Customer Reviews

His Mistress By Morning

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

HIS MISTRESS BY MORNING has an intriguing plot...

26 year old spinster charlotte wilmont has been in love with sebastian marlowe, viscount trent, for as long as she can remember. she has just received an inherited ring from her aunt, a ring that has the power to grant one wish of the person wearing it. charlotte doesn't know this at the time, but after seeing sebastian one day her secret longings are voiced aloud. she wishes sebastian was in love with her.

she awakens the next morning to find herself in the arms of sebastian after a night of passion and she's of course very confused because whereas the day before she was an on the shelf spinster, she is now the most celebrated cyprian in london and sebastian is her lover...and very much in love with her. however, sebastian isn't a rich lover and therefore must marry an heiress in order for him to save his family from financial ruin.

i purchased this book because i was curious to see how the author would pull this storyline out and unfortunately, i was disappointed with the results. while i found charlotte to be a tolerable heroine, her preoccupation with all things sebastian left her characterization threadbare. it seemed everything she did was for the sole purpose of obtaining sebastian's adoration, and this despite the fact that the reader learns nothing of why she loves him in the first place. i mean, we're told he's honorable and dependable and boring despite being handsome, which made me wonder what charlotte saw in him other than his looks.

in the 'wish world' where she's the cyprian, sebastian is totally different. here he's a rake, charming and engaging and enjoying life, but he's behaving in the opposite manner as he was in the 'world before the wish is made', so basically she's enamored with a totally different side of this guy.not to mention the fact that charlotte's alternate persona 'lottie' comes across as a mercenary and materlistic person, which made it impossible for me to believe sebastian was in love with her for any other reason than the fact that she was beautiful and great in bed. i will say the author did a decent job with the love scenes, although because the characters are supposed to be already intimate at the time the 'wish world' begins, there was a lack of build up, kind of like sex without foreplay.

the time the author spends in the 'wish world' is too long, so that by the time charlotte goes from cyprian back to spinster there are roughly one hundred pages left for her to get sebastian to fall in love with her. she uses information she gained as the cyprian in the 'wish world' to woo him, which seemed to me like cheating instead of her actually having an inate knowledge of her supposed beloved. i mean, if i had the cheat sheet to what pleased the man i loved, of course he'd fall in love with me, right? it made it seem as though their love was manipulated moreso than fated and took all of the romance of discovery out of the mix.

the ending was extremely rushed. it was like one minute sebastian is wondering who this new charlotte is (because of course she adopts some of her 'lottie' personality in her attempts to woo him) and the next minute he's in love with her. it really seemed to happen just that fast. again, very little build up.

so while i appreciate the author's original concept, i can't recommend this book. the characterization of both hero and heroine was sketchy, the heroine's singular purpose of getting the hero to fall in love with her left her uninteresting to me, and while the love scenes were done well, the lack of build up of the whole love story made me feel like they were strangers highly attracted to each other sexually, but with no other common interests to a warrant a long-lasting love.

But I found this book to be an unpleasant read. There is just so much "what if's" that I can handle: I can handle the "magic ring" idea; I can handle the two undefined magical entities that have powers to grant wishes. But the device that I found uncomfortable was the transforming of the main character into a different person. (Not pretending to be a different person--actually becoming a different person--different name, different social class, different morals, different family relationships and personal history). Part of the disconfort was that this person was so different from the real & basic personality that matched the character and it had the effect of being caught in a nightmare. The character wasn't comfortable in her new skin and neither was I.
Another part was the arbitrary way in which the author caused selected parts of the new peripheral reality to change to suit her purposes. Some of the people and circumstances of the "before" world changed in confusing and differing proportions and directions. Even fantasy has to have consistency.
Then there is the change back to her original persona. She is no longer exactly as she was before the experience (which makes sense), but now she is almost the person she temporarily became and didn't like being, but back as herself, which makes no sense at all. The books ending hints that other "magic ring" stories will follow. Frankly, I plan to skip this whole series!

I just adore this book! Ms. Boyle has taken the typical romance novel, added a pinch of fantasy, and come up with something very nearly approaching perfect.

