Customer Reviews

Indiscreet (Berkley Sensation)

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Carolyn Jewel's Indiscreet follows Edward Marrack, the Marquess of Foye, and Sabine Goddard through the sands of Turkey and Syria during the early Regency. Foye became aware of Sabine a year prior to the start of the story, via a boast by his friend, the Earl of Crosshaven, that he had seduced Miss Goddard. As the novel opens, Foye meets Sabine and her uncle on their travels in Turkey.

Foye is surprised upon meeting Sabine. Instead of a shattered girl mourning her lost reputation, he finds a strikingly intelligent woman fiercely loyal to the uncle who raised her. Sabine also finds Foye contrary to expectation. Where she supposed him to be arrogant and waits for him to proposition her on account of her low status and reputation, she instead discovers he knows Crosshaven lied and that he is drawn, rather than repelled, by her intelligence.

Despite a fifteen year age difference and a large height discrepancy, Jewel created a romance between two equals. Their banter is smart and mature, and neither ever seems to have the upper hand on the other. Even when Foye must rescue Sabine from a deceptive pasha, the rescue depends on her competence at behaving as a boy. Yes, Foye is the rescuer, but he trusts her with so much responsibility that still they remain equals. Sabine is neither too feisty, nor is she meek. She is simply capable.

Jewel also breathed fresh air into the cross-dressing mechanic. Rather than treat it as farce, she spent some time exploring Sabine's thoughts on gender and privilege. We get to see her worry about all the tiny things that could give her away, from not knowing how to mount astride a horse to realizing she had to schlep her own belongings.

As much as I enjoyed the intense rescue, I did feel that the romance was a bit short. The hero and heroine admitted their love and agreed to marry in the first third of the novel. All that separated them from their HEA was the resolution of the rescue plot. A bit more holdout, with more character and emotional development taking place during the journey, would have added a fifth star in my mind.

I expected to like this book, as I have enjoyed all of Carolyn Jewel's previous historical romances. I like her writing voice, she writes intricate, intelligent characters, and I knew that this book was set mostly in the Ottoman Empire -- I LOVE exploring the British Empire in romance. So I was on board to enjoy this book, and I was excited to get my hands on it two days before its official release date.

So yes, it's a WIN, no surprise there. But what a huge WIN it was!! Sabine and Foye are amazing characters -- intelligent and then some. Jewel takes standard romance character tropes (a "ruined" virgin heroine and a jilted hero who is convinced he's unlovable) and gives them a life and uniqueness that makes them absolutely believable and sympathetic. She details the setting beautifully, and makes it integral to the plot. To top it off, she uses one of my favorite (but often poorly done) devices, the heroine-disguised-as-a-boy. She more than makes it work, she makes it into an exploration of gender that truly enriches the story.

My only complaint about this book is the cover -- the hero is just plain wrong, and I hate it when the cover and the story don't match. I don't think it's a spoiler to say that the hero in this book is 6'6" tall, and thus more than a foot taller than the heroine. Jewel makes it work, but it is an important dimension of the book that is belied by the cover illustration.

This was my first book by Carolyn Jewel and at the beginning I was very excited, because the story seemed very promising. I especially loved that our hero is not drop-dead gorgeous (far from it!), as almost every romance hero invariably is. Edward, Marquess of Foye, is definitely not one of those heroes - quite the opposite in fact: "With a face that defined 'ill made' and a body that tended to intimidate by sheer size - he had always been prone to muscle - Foye was used to women looking past him or away from him" (p8).

Throughout, Edward remained an enjoyable hero and I found him to be a very sweet and "nice-guy" type of leading man. He's intelligent and confident, but also sensitive and vulnerable. His feelings towards Sabine never waver and really come across to the reader. I also greatly enjoyed the first few interactions between the two of them. Unfortunately, after that it went downhill ...

I did not like the huge age difference, though if not mentioned all the time one can usually overlook those (she's 23 and he's 38).

