With its jaded hero, effervescent heroine, an intriguing, engaging plot, and healthy doses of both humor and emotion, this...
Convinced she’s destined for spinsterhood anyway, Regency heroine Diantha Lucas sets off on a journey certain to ruin her, and along the way, she finds her own true hero in a man on a course to destroy his own life, yet determined not to take her with him.
Diantha Lucas needs a hero, and she knows Wyn Yale is just what she’s looking for. He’s come to her rescue before, years ago when she was an ugly, tormented teen. So when she runs across him on a public coach, she’s certain it’s destiny and that he's meant to guide her on a journey she shouldn’t be taking at all, but especially not alone. Realizing that Diantha will continue on with or without him, Wyn joins her on the quest while sending secret messages to her family in an attempt to save her from herself. But as time passes and his messages go unanswered, Wyn finds himself more and more enamored of his companion. It’s an unwelcome passion, given that he’s on a path of vengeance that will likely find him hanged at the end of it. Unaware of her newfound beauty or the potency of her spirited, optimistic personality, Diantha misinterprets Wyn’s interest as simple male flirtation, chastising herself for her growing attachment to him, yet pursuing a deepening physical relationship. As circumstances become increasingly complicated, Wyn shelters Diantha in his Welsh childhood haven, and each character faces individual internal demons while overcoming physical danger and external threats together. Wyn knows he has nothing to offer Diantha. So why, for the first time in his life, does he feel like he’s finally met a woman who might actually be able to redeem him? The latest installment of Ashe’s Falcon Club series, this book is an emotionally touching and sexually taut romance that brings together two lonely hearts with no hope and finds them saving each other. The characters are textured, deep and believable. The writing is strong and lyrical, easily supporting agile, polished dialogue and a complex, well-paced plot. Fans of the series will recognize some cameo appearances.
With its jaded hero, effervescent heroine, an intriguing, engaging plot, and healthy doses of both humor and emotion, this is a delightful Regency jaunt.Pub Date: Sept. 25, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-06-203189-1
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Avon/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Aug. 28, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2012
Entertaining and thoroughly engrossing.
Another reboot of Jane Austen?!? Hadlow pulls it off in a smart, heartfelt novel devoted to bookish Mary, middle of the five sisters in Pride and Prejudice.
Part 1 recaps Pride and Prejudice through Mary’s eyes, climaxing with the humiliating moment when she sings poorly at a party and older sister Elizabeth goads their father to cut her off in front of everyone. The sisters’ friend Charlotte, who marries the unctuous Mr. Collins after Elizabeth rejects him, emerges as a pivotal character; her conversations with Mary are even tougher-minded here than those with Elizabeth depicted by Austen. In Part 2, two years later, Mary observes on a visit that Charlotte is deferential but remote with her husband; she forms an intellectual friendship with the neglected and surprisingly nice Mr. Collins that leads to Charlotte’s asking Mary to leave. In Part 3, Mary finds refuge in London with her kindly aunt and uncle, Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner. Mrs. Gardiner is the second motherly woman, after Longbourn housekeeper Mrs. Hill, to try to undo the psychic damage wrought by Mary’s actual mother, shallow, status-obsessed Mrs. Bennet, by building up her confidence and buying her some nice clothes (funded by guilt-ridden Lizzy). Sure enough, two suitors appear: Tom Hayward, a poetry-loving lawyer who relishes Mary’s intellect but urges her to also express her feelings; and William Ryder, charming but feckless inheritor of a large fortune, whom naturally Mrs. Bennet loudly favors. It takes some maneuvering to orchestrate the estrangement of Mary and Tom, so clearly right for each other, but debut novelist Hadlow manages it with aplomb in a bravura passage describing a walking tour of the Lake District rife with seething complications furthered by odious Caroline Bingley. Her comeuppance at Mary’s hands marks the welcome final step in our heroine’s transformation from a self-doubting wallflower to a vibrant, self-assured woman who deserves her happy ending. Hadlow traces that progression with sensitivity, emotional clarity, and a quiet edge of social criticism Austen would have relished.
Entertaining and thoroughly engrossing.Pub Date: March 31, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-250-12941-3
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: Dec. 22, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Anyone who believes in true love or is simply willing to accept it as the premise of a winding tale will find this debut an...
True love flares between two people, but they find that circumstances always impede it.
On a winter day in London, Laurie spots Jack from her bus home and he sparks a feeling in her so deep that she spends the next year searching for him. Her roommate and best friend, Sarah, is the perfect wing-woman but ultimately—and unknowingly—ends the search by finding Jack and falling for him herself. Laurie’s hasty decision not to tell Sarah is the second painful missed opportunity (after not getting off the bus), but Sarah’s happiness is so important to Laurie that she dedicates ample energy into retraining her heart not to love Jack. Laurie is misguided, but her effort and loyalty spring from a true heart, and she considers her project mostly successful. Perhaps she would have total success, but the fact of the matter is that Jack feels the same deep connection to Laurie. His reasons for not acting on them are less admirable: He likes Sarah and she’s the total package; why would he give that up just because every time he and Laurie have enough time together (and just enough alcohol) they nearly fall into each other’s arms? Laurie finally begins to move on, creating a mostly satisfying life for herself, whereas Jack’s inability to be genuine tortures him and turns him into an ever bigger jerk. Patriarchy—it hurts men, too! There’s no question where the book is going, but the pacing is just right, the tone warm, and the characters sympathetic, even when making dumb decisions.
Anyone who believes in true love or is simply willing to accept it as the premise of a winding tale will find this debut an emotional, satisfying read.Pub Date: Oct. 16, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-525-57468-2
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: July 30, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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