender to the Earl

Surrender to the Earl by Gayle Callen

Audrey Blake has been blind since childhood and so her family is very protective of her to the point where she feels suffocated. When her husband died in the war he left her an estate but her family always comes up with an excuse to prevent her from travelling. Robert Henslow, the Earl of Knightsbridge, served with Mr. Blake, and he believes his actions were responsible for Blake's death and feels like he owes the widow a debt of gratitude. When he visits Audrey at her family home he sees how capable and strong she is and how her family refuses to see this and treats her like a child. When she asks for his help escaping he agrees but the only way he can think to get her out is by pretending they are engaged. Her family is surprised, especially her beautiful younger sister who is upset that her older sister is once again taking the matrimonial prize, but they do let her go with him. She is excited to finally be starting her own life and knows that she will have a lot to prove to everyone, but she is wary of this pretend engagement.

Mr. Blake had courted and married her so he could use her dowry to purchase a commission in the army so she is wary of new attachments and does not want to come to be dependent on someone else. When Audrey arrives at her new home the servants are surprised and everyone can immediately sense that they are hiding something but she wants to get out to a good start with everyone so does not push. When Audrey's ladies maid becomes sick Robert accompanies her around the village and helps her look through estate matters. He admires her independence and determination but believes that they get in the way of her forming attachments to other people. He wants a real relationship with Audrey but she cannot give up her fears and feels betrayed when he reveals the truth about her husbands death. Together they must learn that it is okay to depend on someone else, to trust and love someone enough to know that they will never let you down.

I was immediately intrigued by a book featuring a blind heroine because I realize how much many romances rely on descriptions and details, and I was very impressed with how Callen developed a real character and didn't gloss over the hardships that would come with being blind. Audrey was a very interesting and likable character; fiercely understanding and reluctant to accept any help, but it made sense when considering the way she had been so protected her entire life. She was very capable of running her own life and obviously cared about those around her from her spoiled sister to her lady's maid to the family who works at the estate. Robert was a very admirable character with a keen sense of honor and I really enjoyed reading about him falling in love with Audrey. It was obvious he was proud of Audrey's abilities and would be accepting of her abilities without trying to smother her or control her. Yet it was clear that he would do everything he could to protect her and wanted to have a relationship where both of them were partners.

Audrey and Robert spent a lot of time together in various situations and we were able to see how they would get on under different circumstances. Throughout the book what really stood out was how supportive Robert was of Audrey at all times and that was really what she needed. The two were very attracted to each other, and even without her being able to see him, that aspect was really clear throughout the book. However, there really was very little sex in the book and even if what was there was hot, I felt like there should have been more. She worried that he was using sex to control her and that was one of the little issues that irritated me in the book. There was also the problem of him believing he was responsible for her husbands death and those little dramas took away from the book. I really liked the relationship between Audrey and her sister and how it developed throughout the novel as just an extra little treat.

Rating: A very good book with a unique heroine who was portrayed so honestly and I really felt like the relationship was a strong one.

Passion Wears Pearls

Passion Wears Pearls by Renee Bernard

Eleanor Beckett was trained to be a lady but when her father's patents are stolen and her parents die with nothing, she is thrown out on the streets to make her way. After her employer tries to find her a protector, Eleanor has nothing until artist Josiah Hastings storms in and saves her. Josiah is estranged from his family because of his not-so-respectable profession and is part of The Jaded, a group of men who spent time in an Indian prison together before escaping with a fortune in jewels. Josiah knows that it is only a matter of time before he goes completely blind and he has been desperately fighting the onset of blindness and trying to hide his deficiency from his friends. When he sees Eleanor his vision becomes crystal clear and he knows he has to paint her no matter the cost. Eleanor does not want any scandal attached to her name and definitely does not want to be thought of as a kept woman, but with no other option, agrees to become Josiah's model. The two work out a very generous contract that gives Eleanor quite a bit of money, even if she decides to opt out of being painted.

Eleanor and Josiah spend a great deal of time together as he paints her picture with both of them determined to ignore the passion they feel for each other. But as Eleanor comes to see how noble Josiah is and begins to suspect the secret he is trying to hide from everyone, she cannot help but fall in love with him. Eleanor is everything that Josiah has always known he can't have and when she admits her own feelings and her desire for him there is nothing that can stop him from having her. However, he knows that with his eyesight going he is no match for the beautiful and accomplished young woman and he has no intention of tying her to him. But Josiah and his fellow Jaded members are trying to capture the villain who is after them and is causing problems for all of them and when Eleanor finds out she fears for his safety. She feels she has no choice but to fight for the man she loves, even if his stubborn pride stands in their way, and when her life is endangered Josiah knows that he too will do anything for her.

I have read all of the other books in The Jaded series, but I will admit that I promptly forgot them upon finishing as none of them really had anything that stuck to me. This book followed in that pattern and I imagine that in a week I will remember almost nothing about it because there was simply no oomph or spark to really hold me. Eleanor and Josiah were both interesting enough and while I recognize that it's difficult to write a character that's different and unique when there are so many other books, I felt like Bernard was trying to make them unique and in doing so made them poorly ordinary. Josiah's blindness would have been intriguing except his stunning visual clarity when viewing Eleanor made it just ridiculous, completely unrealistic, and plain annoying. I am not an art connoisseur by any means and was completely uninterested in any of the talks of painting and mixing colors and rhapsodizing descriptions of Josiah's talents.

Eleanor was annoying in her righteous indignation at everything that didn't adhere to her very strict moral standards and it gets very tiresome. She goes on and on about holding onto her virtue and that makes it even worse when she does give in to her desire for him because it seems so out of character and smacked of hypocrisy. They certainly spent a good deal of time together, but it was entirely in his studio which presented a very insular space for them to be together and did not show me how they would work together in the real world. The sex between the was pretty hot and frequent enough but was crammed into a very small portion of the book. I felt like once they had given into their mutual passion the "problems" between them took on a superfluous air and the book seriously dragged. I found The Jaded plot to be haphazardly thrown into the mix and it did not fit in at all with the rest of the story and since it was really such a short little bit I didn't really get into it.

Rating: A problematic book with annoying problems and a subplot that I found myself completely uninterested in and rather boring characters.