Fair Juno (Mira) [Paperback]

Stephanie Laurens (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 19, 2009 | Series: Mira

From the sparkling ballrooms of Regency London to the wealthy glamour of the country house - let Stephanie Laurens be your guide! Kidnapped in the small hours, Miss Helen Walford had spent the day being battered and jostled, tied and gagged, trussed and trapped in a worn-out chaise. She was rescued by the infamous Martin Willisden - a rakehell who had been banished to the army, now scandalously raised to the rank of Earl of Merton! To add insult to injury, the proper Miss Walford had been forced into a compromising situation with her wicked saviour. Her only defence lay in anonymity. But captured by her beauty and bravery, the Earl of Merton knew that he had to find his mysterious lady.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Laurens' writing shines." - Publishers Weekly "Stephanie Laurens' heroines are marvellous tributes to Georgette Heyer." - Cathy Kelly "All I need is her name on the cover to make me pick up the book." - New York Times bestselling author Linda Howard"

About the Author

Stephanie Laurens has been writing historical romance novels for over 16 years and is a New York Times, Publishers Weekly and USA Today bestselling author. She lives near Melbourne, Australia, with her husband and two daughters.

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Mira/ Mills & Boon (June 19, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0778302776
• ISBN-13: 978-0778302773
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #171,967 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining regency farce: sequel to "Tangled Reins", November 11, 2010

By 

Marshall Lord (Whitehaven, UK) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Fair Juno (Mira) (Paperback)

This amusing little regency historical romance, copyright 1994, is one of the novels which Stephanie Laurens wrote earlier in her writing career.

It is the sequel to "Tangled Reins (MIRA)," and both romances were published together as "A Season for Scandal."

This novel was published about four years before the first Cynster book, Devil's Bride (Bar Cynster) and hence pre-dates the Cynster, Bastion Club, and Black Cobra stories.

One consequence is that "Fair Juno" is closer in form to the traditional regency romance story and does not have as much in the way of detailed description of lovemaking between the hero and heroine as most of Stephanie Lauren's more recent books.

Nor had Miss Laurens yet fully developed the plot which she has re-used with minor variations in most of her recent books. The standard Laurens plot goes as follows:

Noble rake meets intelligent spinster or widow in her late twenties, decides immediately that she is the woman he wants to marry, and that the best way to persuade her is to seduce her and thoroughly ravish her every twenty pages for the rest of the book. Unfortunately, because he doesn't have the sense to say certain important words, and she is only prepared to marry for love, she refuses to marry him until the villain tries to murder one of both of them and in the process of frustrating his evil designs both hero and heroine discover and reveal their true feelings.

This book doesn't precisely conform to that formula, although it certainly does contain elements from which you can see how Miss Laurens developed it.

"Fair Juno" is the nickname which Martin the hero, who has just inherited the title of Earl of Merton, bestows on the heroine, Lady Helen Walford, when he rescues her from kidnappers.

Without wishing to spoil the farcical scene in which Martin attempts to rescue Helen from the agents of a small-time crook by giving too much detail, let's just say that things don't quite run the way that any of the three parties had expected, but Martin is impressed by Helen's courage and is determined to see more of her.

Helen is a widow, and her first marriage to Lord Walford was a disaster. (Another reviewer was right to point out that it was very sloppy of the publishers to give her the title "Miss" in the synopsis on the back cover of the book, though her correct title is Lady Helen, not Mrs.)

Wishing to avoid any future marriage or entanglements with men, and realising that an attraction to Martin might undermine that resolve, Helen initially wishes to avoid him. However, as he has just returned to England after several years in the West Indies, and a mutual friend asks her to help ease him back into society by introducing him to people, this proves impossible. Meanwhile both Martin's younger brother, and the inept crook who had originally tried to kidnap Helen have their own nefarious plans ...

Overall this is one of Miss Lauren's more entertaining novels, and I recommend it.

2.0 out of 5 stars AWFUL, October 23, 2011

By 

StarPlayer (B'ham England) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fair Juno (Mira) (Paperback)

This book starts out interestingly enough and is actually well-written.

Kidnapped in the small hours, MRS Helen Walford had spent the day being battered and jostled, tied and gagged, trussed and trapped in a worn-out chaise. She was rescued by the infamous Martin Willisden - a rakehell who had been banished to the army, now scandalously raised to the rank of Earl of Merton!

To add insult to injury, the proper MRS Walford had been forced into a compromising situation with her wicked saviour (eh?). Her only defence lay in anonymity. But captured by her beauty and bravery, the Earl of Merton knew that he had to find his mysterious lady............

And he does find her.

Now, if you or I had been kidnapped we would have at least mentioned it to our VERY CLOSE friends or even our SELF APPOINTED GUARDIAN. But no. I gave up half way through the book, and after being rescued, it isn't really mentioned. I mean - wouldn't you at least want to know who did it? Or - is it going to happen again? I must be on my guard sort of thing?

What REALLY bugged me was the farking MISUNDERSTANDING / MIS INFORMATION which enpowered our heroine to decline the hero's marriage proposal. It REALLY FARKED ME OFF. I pushed on a couple or so after the BIG MISUNDERSTANDING / MISINFORMATION but couldn't torment myself any longer and returned the book to my local library.

Absolute waste of time. Why did the reprint this?

3.0 out of 5 stars Blah., October 5, 2011

By 

mulfie1 - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fair Juno (Audio CD)

Yet another novel in which all the suspense comes from people acting foolishly and not talking to one another. It was ok I guess, but I won't be rereading it. Anyway, Stephanie Laurens doesn't have much of an ear for the period, in my opinion. She's a good enough storyteller, but she has a tendency to use modern slang and to ignore social rules. Granted, I'm no expert, but it strikes me as inauthentic and distracting.