Customer Reviews

Black Rainbow

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Barbara Michaels usually writes wonderful Gothic romances with great plot twists, wonderful characters and witty dialogue. You won't find any of that here. I had to force myself to finish this dreadful book.

The "heroine" is actually the plain-looking and plain-spoken sister Jane. The governess who you think will be the heroine is a pretty idiot who can't see the obvious flaws in the man she works so hard to entrap. Except for Jane and a few workmen, every character in this book is so boorish, selfish or sociopathic that you don't care what happens to them.

Forget this book. Read instead Michaels' clever "Stitches in Time" or her even better "Wait for What Will Come." They're both so excellent you'll mourn when you come to the last page.

The build up of suspense that occurred throughout this book was appealing, but the results were always a let down. Many secondary characters are described in great detail when they first appear, then they don't appear again in the book for several chapters (including a young ward which was the entire reason for the "main character" to arrive in the first place). Some interesting storylines were introduced but seemed to go nowhere. I was disappointed and skipped over most of the beautiful yet very lengthy descriptions that seemed to weigh the story down.

I grew up on Victorian novels and Ms. Michaels captures what I remember of their style. The heroine, Megan, is such a twit that she can't figure out that her beloved Edmund is a grade-A jerk. The character who makes the book is Edmund's sister, Jane, a woman of intelligence, courage, and sense. Sam, their kinsman, is a good character, too. I spent much of the book wanting to shake some sense into Megan, but I kept on reading because I cared about Jane, Sam, and the townspeople. The author's solution was what I figured would be the only way to bring a happy ending out of this mess, but I did not expect the method she used to pull it off.

You'd think that, having written 60 or so books in more-or-less the same genre, Ms Michaels / Peters would not have a spark of originality left in her. But here she takes the features of a typical gothic romance and skillfully turns everything on its head. The man and woman set up as the hero and heroine are not in fact the hero and the heroine. The prize is not romantic happy-ever-after, but rather something apparently more pragmatic (a neat solution to a problem?), and perhaps even more idealistic than romance (social justice?). And this delivered in Ms Michaels' usual competent and readable writing style. Is there such a thing as a sensible, mature gothic romance? If so, here it is.

Romance, suspense, an ancient English manor house, a beautiful young heroine with two very different men in her life....how could a novel fail with these ingredients? Barbara Michaels spins a bodice-ripper tale that is far above the ordinary. Using her fine ear for dialogue, her quick and accurate characterizations, and solid plotting, she quickly engages the reader's interest and empathy.

In Michaels' trademark "end beyond the ending", further events spill forward just as you think you've reached the conclusion of the tale. Highly recommended.

No real "happy" ending, no truly good and wholesome characters, the sense of despair building towards that ending... I'm so surprised to say I really enjoyed this book! It was different -- and dark -- enough from Ms. Michael's other novels to keep me riveted from shock alone.

There were so many layers to the novel, it bears reading again. Like stories assigned for those pesky college lit classes, many critical plot points are alluded to, and it's up to the reader to determine their significance. The seemingly innocuous comment about Edmund's son looking just like his grandfather (possibly Sam's grandfater/father...?), the meaning of Edmund's comments about Jane "spoiling everything" when substituting herself in Megan's place for the ill-fated hunt, and many more have caused me to think about the book long after it -- and several since -- was finished.

I wish Barbara Michaels would write again.

I really enjoyed this book - Michaels takes the usual formula - "governess comes to mysterious house in the countryside and falls in love with a man who may or may not be a villain" and gives it a different take.

I noticed a lot of reviewers dislike the heroine; I have to point out that:

A) she is very young - eighteen years old.

B) every other character in this book (except for one) adores the villain. No one sees through him until very late in the book.

One thing that irritated me; the authors insistance on using the "Rich/titled = Evil, Poor = Good and Noble." I felt as if the author was lecturing me on the Goodness and Purity of The Simple Life.

Black Rainbow doesn't maintain a good pace like many of Michaels other works and is missing many of the ghost story elements I like to find in her work. However, she has a wonderfully twisted ending.

An unforgettable love story. The young girl who marries the master of the castle only to find out "all that glitters is not always gold". Great suspense, difficult to put down! A Michaels classic!

This was the first Barbara Michaels book that I've ever read and afterward, I immediately bought three more of her books. I admit, the beginning seemed rather slow and frankly silly. Megan's love for her employer comes off as being more on the obsessive side and quite pathetic. I really loved Jane's character and in the end, she is ultimately the heroine in the story, which was a pleasant surprise. I also thought is was quite funny how the villain in the story has absolutely NO redeeming qualities and one is left to wonder, why the women in the house are so taken with him...at all.

After getting through the silly beginning though, the story really began to take off and I was glad that I stuck with it. There are all kinds of fun twists and turns and I found myself unable to put it down. In the end, I don't think that I would recommend this book as a first book to anyone getting started with Barbara Michaels. This is mainly because anyone with little patience might easily be put off by it's slow beginning. After I ordered some others by her, I found that she has much better options out there. However, it was enjoyable.