I did not like that what usually takes an entire book to sort out happened by p89 - they've declared their feelings, are in love, want to marry when possible.

I did not like that Sabine is so standoffish - understandably, due to her past - with Foye, they then kiss in the 60s (pages), and then everything for her is turned around. Granted, she already starts to be nicer towards him once she discovers that he has good intentions and that he actually objected to what was said that ended up ruining her. Still, she did a very quick 180 there.

I did not like that Sabine was sometimes extremely overemotional and melodramatic. I also didn't like her constant dialogue with herself when she's having to wear her disguise as she and Foye travel, always telling herself she has to embody this role, this is what the person would do, she can't think of herself as Sabine, on and on and ON! Got to be very exasperating.

I did not like that the subplot overshadowed the romance for most of the mid-section of the book - and it wasn't a great one to begin with. It also ends COMPLETELY anti-climactically.

I did not like that there are about 5 different ending ploys. What I'm referring to are those events in romances that catapult us towards the HEA and that set everything right in the end - sometimes it's the hero or heroine almost dying, the murderer being caught, some big secret being revealed, a realization on his or her part that they love the other, etc. Well this book had about 5 of those until all I could think was Enough already!!!

I did not like that Sabine never EVER calls the hero Edward - the most familiar she gets with him is calling him Foye. One even wonders if she knows his first name, since she never even thinks it (refers to him as such in her mind) and I'm not sure they're introduced to one another with full names.

There were more things I didn't like, but I'll stop there.

I think what would have been best was if we had pages 1-66 stayed as they were, which is at the point where Sabine has started to let her guard down and Edward is really becoming entranced and attracted to her. Then the majority of the book could have been them developing an emotional and intellectual connection, without a mystery subplot - their characters were interesting enough to be able to carry the book by themselves, no need for another story thread. Their physical connection would also of course develop and then there could be pages 67-89, with the obstacles they face being both of them making the final leap and them getting her uncle's blessing. Voila, done, it's a wrap!

BOTTOM LINE:
Unfortunately, I cannot even say that I would recommend getting this from the library (which is thankfully what I did). The author does have the ability to write intriguing characters, great chemistry, and some good dialogue, so I will be giving her another chance and hope that her other books surpass this one.

Really enjoyed this book. The hero was not the drop dead gorgeous Greek god look alike that most historical romances portray and the heroine was not the typical bluestocking leading lady that runs roughshod over the hero and causes all her troubles with too stupid to live moments.

i dont know what i could add to all of the other great reviews of this book but to say that i too loved foye. at 6 foot 6 inches and unattractive and beastly looking he becomes very attractive and beautiful in character when you get to know him. he is one of my favorite heroes of "all-time". i too fell in love with him. i have everyone of carolyn jewel's books. i thought LORD RUIN was my favorite book, until i read scandal and now indiscreet. i am anxiously looking forward to her next release. hurry carolyn.

I was eagerly awaiting Indiscreet (Berkley Sensation) because every historical that Carolyn Jewel has written is a must-read. This is no exception. Jewel writes smart, well-researched, fascinating stories. Her dialogue is always spot-on and remains steeped in the historical time frame, unlike so many other historical romance writers today. Her characterization is always well-done, as is the case with Indiscreet (Berkley Sensation). Sabine and Foye are interesting, well-fleshed out characters who are wholly unique. I can't think of any other romances I've read in which the hero is 6'6" with such an "unattractive, beastly" face (Jewel's words, not mine). I loved that. She made Foye thoroughly attractive even though he wasn't a run-of-the-mill handsome hero. Sabine, while attractive, is not flirtatious, or really even aware of her attractions. Because of her upbringing, she is "different" and slightly strange. That helped me to appreciate her as a heroine. I'm finding it harder and harder to enjoy reading about the perfectly formed, beautiful heroines these days. Yawn. Sabine is short, curvy, and spends half the novel looking like an unattractive boy even though Foye still finds her sexually appealing. Jewel's grasp of early 19th century Middle Eastern history, cultures, and customs is remarkable. This story is not to be missed. Carolyn Jewel is just getting better and better as a writer.