Charlotte Wilmont is desperately in Love with straightlaced Sebastian Marlowe, Vicount Trent, but she is a friend of his sister, a shy spinster who fades into the woodwork whenever he comes near. Enter one magical ring, a pseudo fairy godmother and a desparate wish and overnight Charlotte becomes Lottie Townsend, London's most sought after courtesan. And, more importantly, the person Sebastian (now a rake) is madly in love with. It's a very interesting journey to see what the world is like that would turn our Charlotte into a fallen lady. How it affects her friends and the people and world around her. And while she blossoms and grows under Sebastians attentions it soon becomes apparent that her new world is not all it's cracked up to be.

The book is, by turns, funny and sad, sexy and sweet. Lots of passion, but always with great feeling. And watch out for that magical couple Milton and Quince. I think we'll be seeing a lot more of them.

I love the entire book, but I confess I've read the last third of the book about a dozen times now. This one is going on my list as one of the best books I've ever read. Bravo!

As a fan of every Elizabeth Boyle historical romance ever written, His Mistress By Morning was as usual, an enjoyable read, but with a surprising paranormal twist, which made the story even more interesting. Charlotte has a long time romantic crush on Lord Sebastian, Viscount Trent. As she visits her friend Lady Hermione, Sebastian's sister, she finds herself wishing she could be like the ladies who turn Sebastian's head. She wakes up finding herself in Sebastian's bed, but as his mistress, not his wife - which is her true wish. She soon realizes that it is the magic powers of the recent ring willed to her by her aunt that has the power to have provided her with this wish. The story is sensual with a bit of magic, making this story even more interesting and hard to put down. At the end, when Charlotte and Sebastian are back in the present world, Charlotte discovers she has the real power from her past experience with the magic of the ring to truly make Sebastian hers, and in the way she really dreams, as his wife. This story is fun, sensual and magical and definitely in the same caliber as the rest of Ms. Boyle's historical romances. I look forward to the remaining books about the Marlowe Family Tree.

Poor, downtrodden, and reserved Charlotte Wilmont has loved her best friend's older brother - Sebastian Marlowe, Viscount Trent - for years, but he barely notices her. He is now about to be betrothed to a passionless heiress in order to save his family from financial ruin, and Charlotte is miserable. She inherits an odd ring from her great-aunt and, while wearing it, casually wishes that she could be the woman that Sebastian loves. It winds up that the ring has magical power to grant one wish, and the next morning Charlotte (as "Lottie") wakes up to a new life where Sebastian does indeed love her...but as his mistress, not his wife.

I enjoy Ms. Boyle's writing, particularly last year's "Something About Emmaline". This latest offering, however, just did not appeal to me. The plot device of having Charlotte turn up in a new life with most things reversed was fine, but it was carried on for far too long and weighed down the story. Also, Lottie's character had a history that was unattractive and mercenary. It is hard to understand how Sebastian would have fallen in love with such a woman. Charlotte's assumption of her identity does soften her, but not enough. The story was much better when it returned to her old life in the last third of the book, for this is clearly when Charlotte was her most charming. Sebastian had a good deal of charm as well, as did his quirky family. I look forward to more satisfying future installments in the series.

I adored this novel, it was fun. Lottie (Charlotte), mousy friend of Sebastian's sister has adored him for a long time. Actually Lottie adores his whole family because they are eccentric and do not care about the ton's rules, well except for Sebastian. A good deed to a stranger transforms Lottie's life and she becomes Sebastian's love; actually she becomes his mistress and in this parallel world Sebastian is a BAD BOY (Yummy). Here's where all the fun starts. Lottie discovers several things in this alternate world not only about this hidden part of herself but about her family too.
Then she is returned back into her original world and helps herself become more bold and saucy. She also decides to awaken Sebastian's inner bad boy and awaken his naughtiness too.
If you are looking for a light, fast, fun romance with a dash of magic then here is the book for you. I eagerly await the next installment.

I loved the beginning and middle portion of this story. I loved how Charlotte started out as a shy stuttering spinster and grew (with the help of a little magic) into Lottie, a bold and sexy woman. However, I have to sgree with a few of the other readers and say that the ending was rushed. I adored Sebastian when he was the rake in Charlotte's wish, but it was hard to like him when she came back to reality and he was so uptight and stuffy. I think Boyle should have taken her time with the ending and gave Charlotte more time to seduce Sebastian. It was fun reading about her seductive antics, and it felt like Boyle cut them short quite abruptly.

