A Lady Never Surrenders

A Lady Never Surrenders by Sabrina Jeffries

Mrs. Hester Plumtree was tired of seeing her grandchildren ignore society's rules and buck conventions, so she laid down the law and demanded that all of them marry within one year or they would all be disinherited from her very sizable fortune. One year later and the youngest and most headstrong, Lady Cecilia Sharpe, is the only one of her siblings to remain unmarried, but she also has a plan. She knows she wants to marry for love but does not have enough time to find the love of her life, so she plans to throw a house party and invite several eligible gentlemen in an attempt to prove to her grandmother that she is desirable and does plan to wed, she just needs more time. She asks the Jackson Pinter, a Bow Street Runner who has been helping her family investigate her parents' death, to investigate her three potential suitors. Jackson is reluctant to help Cecilia and believes that none of the men are suitable for Cecilia and has numerous excuses as to why, but Cecilia continues to try her best to convince one of them to propose so she can use that to get her grandmother to rescind her ultimatum. Meanwhile, she confides in Jackson about a conversation she overheard between her mother and father arranging a meeting on the morning they were shot and Jackson promises to look into it.

Watching Cecilia flirt with the staid, uptight, and old men of the ton infuriates Jackson and many people at the house party notice that they cannot keep their eyes off of each other. Hester is not pleased by this and makes it clear to Jackson that he can expect no monetary reward for marrying Cecilia and could possibly earn a promotion at work if he leaves her alone. Though Jackson has no interest in the money, he knows that he cannot expect Cecilia to give up the lifestyle she has gotten used to in order to live off a mere policeman's salary. Cecilia cannot understand why Jackson has been running hot and cold; sneaking off to kiss her one minute and the next refusing to acknowledge her presence, but she knows that there is something special between them. When she insists on accompanying him to investigate her parents death, their lives are put in danger and they both realize that there is nothing more important than life together. However, the first must deal with a vengeful murderer bent on covering up their crimes and a grandmother who must be made to understand that love triumphs over all.

I have followed the Sharpe siblings from the beginning and the investigation of their parents death has been an integral part of all the stories, as has their grandmother's ultimatum. I find the meddling grandmother figure incredibly obnoxious and Jeffries definitely tried to mellow her in this novel by having her, at the end, loosen up a bit, admit her mistakes and work with her grandchildren and this change was much appreciated. The parents death was very slow to get off the ground and not much happened in the previous novels so there was quite a lot to cover in this one. I felt like making Jackson a Bow Street runner was a genius move because it made him incredibly involved in the investigation so it wasn't a side plot, it was his job and it meshed with his relationship with Cecilia. I really enjoyed discovering what happened to the Sharpe parents and uncovering lots of little mysteries and clues along the way. I was completely shocked by the outcome and the way it manifested itself at the end and all in all it was a very pleasant surprise.

Cecilia was rather immature and her interests, namely shooting, were so far in opposition to everything I enjoy, that it was really hard for me to appreciate her character. Her plot to end her grandmother's scheming was utterly ridiculous, obviously hatched up by someone with no common sense or real world experience, but I did like learning about her very real feelings of inadequacies and how she was still working to build up her confidence. Jackson was a bit underwhelming, with no real distinguishing personality traits except for his unorthodox upbringing as the abandoned child of a lord. Their relationship was based, for the most part, on mutual dislike of each other and a refusal to admit that they had any warm feelings for the other. I am not a fan of these types of romances and it seems like they are becoming more and more prevalent and it just strikes me as completely unromantic and a horrible basis for a relationship. There were some nice scenes between the two of them, often overshadowed by their interactions the next day when they were nasty to each other, but I liked his helping her overcome her insecurities and her helping him to grips with his past. There was very little sex in the book, it was lukewarm at best, and was entirely in the last third of the book.

Rating: Two so-so characters in a sparring match that was uninspiring and unromantic, but rare moments shone through and I enjoyed finally discovering who killed the Sharpe parents.

Never Trust a Rogue

Never Trust a Rogue by Olivia Drake 308

Lindsey Crompton is the season's richest heiress and her mother is determined to see her middle daughter married off to a wealthy member of the ton after her eldest daughter made a disappointing match. But Lindsey has no intention of marrying a duke, or anyone for that matter, as she wants to open up a detective agency and help people investigate crimes and other problems. Thane Parker, the Earl of Mansfield, was orphaned and raised by his coldly judgmental uncle, who was never pleased by anything Thane did. Eschewing his responsibilities to his title he joined the army and made a name for himself as a war hero and when he returns to London he is toasted by all... except Lindsey. Lindsey does not buy into the hype surrounding Lord Thane, especially when she sees him sneaking around with a serving maid. When a serial killer begins targeting servant girls and leaving their bodies in Hyde Park, and then she finds out that one of the maids in his house has gone missing, Lindsey can't help but wonder if Thane is the killer. However, her fears about his past times don't prevent her from being attracted to the handsome earl.

What she does not know is that Thane is helping Bow Street investigate the murders and that all of his suspicious behavior is easily explained away. His chief suspect in the case, Lord Wrayford, is courting Lindsey, with her mother's whole hearted approval, and this worries Thane. Lindsey is outspoken and makes no pretense towards liking Thane, but he is drawn to her and can't stand the idea of something happening to her if Wrayford is indeed the murderer. He blackmails her into agreeing to an engagement with him in one months time; she is not happy at all as she suspects he is the murderer, but he believes it's the only way to keep her safe from Wrayford. She quickly realizes that the rumors of Thane's dissolute behavior have been much exaggerated and the more time she spends with him, the more she thinks that there is no way he could possibly be the murderer. But time is running out as more servants go missing and as Lindsey's mother becomes more determined than ever to make her daughter a duchess. Thane and Lindsey must discover who the real murderer and circumvent her mother's machination in order to be together.

I liked Lindsey however I couldn't help but view her desire to open up a detective agency to be rather childish and way inappropriate. A woman running a business in those days was almost unheard of and a detective agency would have been nearly impossible. Anyone who didn't know this had some major growing up to do, and Lindsey was not even a very good detective to begin with and it struck me as a little girl who wants to be a ballerina when she grows up; very immature. However, I was still disappointed at the speed with which she gave up this grand dream and did not really fight at all once she realized she was in love with Thane. Her investigative attempts came across as amateurish at best and rather ridiculous at worst. Thane was a more interesting character because he had a really past and life experience that made him more realistic in his expectations. His involvement in the murder was also hard to believe as I can't imagine an earl would have ever volunteered for such a task. The two spent plenty of time together, enough to make their relationship believable and for me to really get a sense that they worked well as a couple and that they really were in love.

There was very little steam in the book and some brief sex near the end of the book that was just rather bland. The strangling murder was a little overdrawn and rather superficial even though it took up quite a lot of the space I did not feel like it was overwhelming the love story. Lindsey and Thane had some great time together that dealt with the crime, but it was not the only thing they had in common. I am not going to give anything away, but I will say that I enjoyed never being really sure who the murderer was and being surprised by the resolution. I loved the relationship these two had with their family members. Lindsey's mother was the hatable matchmaking mamma who would stop at nothing to ensure a member of the ton for her daughter. For some reason I always like these type of women as they really add some tension to a book, while at the same time being likable because they're just doing what they think is best for their daughter. Thane also had an interesting relationship with his family members and I liked to read about his feelings about them evolved and Olivia's influence over these changes. The writing was incredibly fast and easy and I got through the book really quickly.

Rating: A decent book that was fun and easy and had a nice little mystery, but really nothing special in any sense.