Ms. Carolyn Jewel was a new author to me. I was impressed with her work. The book was a little slow in the beginning. However, it drew me into the storyline about a quarter of the way into the book. I couldn't wait to see what would happen next. This story was full of suspense. I usually don't prefer this much tension. However, it worked with the plot and her writing style.

The two main characters were so vulnerable. They were both so hurt from past happenings that they were afraid to trust. Their actions were so believable. It was impossible for me to remain unaffected when the two were so plagued with problems. There were many additional cast members used in this book. From the "enemies" to those who supported Sabine and Foye's interest in each other, we found multiple tidbits which made the book a stand-up success.

I recommend this book to others. Even though (to me) it started out a little slow, the storyline changed my mind. Good job, Ms. Jewel. - Brenda Talley

In 1811 Miss Sabine Godard accompanies her elderly uncle as he journeys to the Far East to research information on a book he is writing. At a gala, Sabine meets the Marquis of Foye; whose friend ruined her reputation; which led to her vow to never marry. On the other hand he must marry now that his brother died without an heir. They both feel a major surge of desire, but neither wants to pursue their feelings out of fear where it will lead.

Still Sabine and Foye become friends as their attraction intensifies. He becomes frightened for her when a pasha invites the uncle and his niece to the palace; Foye fears the pasha's agenda is to temporarily add her to his harem before selling her.

The fun in this entertaining historical is the British expatriates with a recent history meeting and falling in love in the early nineteenth century Ottoman Empire. Thus, the Regency romance is transported to Turkey. The story line is fast-paced from the moment the scandalized spinster Sabine and foolishly Foye meet as he knows what happened to her back home. INDISCREET is a jewel of a historical as the background enhances the shaky but loving relationship between the lead couple.

Harriet Klausner

Edward, Marquess of Foye knows Miss Sabine Godard by reputation. His former friend, the Earl of Crosshaven spread some vicious rumors about her. Edward believed the Earl but after Crosshaven betrayed him, Edward figures out everything Crosshaven said about Sabine was false. That was two years ago and now Edward has come to Turkey and finally meets Sabine in person. Even though Edward doesn't find Sabine to be beautiful, there is something special about her that strikes him, in such a way that he can't look away at any other woman

Sabine has traveled to Turkey with her again uncle, Sir Henry Godard. The rumors about her alleged affair has scarred her deep inside and when she comes face-to-face with one of Crosshaven's former acquaintances in that of the Marquess of Foye, she feels as if she will never escape the talk and ridicule. She tries to act indifferent to Edward because she doesn't want to be hurt again. But Edward is the type of man who won't be ignored and kept at arm's length.

Both Edward and Sabine form a strange bond and then some strong feelings grow between them. Edward wants Sabine and is ready to make her his, when Sir Henry decides he and Sabine will stay on as the special guests of Nazim Pasha, who has a very deadly and infamous reputation. Against Edward's judgment, Sabine goes with her uncle and then the unthinkable happens. Edward must find Sabine and save her from a man who will ruin her in truth.

Indiscreet is a beautifully written, almost epic type romance. The exotic setting adds to the luscious story with two stoic and breathtaking characters. Edward, at first, comes across as cold and a bit egotistical. Sabine is shown as a woman who seems so lost because of a false indiscretion that has almost ruined her life. When these two enter each other's world, they are changed forever.

Edward is a hero, willing to sacrifice everything for the women he loves. He treats Sabine as if she is like spun gold, a woman to whom he can lose his heart. When both Edward and Sabine admit their love and come together as one, tears may fill your eyes.

Carolyn Jewel is one author of the historical romance genre that you can always count on to deliver a book with an amazing story and a romance that will blow you away. Indiscreet is a romance that brings out so many emotions; it is a must read.

Katiebabs