Overall: I enjoyed the story. I wanted to give this book 4 stars, but as I stated earlier, the ending was hurried and it took away from the story.

Miss Charlotte Wilmont admires everything about the family of Hermione Marlowe, her best friend; especially Hermione's older brother, Sebastian. Sebastian, unfortunately, can't even remember Charlotte's last name-and he's paying court to the abominable Lavinia Burke in an attempt to repair the family's sagging fortunes.

In a moment of desperation, Charlotte finds herself wishing she might somehow have her heart's desire-to be the woman Sebastian loves. What she doesn't count on is the intervention of some very fae-like characters, and an unusual ring bequeathed her in lieu of the fortune she hoped for-let alone waking up the next morning in bed with Sebastian-as his mistress.

I really did not expect to like this book. I just don't much care for the heroine in a regency being a mistress; the times were too unkind and too judgmental toward women in these circumstances, and I don't like reading about their humiliations. Well, Elizabeth Boyle pulls this one off in such a way that even my strong dislike of the scenario was soon left behind as I enjoyed watching Charlotte-now known as Lottie-take the ton by storm and learn a thing or two about herself along the way.

Difficulties certainly exist; though she has Sebastian's love, it seems the Lottie whose place she has taken may have actually encouraged Sebastian to marry the Burke-monster, and been looking about for her next protector as well. Charlotte not only has to change these things, but she has to accept from Sebastian the usual attentions a woman in her position does, though she's never even seen a man naked. AND she finds her scandalous predecessor-self has been posing nude for a prominent artist, was a spendthrift, and a gambler with a passion for the horses and a good eye for a goer.

Not only has Lottie changed, her family has changed, as have Sebastian and his family. Hermione is no longer her best friend, but forbidden to speak with her, and the carefree Marlowe family she knew has become stuffy, while her too-tightly corseted aunt has become the courtesan who introduced Lottie herself to the high-flying lifestyle, and Lottie's own mother will speak to neither of them. And there are quite a few surprises beyond these.

I was surprised how much I enjoyed this book. As I said, I have my little prejudices against this particular kind of plot. But Lottie-Charlotte-is presented in such a winning way, you can't help but like her. There's no overly exuberant sawing at our sentiments over the lot of the poor li'l bad girl here. Lottie is quick to make the best of the situation-about as quick as it takes to find out Sebastian loves her.

Sebastian, who had been a bit dull in Lottie's previous life, is much freer and easier to like here, as well. When the inevitable problems come, and Lottie makes the decision she has to make, it's neither overdone nor played like a concerto for sobs. You feel the depth of Lottie's loss, and Sebastian's, but it isn't presented in a maudlin manner.

In fact, the ending of the book provided a sweet and enjoyable sense of closure. Even if we see a few things coming, it's a pure pleasure to watch Lottie's manipulations of the world and those around her, as her strength of character emerges and she comes into her own. I don't think this character is one I'll be forgetting anytime soon.

Watching as she comes out of her spinster's shell to take London and Sebastian by storm-and reveal her new found knowledge of a few things others thought hidden from her-is pure delight, and the author handles it with just the perfect touch.

Reviewed by Lee M



Copyright © 2006 CK2S Kwips and Kritiques. All rights reserved.

I'm not much of a historical romance reader...only because there are sooo many good books out there that I tend to choose contemporary romances when I'm making book choices. But Elizabeth Boyle is one of only two historical authors I ALWAYS read. Why? Because she never fails to satisfy.

HIS MISTRESS BY MORNING was no exception. It had the best of Boyle (funny, sexy, creative story) with a twist in the form of a little bit of magic that made it just all that much more fun! Poor Charlotte has worshiped Sebastian from afar for so long that she can't help but wish to be the woman he loves. But when her wish is granted, it's not exactly the way she imagined it. It is, at turns, so much better and so much worse than anything her mind could ever have conceived. But Charlotte learns that sometimes the best of ourselves is hidden so deep beneath the surface that a lot of shaking up is sometimes required to reveal it.

I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of HIS MISTRESS BY MORNING and am looking eagerly forward to Boyle's next book in this series!

I just could not get into this book. I tried repeatedly and everytime I got over one irritation, I'd read another page and get frustrated all over again. Everyone in the story changed so much and all in the beginning, too confusing. I will also pass on this series. Read at your own risk.